Ghana, Kajsa HA's Social Media, Social Media

Mobex16 and some thoughts on how event organisers in Ghana can better engage with social media influencers

No Comments

On Tuesday, I went to the tech fair Mobex16 in the Accra International Conference Center. I had only planned to swiftly stop by, but ended up staying all morning. Networking was great!

However, this blogpost is on some other observations I made in relation to Mobex16. I came with my phone, ready to tweet, and laughingly told a friend that I have been here for 8 min and already posted 3 tweets. I was on fire!

I tweeted about the registration and started taking photos for Instagram. I am a promoter of all things Ghana, especially tech stuff, and I was happy to share the experience with my now 9000+ followers on Twitter and 600+ followers on Instagram.

At this stage, I needed to charge my computer (as I really had plans of working out of an office) and with heavy tweeting during the opening and the president’s speech, my phone as well. Now there were no electrical sockets in the seminar room. I looked around and asked an usher. I tweeted about that.

After realising that no woman was to appear on the stage for the first two programs on the agenda or the entirety of my morning visit – the info I took from a information that was passed out to visitors, I tweeted about that.

Revisiting my Twitter timeline, I was likely inspired by Omojuwa (recently named Africa’s best Twitter profile) and his tweet on female leadership:

After I had left the seminar hall in search for power, I browsed the exhibit. Noticing that many Mobex16 stands did not really have a plan to engage with social media influencers, I talked to some exhibitors and tweeted about that.

You get my drift, I was engaging with the program, capturing both highlights and lowlights.  Tweeting and Instagramming. Now some did not like that:

…and my personal favorite:

I get it, I have been an event organiser and its not necessarily fun to hear about someone’s negative experience when you have been working 24/7 to even make the thing happen, but I do listen and think to myself “how can I improve?” I also try to be mindful of that whoever takes the time to write to complain, cares a whole lot more than the people that just “come to eat”. (Caveat: I am not sure what the relationship between the people behind the sour tweets above is to the event discussed).

A few months back, Poetra Asantewa  in an AccraWeDey-podcast said some very useful things about critique and how there is little room for it in the Ghanaian creative space. We just need to change that, so in the name of constructive critique, I’ll list some ideas for even better social media engagement for Ghanaian events below.

Tips for event organisers how to better engage with social media influencers:

  • Communicate a (usable, not too long, not too generic) hashtag and remind people in every room, space and on everything printed.
  • Create a physical space for social media influencers with sockets (most importantly, but perhaps also), coffee, desks with chairs and additional info on your program.
  • Think through what is in it for the (professional) social media influencer, can you pay for live-tweeting & blogging, or provide lunch, pay T&T, organise gifts from sponsors? Every post about your event is potentially valuable to you, how can you make the relationship with influencers sustainable?
  • Retweet/ share their praise. People on their way to the venue will want to see photos and reviews from the venue.
  • Corteusly respond to any critique as fast as possible. (Yes, that includes saying thank you to someone who is finding fault with your event!)

Something like this:

What would you add to the list?

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana, People, Social Media

Mzznaki Reps Ghana Well-Well!

No Comments

Ghanaian bride-to-be Mzznaki Tetteh is getting married later this month, but the attention has already started. After Mzznaki and her fiancé Kojo Amoah posted their pre-wedding photos online, the pictures have gone viral and sparked conversation.

mzznaki_Instagram
Mzznaki-Tetteh-and-Prince-Kojo-Amoah-2

The response on Mzznaki’s instagram has been lauded as classy.

 

“She is one of the best people I have met and I am so happy to take her to the altar”, says Kojo in an interview.

engagement-pic

After the nurse and her engineer fiancé got international attention: Dailymail Uk, Yahoo.com (a nice article on fatshamin online), Today.com, Metro.uk and even Swedish Elle!Screenshot 2016-06-09 00.37.55

 

Yesterday, Mzznaki came on TV and spoke to Joy News to a quite rude Israel Lareya. She told her story and on a direct question on how much she weighs (!), she kept her cool and answered “hundred-and-sexy!” (Do yourself a favour and please turn off before creepy Lareya asks about her lingerie!!)

On her instagram profile, now followed by 36 000 people, Mzznaki describes herself as “A nurse, A sweet girl who loves fashion, A student, An achiever”. I think she can now add to her list:

“A social media sensation and A confident and widely admired ambassador of Ghana”.

Continue Reading

You may also like

Social Media, Teaching

My Flash Presentation and Workshop at Conference #DakarFutures2016

No Comments

I’m spending a couple of days in Dakar for the “Innovation, Transformation, and sustainable futures in Africa”– conference organized by American Anthropological Association, African Studies Association, Codesria and WARA-WARC. The hashtag for the conference is virtual reality. I am giving one flash presentation (five minutes, 15 PowerPoint slides) and on Saturday a three hour workshop. My collaborators Dr Gordon Adomdza, Design professor at Ashesi, and Mr Kabiru Seidu, Ashesi alumni involved in VR with his company NubianVR, could not make it, so I have a big job to do!

Here are the blurbs.

 

Flash Presentation: Re-thinking “Education under Trees”File 10-01-2016, 6 44 03 PM

 

Where do you teach? In a classroom? Or a larger lecture hall, perhaps? Is it a place where you feel inspired? Your students feel inspired? Let me ask you: Is it an African space? Where you feel connected to the continent? Or is it mostly practical?

At the same time as “education under trees” or education without resources is being challenged in the African political space, the “education that never happens under trees” or does not relate to the physical world outside the campus must be problematized. Many schools and universities lock themselves away on beautiful campuses, while the purpose of any learning institution is to have a positive impact on the surrounding society. In addition, many classrooms are designed almost like stages for professors, instead of empowering students. Therefore, I feel static classrooms must be challenged and convenient, economically sustainable alternatives must arise.

In this flash presentation, I want to share innovation, transformation and sustainable futures of the African lecture hall and classroom.

 

Workshop: Learning Engagement in the Age of Social Media and Emerging Virtual Reality

IMG_0948This is a workshop on engaging, simple, and efficient use of Virtual Reality and Social Media in the classroom.

Recent developments of information technology offer new ways of teaching with small or no additional investments. With the use of Internet infrastructure already available on campuses around the continent and students’ own smart or feature phones, this workshop will show you how to bring social media and virtual reality into your syllabus. While there are many real world examples or experiences that could be made available to students, some experiences take time to acquire or do not occur at the most appropriate time in the learning cycle to achieve the desired learning goals. As a result, we explore opportunities to simulate real world examples and experiences through the design and development of virtual reality content with relevant social media integration to achieve learning goals.

 

The workshop will be a unique meeting between educators and will hone their different experiences and backgrounds. Based on teaching interests discussed in the first session, participants will be placed in groups that will work together on brainstorming a VR material to be produced. Alongside, practical tips on how to get started with VR and social media will be shared. Participants are encouraged to contribute. A tangible outcome and takeaway can be a crowd-sourced and active toolkit for learning engagement in the age of social media and emerging virtual reality.

 

…and finally here I am hanging out with a Senegalese rapper who speaks Swedish! Maxi Krezy!

 

Continue Reading

You may also like

Blogging

How Bloggers Prepare for #BloGHAwards16

1 Comment

bloGHAwards16You know you are a blogger going for BloggingGhana’s #BloGHAwards16 gala if…

…you spend more time on setting up your browsing bundle (and back-up!) than on what to wear.

…you save a winning tweet instead of preparing a thank you speech.

…you double check the hashtag (Yup, it’s #BloGHAwards16) instead of your hair before leaving the house.

…you write a blogpost about the upcoming awards instead of finding a date.

…you plan to come early to save a good seat to take Instagram-able photos from instead of setting out to arrive fashionably late.

…you tweet at your friends asking if they will attend instead of calling them.

…you are reading this to the end on a handheld device!

See you tonight!

Last chance to get your Ego-ticket for the Social Media Awards!

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana, PhD

The PhD journey: the Viva

6 Comments
IMG_0267
PhD Viva. Photo: Jeffrey Paller

On Thursday 28th April in the morning, I did a 40 minute presentation of my dissertation “On a course to migrate? Migration aspirations among University Students in Ghana” and took questions for another 40 minutes or so. After a brief adjournment by the examiners, the verdict was in: I had passed.

Now there are some formal steps left, like making corrections in the final documents, and trying out a silly hat, but if they run smoothly, I am looking forward to graduation on July 23rd. This year!

The feeling at this point is one of great happiness and relief, pride and exhaustion. Happy to have completed well. On the day, I got into the presentation and just flowed, despite being nervous – almost cripplingly so –  the weeks and days leading up to the presentation. ( I did a mock viva two weeks earlier that I think I did not do well in, so I’d say I know the difference between flow and just making it thru). On the day, the questioning part also went well, save a few stumbling answers to unexpected questions.

I am grateful for all the people that have been supporting me in this transformative journey over the last 5 years. I am proud of myself for making it over all the hurdles and trying tasks. I am exhausted and try to be kind to myself.

I did it.

group
With colleagues and supporters in the graduate seminar room just after my presentation.
med dorcas
Relieved and happy after the viva with my student Dorcas who came to support me!
Continue Reading

You may also like

Blogging, Promoting

TEDxAccra: Re-Think. 3 things I look forward to

No Comments

Screenshot 2016-04-22 12.41.39

This whole week I have been hearing the build up buzz on TEDxAccra. With events every night culminating in Saturday 23rd all day at the National Theathre (Ego tickets here, although many categories are SOLD OUT!) ,the organising team has succeeded in taking over social media. I have seen the #TEDxACCRA2016 trending for days!

I have sadly been to busy to go to any pre-events (another exciting one on Women’s contributions to Economy tonight), but will be spending my Saturday at the main event. Specifically, I am looking forward to:

  1. Hearing Lucy Quist, CEO of main sponsor Airtel. She is a leadership supernova in Ghana, but manages to also be approachable and informative.
  2. Being introduced to other amazing speakers and getting to know their work which I’ll then share with my followers. (Follow me on Twitter and/or Instagram @kajsaha)
  3. The networking. I love to be among young change-makers and doers!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

PS. If you can’t come, you can stream it live!

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana

Female Awesomeness Promoters: Obaasema TV and Jill of All Trades

No Comments

It’s not every day one becomes thoroughly impressed. But when I saw the work of Obaasema TV and Jill of All Trades JoAT, I fell immediately. They promote and highlight female leaders in the creative space in Ghana and do it so well.

Below, two videos on women who I am privileged to know, Multi entrepreneur Kuorkor Dzani and Environmental engineer Akua Akyaa Nkrumah. Follow their promoters and get awed by the talent, range, and raw awesomeness of sisters in Ghana!

Obaasema Magazine & Obaasema TV

Facebook /obaasema

Twitter @Obaasemamag

Instagram @Obaasemamagazine

YouTube /OBAASEMATV

 

Jill of All Trades

Twitter @joat_africa

Facebook 

Instagram @joat_africa

YouTube

 

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana

Virtual Reality in the Classroom at @Ashesi #VR

No Comments

What I am most excited about right now is virtual reality. Taste the words. V-i-r-t-u-a-l  r-e-a-l-i-t-y. Even VR for short has something! Together with alumni Jonathan Dotse and Kabiru Seidu and their company Nubian VR, and colleagues at Ashesi, I am running a project on bringing VR into the classrooms! So exciting!

We recently brought students, staff and faculty together to try it out! I said:

 “I think Ashesi will in the next year use VR in a host of courses like French, Design and Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Written and Oral Communication and Text and Meaning. We can have morning class by the Eiffel tower in Paris, travel in a blood vessel through the body in the second period, fly after lunch, deal with an ethical dilemma in 360 degrees, and experience expressionist art in the world’s top museums or go to a refugee camp before the day is over. A challenge is that the sector is new, and content is still scarce. Hence we will also produce educational content for virtual reality.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

All you need these days to have an immersive or virtual reality experience is

  • a smartphone with a gyroscope (can your display image rotate?)
  • a VR smartphone stereoscopic holder of some sort. Our project uses a mid-range Google Cardboard. There is also the more expensive Gear VR or the $15 Cardboard box.
  • VR apps for your phone, for instance Google Cardboard, Vrse, in360tube, Other Space.

This new revolutionary technology that came out of Oculus Rift’s crowd funding campaign which created a consumer base for VR and the Google I/O conference in 2014 which paired the smartphone with a cheap shell to lower costs and popularize VR. Oculus Rift was bought by Facebook in 2014 for 2 billion USD.

If you are interested to know more, listen to podcast Voices of VR, read the Wikipedia article on Virtual Reality, if in Ghana join VR-GH, and if at Ashesi, do come for our next session on April 20th in Lab 222!

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana

My Visit at DVLA and the Issue of Speaking Up

4 Comments

File 15-04-2016, 12 36 17 PM

On Monday 4th April, 2016 I went to the driver’s and vehicle licensing authority (DVLA) in my hometown of Tema. I had taken the day off (well, student papers waiting to be graded were in my bag) and I was prepared for a full day of Ghanaian administrative duty to replace my soon-to-be-expired license from 2008. I left with the same old license and some experiences I wanted to share with you!

Screenshot 2016-04-11 17.22.13

When I came there I was met the usual chaos of people everywhere, connection people leading the way between rooms marked unhelpfully  “Room 7” and the like. The new thing was a loud speaker that by the gate broadcast a message to visitors to not entrust our business with any connection men or “guru” boys. The irony!

 

However, I had made up my mind to see exactly how long it would take to weave thru on my own. I soon realized that most people sitting and standing waiting were not in any of my queues. After having copied my driver’s license off site, brought it for signature in one office, gotten a fee determined in the banking hall, (no fees are posted for people to see, “all fees are individual, you understand?” explained the clerk), gone to pay GHS 64 in the banking hall, gone back to the first office for another signature, gone to “Room 7” to check my eyes, and after having spent only about an hour on the premises, I was sent to room 10.

File 15-04-2016, 12 31 19 PM

Room 10 was empty except for a lady who, scribbling on my forms, was telling me that the “capture machine” was broken and I should please call back another day to see when it was fixed. I said that was unacceptable and that I had taken the day off as my license was about to expire. She sighed and said I can use my application for a new license if stopped by police. I asked to see the manager.

 

File 15-04-2016, 12 30 19 PM

File 15-04-2016, 12 31 52 PM

I was then shown to Mr. Lamptey’s office. A row of young men was waiting outside his door with the notice “no slippers allowed” on it, inside Mr. Lamptey was busy querying people with shoes on about their road sign skills and I waited for him to round up. I explained I had some complaints.

 

Screenshot 2016-04-11 17.24.28He was quite open to hearing me out, or well, he did ask me first to “go to DVLA in Accra” and then he asked his coworker to “show me” some different things I said were lacking, but when I persisted he listened to me and when I was done asked me to write down my complaints and I did.
File 15-04-2016, 12 33 10 PM

File 15-04-2016, 12 35 53 PM

Back outside, I met a former colleague and also Joe (in photo above) who both had been called in as their replaced licenses from one and two years ago supposedly were in. Actually it seemed most of the crowd there was waiting for their license. This after two major scandals in DVLA in the Ghanaian news recently: in November a deal where the procurement of licenses was discovered to be severely inflated was discovered, in 2014 investigative journalist Anas revealed that licenses could be bought outright. True to character, Anas managed to buy a driver’s license for a blind person!

On my way home I decided to pass by a friend, Jacob who owns a workshop not far from DVLA. When telling him about my day, he showed me his temporary license that had been renewed four (4) times since 2014!

File 15-04-2016, 12 36 32 PMFile 15-04-2016, 12 36 56 PM

What is interesting to me is not just the already well documented breakdown of DVLA, but also the complacency or apathy of fellow license holders, people who pay a connection man extra, people who spend several working days every two years at DVLA, or come to the premises only to wait again for a license that has been delayed for years. Ghanaians who might have lost a dear one in a preventable traffic accident. My complaint seemed to be a funny curiosity to Mr. Lamptey.


With that, will things at DVLA ever change? 

 

 

Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana

Seasoned Blogger (me!) Teaching Writing for the Web @PenPlusBytes

No Comments

Screenshot 2016-04-11 16.53.22[Update: Course postponed for May 19th! ]

On Friday, 15 April, 2016 I will be teaching a one day course on how to write for the web. I guess my background as a blogger for 10 years, as the chair of BloggingGhana for 8 years, and as a communications lecturer for 7 years  prepared me well, but it was still an interesting task to think through actually teaching this!

The course is organised by PenPlusBytes, costs GHS 400, runs from 9 am-1.30 pm and deals with the following topics:

•    Harnessing the promise of social media for individuals, organizations and businesses.
•    How to create an online identity
•    Planning your web content more effectively
•    Writing emails that get responses
•    Writing for various online platforms
•    Balancing being a private and public person on social media

What is your top Writing for the Web tip?

bloggingghana kajsa APril14 Kajsa at reconnect 2014BloggingGhana Feb2014

Photos of me talking, tweeting and preaching blogging from BloggingGhana and Reconnect Ghana.

Continue Reading

You may also like

Blogging, Kajsa HA's Social Media

A Good 24 hrs : Tortoise, Hairy Legs, and a Video on Pulse

No Comments

In the last 24 hours, the following all happened to me:

  1. A tortoise crossed the road in front of my car, I slowed down and allowed it to safely get to the other side. There was a slight drizzle, it was after seven PM so completely dark except for my headlights lighting up the dense forest. It was a magical moment.
  2. At the salon, I was told the hair on my legs is nice and “never wax it!” I already knew it is not an issue in Ghana, (in Sweden it is almost a political/feminist statement these days to not remove your leg hair as it does not conform with our beauty standards), but receiving compliments for my hairy legs was a magical moment as well!
  3. I was featured on Pulse Ghana for their women’s month! Journalist Stacey Knott recently came to campus and did this interview in which I talk about being a woman in the Ghanaian academy (“wrestling my way top the top”), blogging and my love for Ghana.

Needless to say, it was a good day.
Continue Reading

You may also like

Ghana, Ivory Coast, Personal

Terrorism in West Africa: What the Attack in Ivory Coast means to Ghana (and to me)

4 Comments

beach paradiseAs so often these days, I got the bad news via social media. A friend has sent a FB message, I went on Twitter to see what it was all about and was shocked and saddened by the headlines: 16 dead in Grand Bassam Resort East of Abidjan.

When it was confirmed that Al-Qaeda has accepted responsibility for the act, I tweeted my thoughts and fears.

Sadly, it is not the first Al-Qaeda attack in the region. Hotels where multiple nationalities and the whole tourism sector can be attacked at once have been the prime target.

But this new attack was on the coast, it was in the bustling and growing direct neighbor Ivory Coast, it was so close to home, and that’s why this attack has already affected Ghana. We cannot feel safe here and that will imediately rub off on especially tourism, in the same was the ebola effect did. I am not saying the next attack will come to Ghana, but it is enough that it might. Travellers will prefer to not take the risk and the local economy will suffer for it.

My blog colleague Jemila also discussed the attacks and asked “how many more attacks before regional strategy and action?” and expanded with insight on many of these points and captured them all in this blog post. She wrote:

“Each attack that happens elsewhere shouldn’t just be an occasion to “thank God, it’s not us”. It should also be a “what would we do if”. Simulation and strategizing around different scenarios is key.

We’re in an election year – the lens of the international press will turn to us, we already have a large expat community.

How prepared is Ghana? What will we do – not just for expats – but also for those of us we won’t be evacuated at all cost?”

The question on how ready we are is interesting as we do not speak much about terrorism in Ghana, but we definitely also are not blue-eyed. The major hotels in Accra have for some time now increased their security check you and your car thoroughly before you can enter. Ghana has a system of police presence with barriers in all major communities and as tourism is a major sector, we have everything to win from keeping our guests safe. On the other hand, terrorism is now a global phenomenon and it has showed that it cannot be stopped just by increased security.

Just last weekend, my family went west on a beach trip and lodging on the very same beach strip, just a few hundred kilometres away from Grand Bassam. The same palm trees, the same tropical heat, the same crickets at night. It makes me sad that I now look at that time on the beach as a time of innocence and pure enjoyment that really cannot be recovered.

Despite what has happened, this attack means I will continue enjoying life, keep going to the beach, and walking about town. I will also continue discussing events like these with my students and with my friends across the globe. I will keep inviting them to West Africa! I will continue to work for a world where life is worth living for all.

Because what can we do? If we stop living, to use a cliche, the terrorists have already won.

 

Continue Reading

You may also like