Founded in New York in 2009 and launched in across five continents and in over 26 cities and counting, Social Media Week will this year launch in Johannesburg South Africa from September 22-26.
This makes it it’s second stop in Africa, after Lagos in 2013. As the first African city to host the event in February 2013, the Nigerian metropolis has provided a blueprint for uptake on the continent, having delivered two extremely successful events to date.
This year, Johannesburg grabs the baton and secures its place at the table. Its sophisticated media and communications infrastructure, expanding start-up scene and renown for hosting world-class events make the city of gold a natural choice for a conference of this caliber.
Globally, Social Media Week’s mission is to capture, curate and share meaningful ideas, trends and best practices with regards to social media’s impact on business, society and culture. “Connecting Our Futures” is the theme set to govern Jozi’s week-long gathering of thought leaders and change agents. Joburg-based digital media agency Digisense will work with the community of Johannesburg, aligning the most relevant and impacting content with the city’s players in fields such as business, technology, entertainment, media and education. Over the course of the week, a combination of crowd-sourced and curated events will take place in selected venues across the city in a variety of formats including: keynotes, panels, networking mixers, virtual hangouts, installations, master classes and exhibitions.
In 2014 South Africa is taking stock of the milestones surpassed and the ones yet to be reached in the 20 years since becoming a democracy. Social Media Week Johannesburg proposes to aggregate in real time the many different conversations that make up the nation’s voice, to present an authentic picture of where we are at and, just as importantly, to project the possibilities of where we can be thanks to the leaps and bounds in advancement that technological innovation allows.
By programming participation from other parts of Africa, Social Media Week Johannesburg will also provide a much-needed nucleus for engagement with the rest of the African continent, exchanges which will flow meaningfully in both directions.
In the months leading up to the event, Social Media Week Johannesburg’s organisers will be inviting our community to submit ideas for events they would like to host in order to give the world a candid insider’s view on Johannesburg’s thriving creative and entrepreneurial community. Social Media Week Johannesburg makes its debut along with major cities like Rotterdam and Sydney in September.