Google, between the 3rd and 5th of June, 2013, hosted industry experts from the business, content creation and entertainment communities to its SYNC Nigeria 2013 conference. The 3-day conference which brought together entrepreneurs, content creators and journalists, was aimed at enabling content creators to embrace the power of the web to grow locally relevant content online and drive monetization.
Delivering the keynote at the event, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor said the sessions are being held with a view to helping individuals from key communities better understand how to take advantage of the internet to boost content distribution. “The internet presents huge opportunities for Nigeria’s creative and content production industry. We intend to work with this community as well as others to fully harness internet tools that have proven to be very successful across the world.” she said
Some of the notable highlights of the first day of the conference included the launch of the Impact of Internet study which examines the internet’s impact on, and potential contribution to, social and economic development in Nigeria. The launch event which was held at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja had the Honourable Minister of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson, as keynote speaker.
Other highlights included a first of its kind 12-hour online musical concert via Google+ Hangouts called Music Out of Africa. The online concert which hosted an array of top Nigerian musical acts like Dr Sid, Dipo, Emma Nyra, Pryse, Yemi Alade, Blink, Show Dem Camp, Endia 48, Temi Dollface and Nosa amongst others afforded the musicians an opportunity to bond with their fans from different parts of the world. Speaking about the online concert, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa said, “We are excited to see our local artists engaging and socializing via Google+. The level of excitement generated is further proof that there is a global community of Nigerian content consumers who are constantly looking for fresh and entertaining content online. Our hope is that these session will further inspire our entertainers and content creators to create and share a lot more content online.”
Some of the activities of the second day included the much anticipated Data Journalism tools training for the Nigerian media and advertisers/publishers session and an e-commerce round-table session with top players in the industry.
The third day was rounded up with a dinner party on 5th of June at Civic Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
SYNC, an acronym for Share Your Nigerian Content, is focused on to enabling content creation and distribution in Nigeria.
View loads of photos capturing the launch event here.
