My experience at the Blogcamp Ghana 2013 ( #BlogCamp13)

“Content is King” was the theme for this year’s BlogCamp Ghana 2013. It was held at the Kofi Annan centre of ICT - some meters away from the Parliament house of Ghana. This program was organized to help bloggers improve on their blogging and to encourage others who haven’t started blogging yet to do so. It is also a platform where bloggers, vloggers, tweeps and facebookers will be officially recognized.  I was indeed overwhelmed by the number of people who participated. Actually, this was my first time to be at such an event. I went through a registration process that took me less than five minutes  (my data was verified since I registered online and picked up my tag that had my name and my twitter handle on it). Afterwards I went to have a photoshoot with some friends. (Official photographer of the event was Nii Odzenma photography) afterwards, I tried to make some few friends who were also bloggers and met old friends I haven’t been in touch with for a long time. I must say the organizers of the event did tremendously well and a big Thank you to the sponsors who supported the event and gave out some goodies to participants for being interactive during sessions.

The theme for the event was explained further by @Kajsa (am using the twitter handles of the speakers because I have forgotten their names) who made us understand why they chose such a theme.

Next was @antirhythm; who took us through Social Media and the Law. He went further to talk about plagiarism, how to come up with good content for your blog, crediting references on your blog, and having a copyright of your original content. His speech was very inciting.

Next to speak was @MacJordan who dedicated his presentation to the late Chinua Achebe; one of his Role model and shared a quote of his. He shared his experience going around some parts of the world and talking about whether the internet should be free or not. I indeed enjoyed his presentation because he showed a video about how some countries are highly deficient with the use of the internet.

Next was an open discussion about how to increase content in a free world. There were quite a number of suggestions which included being able to be consistent on your blog because your audience will always want to find out your latest. Another was to talk with friends if you have an idea about anything so that you can have various angles to that particular idea. We then had some shoutout from some sponsors who were delighted to be a part of the event. Then Lunch came…..i was quite hungry and what overwhelmed me was the fact that we actually didn’t pay anything for the program but we had some good lunch and drinks from blueskies…that was soo cool. Thank u guys…

                                            Myself and Seyram 

After lunch we had to break-out into sessions to learn on different topics. I joined the Social Media for Organisations class. I joined this class because I wanted to help my organization to interact with its publics through social media, since social media enables speed information. Another important thing to consider for an organization was to align your social media plans to the communication plan of your company. I was really educated on this topic, thanks to the guys who shared their experiences with their organizations. A social media strategist and MacJordan took us through this session. They also advised on the use of newsletters for organizations using some softwares – mailchimp, mailmimi and surveymonkey – and  interacting with your publics through online forums and instant messaging. (I had a goodie from Blackberry for asking a question….lol)

                                       MacJordan, Myself and Seyram

The next class I joined was the “Social Media Pays” class. In this class, we shared experiences about how we can make money from blogging or using social media to make money for a living. This class wasn’t as interesting as I wanted but I learnt a lot. (at a point I had wanted to join some other class)

After the break-out sessions we gathered at the auditorium to continue with the program. Nana Asaase gave us some poetry from his collection followed by rhymes Sony(I hope I got the name right). We then had a little speech from the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Gene A. Cretz, who felt honoured to be a part of the event and advised us to make good use of the internet anytime we had access to it.

There came the time we were waiting for, I could feel the heartbeat of some of the nominees.  I will want to congratulate all the award winners and the nominees…..you guys are fantastic!

The winners were:

Best technology Blog - techy-africa.com

Best Business and Commerce Blog - estockanalysisblog.com

Best Citizen Journalism Blog - circumspecte.com

Best Creative, Literary Short Stories, Poetry Blog - ganyobinaa.com

Best Showbiz and Entertainment Blog – ameyawdebrah.com

Best lifestyle Blog - ganyobinaa.com

Best Activist blog - adventuresfrom.com

Best Photo Blog - africaphotographer.blogspot.com

Best Organisational Blog - accradotalttours.wordpress.com

Best Blog - adventuresfrom.com

Personality with best social Media Presence - MutomboPercy the Poet (@MutomboDaPoet)

Best Original Content - poetrysoundbites.blogspot.co.uk

Check out their prizes here http://www.blogcampghana.com/social-media-awards/prizes/

The Model In Me

Growing up as a child i loved to pose for pictures. Nothing about being a model but was always delighted to be seen through the lens of a camera.

"Oh twa me baako e" (meaning take just one shot of me)  was what i did say to any friend of mine who had a camera. i just loved to pose for pictures, then scroll through them to select the nice ones (laughing). These happened when i was in the Ghana Institute of Journalism, and my friend knew me for that. Trust me anytime i found myself bored, i will pick up my phone and start taking shots of myself and i realised i got happy all again.

It continued for a while and this made me develop some interest in the field of photography. All of a sudden i began to look out for friends who were in that field with the help of social media so i could learn from them. That was when i met the likes of  Ben Bond (OAB Photography), Kwaku Zee (Possible Image), Kwaku David (Kwaku David Photography), Kwabena Awuku, and a whole lot of others. I must say it has has been a long journey with them and i have learn't a whole lot from them. i will never hesitate anytime they wanted to look at me through their lenses; i just might say a big haleluyah in mind lol.

At this point i will share some pictures of myself from some photography friends; professionals for that matter. hahahah don't mind me.

           

These were with Kwabena Awuku Photography Label, a friend by name Curtis.....

These were by Mutombo.......

Finally, i had the opportunity to be seen through the lens of Ben Bond of OAB Photography.




Am just waiting for the opportunities, as and when i have spied through the lens of a Pro, am definitely gonna share. MuchLoveForPictures.........kisses

Public Relations and Advertising

For some time now on my blog i have tried sharing the differences between public relations and other related practices. We had PR and Journalism, PR and Marketing, PR and Propaganda. Today i bring you PR and Advertising. I hope you enjoy it.

The distinction between PR and advertising is more easily made. Advertising involves the payment of a medium (TV, radio, newspaper, etc) to put across a promotional message the content to which is controlled by the advertising. Most advertising seeks to achieve or reinforcing, bringing brands to the front of mind or calm post purchase doubts.

Public relations on the other hand try to persuade journalist to cover their product and services on the grounds of newsworthiness. The phrase ‘selling message’ as contained in the definition of advertising, distinguishes the two disciplines. PR aims not to increase sales but may be directed at any given time for instance to inform, educate, create better understanding, gain credit, encourage loyalty or provoke discussion. Sometimes understanding a product or service improves sales though PR does not claim any such causal link.

There are however many grey area between what is considered PR and what is considered advertising. With corporate advertising, an organization purchase a medium to put across a general message about itself and not its products. The content of such messages are usually PR driven and relate to the corporate strategic aims of the organization rather than its product support. Another grey area is filled with text and Images very similar to the surrounding editorial. This type of practice is usually common with magazines and it is used to make casual readers believe the text and images reflect the impartial view of the medium being used rather than the more interested view of an advertiser. Harrison (1995:5) comments on this style; “the strength of advertorial over advertisement is that their style and format gives greater credibility to the product they are advertising by explaining them in apparently objective terms through a third party.”

here are some differences between the two practices:

1. Paid Space or Free Coverage

In Advertising, the Company pays for the advertising space that you get to know exactly when that advert will be aired or published. Public Relations deals with getting a free publicity for the company. From news conferences to press releases, you are focused on getting free media exposure for the company and its products and services.

2. Creative Control Vs. No Control
Since you're paying for the space, you have creative control on what goes into that advert whiles Public relations have no control over how the media presents your information, if they decide to use your information at all. They are not obligated to cover your event or publish your press release just because you sent something to them.

3. Shelf Life
Advertising deals with the fact that you pay for the space, because you can run your adverts over and over for as long as your budget allows. An advert generally has a longer shelf life than one press release. Meanwhile, in Public relations, you only submit a press release about a new product once. You only submit a press release about a news conference once. The PR exposure you receive is only circulated once. An editor won't publish your same press release three or four times in their magazine. 

4. Wise Consumers

Advertising is a way of getting the attention of consumers is by knowing when they are reading an advertisement they are trying to be sold a product or service.
When someone reads a third-party article written about your product or views coverage of your event on TV, they are seeing something you didn't pay for with advert dollars and view it differently than they do paid advertising; which is public relations

5. Creativity or a Nose for News
In advertising, you get to exercise in creativity  in creating new advert campaigns and materials. In public relations, you have to have a nose for news and be able to generate buzz through that news. You exercise your creativity, to an extent, in the way you search for new news to release to the media.

6. In-House or Out on the Town

In Advertising, If you're working at an ad agency, your main contacts are your co-workers and the agency's clients. If you buy and plan advert space on behalf of the client, then you'll also interact with media sales people.

In Public Relations, You interact with the media and develop a relationship with them. Your contact is not limited to in-house communications. You are in constant touch with your contacts at the print publications and broadcast media. 

7. Target Audience or Hooked Editor
In Advertising, You're looking for your target audience and advertising accordingly. You wouldn't advertise a women's TV network in a male-oriented sports magazine. Whiles in Public relations, you must have an angle and hook editors to get them to use info for an article, to run a press release or to cover your event. 

8. Limited or Unlimited Contact

The difference between adverting and Public relations is, in Advertising, some industry pros have contact with the clients. Others like copywriters or graphic designers in the agency may not meet with the client at all but in Public relations, you are very visible to the media. PR pros aren't always called on for the good news. If there was an accident at your company, you may have to give a statement or on-camera interview to journalists. You may represent your company as a spokesperson at an event. Or you may work within community relations to show your company is actively involved in good work and is committed to the city and its citizens. 

9. Special Events

In Advertising, if your company sponsors an event, you wouldn't want to take out an advert giving yourself a pat on the back for being such a great company. This is where your PR department steps in. In Public relations, if you're sponsoring an event, you can send out a press release and the media might pick it up. They may publish the information or cover the event.

10. Writing Style

finally, Advertising deals with phrases like; Buy this product! Act now! Call today! These are all things you can say in an advertisement. You want to use those buzz words to motivate people to buy your product. However, with Public relations, You're strictly writing in a no-nonsense news format. Any blatant commercial messages in your communications are disregarded by the media. 

I hope you enjoyed this bit and will definitely come your way with some other interesting bit in communications. Thank you