Everybody in the Nigerian tech space knows that Social Media Week Lagos is one of the biggest annual events in the industry. There are usually loads of high-profile guests and attendees and loads of educative and interesting events to participate in, and this year is no different.
The week-long event kicked off yesterday and you would expect, there were several interesting events and sessions to be a part of.
After the Innovation Breakfast, which essentially kicked off the entire event, the day started proper with a Facebook presentation on "The Future of Media" anchored by Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer at Facebook. Cox is the most senior Facebook exec to visit Nigeria since CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg visited last year.
Shortly after, still at the Innovation Stage, the next session "How Live Video Can Transform Storytelling" began. This session was hosted by CNN Africa and featured CNN Africa's Stephanie Busari as moderator. Panellists for that session were Jadesola Osiberu of Tribe85 Productions, Sisi Yemmie of SisiYemmie.com and Adetomiwa Aladekomo of Ventra Media Group.
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Next up was "The Future Of Digital Publishing: Breakthrough Storytelling -Content Marketing Today" session which had panellists like Kelechi Amadi-Obi and Enyi Omeruo (Comedienne Chigul's manager). Jadesola Osiberu also featured on the panel and YouTube's Teju Ajani moderated.
At this point, it is important to note that several events were also going on at the same time, at various locations but those spoken about here are the most important ones.
Pulse also held an event tagged "The Rise Of Podcasts: The New FM" which featured Osagie Alonge of Pulse, Princess Abumere (also of Pulse), Dami Elebe of Beat FM, and Andre Blaze Henshaw of the MyAfrica Podcast.
This particular session was interesting because a live recording of the popular Loose Talk Podcast was held and it featured co-hosts Steve Dede and Ayomide Tayo, both esteemed pop culture enthusiasts.
All in all, day 1 of the 2017 edition of Social Media Week Lagos was packed full of activities, interesting conversations and great people. If you didn't attend, you totally should. There is something for everybody.