BAKE has had a successful and busy first half of the year.
Thanks to funding from HIVOS foundation, BAKE hired 3 employees to help run things more smoothly. An accountant, Office administrator and Communications Manager were all hired. They run the day to day business of BAKE and ensure all that needs to be done is handled on time and in an efficient way.
BAKE has been involved in a number of activities this year.
Trainings
We have had four trainings this year namely:
On 1st February 2014 we had training at the Nailab where we focused on blogging from a hobby to a profession. We had several established bloggers in various sectors such as Technology, Fashion, Photography, Lifestyle, Sports and Business who have successfully run their blogs over a period of time and transitioned from hobby bloggers to professional ones talk to.
On 22nd March 2014 we had training in conjunction with the Creatives Academy at Daystar University, Valley road campus and we focused on Publishing online for blogs and social networks where we had 3 of our members talk to the students about their experiences in blogging and gave them the basics of how blogging works. We held another at their Athi River campus on 26th of March.
On 29th March we had a training session at the Nailab on Security for online content creators. We focused on giving tips on how to ensure your identity stays private and that no one can spy on you or threaten you for your content.
On 12th April 2014 we had training at the Nailab on Social Media and brands and the opportunities for bloggers in the corporate world. We invited several brand managers from different companies.
On 26th June, we held our first training outside Nairobi by going to Nyeri County. We focused on giving training on blogging basics and opportunities available in Blogging. It was a hands-on training where bloggers were taken through the process of setting up blogs and given tips on how to run them.
BAKE Membership
We have had 209 new members sign up with BAKE. 93 of these bloggers were through the training sessions we held. The rest have signed up through different marketing events and from word of mouth from existing members.
BAKE Kenyan Blog Awards
We had a successful 3rd Edition of the Kenyan Blog Awards which were held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi where we hosted 250 people and awarded 18 bloggers in 17 categories. The sports category had a tie and thus two winners were awarded.
BAKE University Chapters
As a way of promoting online content creation in universities BAKE decided to set up chapters in universities to train and support online content creation in Universities. We already have one university chapter at Daystar University. We are also in advanced talks with 10 universities on setting up more university chapters
We opened the Chapter at Daystar University on 26th March 2014 and have conducted three trainings with them.
CSR Project
BAKE in partnership with Grab A Book; have launched a CSR project dubbed “Adopt A Library”. The project entails setting up a library at Shadrack Kimalel Primary School in Ngumo. The aim is to raise Kshs, 108,000 for the project.
The money would do the following: secure 300 books, 4 puzzles or game-boards and shelves for the library. As it stands, Ksh. 20,000 has been raised and 100 books secured for the children.
On Saturday 22nd February, a soft launch was held at the school. It was a meet and greet for the BAKE and Grab a Book to familiarize themselves with the space set aside for the library and to meet some of the children.
The school mainly caters to children from the Kibera slum area and the head teacher, Mrs. Mary Mukasa sees the library as a way to keep them busy rather than have them idle and roaming the slum. It was decided that the team will first focus on the lower primary school (class 1-4). This is because they are the ones who leave school early and have no Saturday classes; therefore more is needed to make them productive. It was also because they need the most help in terms of reading and writing.
From the soft opening, a few things were deducted; some of the children have issues with reading. Therefore going forward, the aim will be to get books tailored to help them read, ones where sounds are key in the book.
The team is also looking into starting indoor games as the students are many meaning only a few can use the library at a time. A separate room for the games will be set up. Volunteers from Grab A Book have been helping to conduct the library sessions so far.
| Budget | |
| Description | Amount |
| 300 Books | 60,000.00 |
| Puzzle and Games | 10,000.00 |
| Repairs | 70,000.00 |
| Sub-total | 140,000.00 |
| Less: Amount raised so far | |
| Books | (20,000.00) |
| Repairs | (10,000.00) |
| Additional amount required | 110,000.00 |
University Blog Awards
After the successful launch of the first university chapter at Daystar University, we are looking to set up more in other universities. Once this is done, we shall hold awards for bloggers within the different campuses. The plan is to have this done by the end of this year.
We are currently in talks with the following Universities to do so:
The University of Nairobi
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Kenya Methodist University
Strathmore University
Kenyatta University
Catholic University of Eastern Africa
Writing Competitions
We intend to organize one writing competition, on different topics within the year in each university, with the winner and the second best being rewarded with Kshs 70,000 and Kshs. 30,000 respectively.
BAKE has been involved as a partner in several events this year
Digital Fair
On 7th and 9th March, BAKE was among ICT firms that showcased at Digital Fair East Africa. We had a stand at the event where we got to meet and interact with bloggers and other members of the public. It was a chance to get people to know what blogging is all about.
CMS Africa Summit
We also took part in the CMS Africa summit which was held at Strathmore University on 7th and 8th March. Kennedy Kachwanya, BAKE’s CEO gave a talk on blogging and the event was a way for us to get involved in spreading knowledge on content management systems. Through our partnership, some of our members got to attend the event and learnt a few things.
BFMA 2014 Conference
We were once again media partners for the Broadcast, film and Music Africa conference. It was held at the KICC and we once again got to showcase to the public what blogging is all about. We got to enlighten the public on how music and films also have a platform on blogs.
Social Media Day
On June 30th, as the world came together to mark the 5th annual Social Media Day, BAKE played a role in the events in Kenya. We ran a successful online competition in the run up to the day. The competition dubbed “Tumetoka Mbali” was a chance to remember what life was like before the onslaught of Social Media. The winner – Linda Wawira- walked away with a Nokia XL courtesy of Microsoft Devices.
We also held a cocktail at the Nailab where we launched a report on the State of Social Media in Kenya. The report was in conjunction with Digital Rand and it shows where we are as a country in Social Media use and projects what to expect in future.
SOMA awards.
We have once again come on board to sponsor the Social Media Awards (SOMA). Nominations for SOMA 2014 kick off on 22nd July and we are looking forward to playing a role in awarding those using social media, in particular blogs to make a difference in society.
Sondeka Fest 2014
In September, Sondeka Fest shall make a comeback. This year, it will be all about painting a futuristic idea of Kenya and how we see it. BAKE will be at the event to support the art industry and also share information and knowledge about blogging.
Social Media Strategy Workshop
On 6th March, ICS Kenya in partnership with Interactive Concepts held a Social Media Strategy Workshop at Riara University. We were media sponsors and helped to push for corporates and individuals to attend the event. The event allowed us to shape how businesses view social media and blogging.
Future Activities
We plan to open more County and University chapters.
We plan to have the university chapter awards and the writing competition.
In the next 6 months, we also plan to hold trainings in the following towns;
Kisumu – August 2014
Mombasa – September 2014
Machakos – October 2014
Nakuru – November 2014
Eldoret –December 2014
Partnerships
We are looking for partnerships in the following
Media partners – we seek to work with media to spread blogging to the masses. We want to give the views of bloggers on issues affecting Kenyans. We also want to partner with media to advertise and promote the awards so that it can involve all members if the public.
CSR partners – we are looking for partners on our CSR projects. We are looking for people to join us in the currently ongoing projects as well as in future projects.
Training partners – As we go forward with our trainings, we are looking for partners to aid our cause. The training partners can support us in terms of monetary partnership or by aiding in providing personnel or venues for the different trainings.
Awards sponsors – We are looking to get sponsors for the Kenyan Blog Awards as well as the University chapter awards.