For its main September event the British Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Airtel Network Zambia, organised a discussion on Social Media. Some 130 members, guests, media houses, bloggers, journalists and other attended the event. The discussion was led by a moderator, Ms Brenda Nglazi Zulu, founder of the Zambian Bloggers Network and the speakers comprised Mr. Peter Armstrong (Young and Rubicam), Mr. Nathan Sichilongo (Dot.Com Zambia), Ms. Carol White (Ideas Consultancy) and Ms. Janice Matwi (Brand and Communications Manager – Airtel Networks Zambia Plc).
The discussion covered a number of topics, including the forms of social media; their various applications for business, professional and social purposes; the importance of an effective marketing strategy and whether and how social media can be part of that, challenges facing the using it and the numerous analytical applications available to measure their effectiveness.
Many of those attending afterwards commented that the event was a good start to discussing the role of social media in Zambia, how to control some of the less pleasant features that can occur in some applications, and in making the right choice of applications to meet objectives. Given that the event was unable to accommodate everyone that wanted to attend due to lack of space, it would seem an opportunity for another organisation to follow this up with another forum – perhaps drawing on the experiences learned from this one.
The Chamber wishes to extend its thanks and appreciation to Airtel Networks Zambia, to the moderator and speakers and to all those who attended. We also thank the Taj Pamodzi hotel for continuing to host the Chamber’s monthly network lunches and events.”