We are just recovering from the flurry of activities that saw the organization of the Digital Camp Kenya. It was the premier event involving the online space stakeholders, held at the Crayfish Campsite Naivasha, on 6th- 7th November.
The Digital Camp had a total of 85 people in attendance. These were participants as well as speakers. We were pleasantly surprised by the turnout, this being the first meeting of its kind organized by us. People were registering even on the material day.
The array of speakers did not disappoint. The whole camping experience was phenomenal as speaker after speaker put their best foot forward in sharing their insights.
Caroline Mutoko curtain raised with her presentation titled “From a radio presenter to a YouTube personality, what is the future?”. Among the nuggets from her session was that if you want to capture the attention of your audience, you have to structure your message to suit them. “We live in the greatest ADD culture of our time. And you can’t buy attention!”, She said.
Then Liz Lenjo followed with a presentation on Intellectual property laws, content creation and freedom of speech. One thing that bloggers took away from her presentation was libel. “Just because your source is a known newspaper or blog, doesn’t necessarily exempt you from libel”, she said. She stressed the need for verification of stories.
Richard Wanjohi, Morris Kirunga, Mikul Shah, Manoj Changarampatt, Isis Nyongo and other brilliant minds on the digital space, one after another brought their wealth of knowledge to the Digital Camp. One of the participants commented that the speakers were well chosen, because they brought in useful and diverse insights.
Evening entertainment by Makadem was nothing short of amazing. We were awed by the melodies of his Benga music, accompanied by Nyatiti, Kalimba, Bass guitar and Bunde (Luo drums). His performance was punctuated by narrations that kept his audience captivated all through.
The camping experience couldn’t be complete without a bonfire and camping tents. People got to network, exchange ideas, and meet new acquaintances. That’s the beauty of these activities, you get to feel like you are on holiday, yet you are still working. Sleeping in tents was sure an interesting first experience to some including yours truly.
The second day was even better, generating several conversations offline and online. The hashtag #DCKenya trended for the two camp days and even on Sunday the 8th November. Even people who did not attend the camp were following the conversations online. Some online conversations under the hashtag are below.
Following #DCKenya online! God bless social media, lol. thanks @BAKE_ke
— Mumbi Ndung’u III (@Cobyi) November 7, 2015
“All bloggers need to have a copyright notice on their blogs.” Liz Lenjo talking legal matters #DCKenya “Your IP is your shamba.” — Zawadi Nyong’o (@ZawadiNyongo) November 6, 2015
One of the conversations coming out of #DCKenya is the length of content created. Short, catchy vs long, in depth. Interesting thoughts! — Mwende Ngao (@mwendesusu) November 7, 2015
#DCKenya definitely needs to be an annual if not bi-annual camp. With serious sponsorship. Hotbed of digital natives https://t.co/KByUS6ChS1 — Zawadi Nyong’o (@ZawadiNyongo) November 7, 2015
There was a total reach of 597, 981 and over 3.3 million views as shown by the graphic below.
As organizers, we learned the importance of working as a team and keeping time. Though we had to change the program many times, we had to rely on the participants and facilitators’ flexibility and understanding.
In summary, no matter how much you plan, there’s bound to be a slight change. Contingencies are as well as working as a unit played a huge role in organizing and executing this event. We would like to thank everyone who made this event the success it was. We definitely look forward to next year’s bigger and better Digital Camp.