Networking at Impala Rugby Tournament
It is day 4 of my visit to Nairobi and it was one of the most interesting so far. I was a VIP (yes!) guest at the final of the Impala Floodlit Rugby Tournament 2015. I am not a rugby fan at all. In all fairness, I hardly watched any of the matches but the atmosphere was electric. I was more interested in what was happening on the fringes of the tournament, i.e. the music, the spontaneous dances, the clowns, the food and the drinks and generally, the people and their mannerisms.
More importantly from Africa Web TV’s point of view; it was a great networking event. The Africa Web TV business cards were in demand as people were interested in forming all kinds of partnerships and relationships with our growing organisation. It is satisfying also to know that a couple of people already knew us having seen some of the items we did on and in Kenya over the years.
Sometimes it is easy to underrate the impact one is making. However because ours is a web-based television, it means we are able to operate without any boundaries. By analysing the statistics and analysis of our viewership, we already know that Africa Web TV is watched at every corner of the world. However, when peoples’ faces light up when you tell them you are from Africa Web TV, it puts a face on the anonymity of those web statistics. It is a humbling but fulfilling experience.
It is sometimes amazing what a camera can also do in such an environment. First a young lady comes to me to say she was a photographer and would like to see how my camera works. I am sure I made her day by giving her the camera to toy with. In fact hours later she came back wanting to toy with it some more. Actually she ended up attempting to do an item for Africa Web TV with another guy, a journalism student, who was also into the camera! As usual, there were those who just wanted their photographs taken without giving any consideration to how and where they were ever going to see the end product.
After a long day/evening, my body started protesting and I unfortunately had to leave the big open air after-party (I had slept only 2.5 hours the previous night!). A long fruitful day it was. Some follow-up meetings have been arranged. The only slight disappointment of this day was that the Wi-Fi at the hotel broke down yesterday and as such I couldn’t file this blog before I went to bed. But every disappointment has a silver lining. It meant I went to bed at around 02:30; which is by far the earliest I had gone to bed since I arrived in Nairobi!
See all the pictures on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/webtvafrica
