The Guardian hosts sessions as Social Media Week opens Monday

The yearly Social Media Week (SMW) Lagos, the 2018 edition begins on Monday, February 26 and runs through March 2, at the Land Mark Event Centre, Oniru, Lagos.

The Guardian, which is once again the official media partner of SMW, Lagos, will host two panel sessions on Monday, exploring the theme: The Future of Digital Publishing.

A panel typically features one moderator, and up to five industry experts, who represent different perspectives and opinions in a given area. The panels will last for 60 minutes each and can sit up to 300 people.

So far, more than 300 people have registered for The Guardian sessions, and there is still room for another 300 if you log on to www.smwlagos.com/attend.

In Session one, which comes up at 12 PM, aggregator giants and digital publishers will discuss the topic: Staying profitable in the time of aggregators. The panellists include Remi Dada, formerly of Youtube; Florence Otolorin of Google; Bayo Adekambi, MTN, and Damy Layode of Ringier Africa Digital Publishing. The session will be moderated by Kola Akintola of The Guardian.

Panelists at the 1:30 PM session will consider, Media Power: How to effect change with the content we produce. Content producers across the film, TV, social media, newspaper and the digital landscape will describe what constitutes a good content, and why meaningfulness supercedes commercial value. TV host and documentary producer, Bolanle Olukanni, will moderate the session, while Femi Bakare, Kraks TV; Kemi ‘Lala’ AKindoju, Actor/Producer, and Marcel Mbamalu, News Editor, The Guardian, are the panellists.

Commenting on the event, the Editor, Guardian Newspaper, Abraham Ogbodo, observed that “Times have changed. The newspaper industry today has shifted from its traditional mode. Any media organisation that fails to embrace the digital option, which also approximates what you call Social Media, is on the path to self-annihilation. Social Media can be described as tomorrow’s business today.”

The organisers of the 2018 SMW promise participants a time of insightful conversations, reflections and laudable impact. They stressed that this year’s event will uncover how technology helps people find their individuality, while also fostering community, thereby transforming the world into a global village.

Since it’s launch in 2013, SMW Lagos continues to serve as a point of convergence for Africa’s most innovative minds. The conference has become a marquee event for business leaders, global thinkers, entrepreneurs, civil servants, and anyone with a keen focus on the continent.

The conversation will bring together a diversity of perspectives to discuss the most productive ways to harness these forces to drive innovation, improve consumer experiences, and bring people together.

The week-long event would focus on key socio-economic and technology issues: The Future of Media, Governance, Music Industry, African Women in Tech, Travel & Tourism, Emerging Ideas & Trends.

To the co-founder and Executive Director, SMW Lagos, Ngozi Odita, “I think the fact that #SMWLagos is able to bring so many people together at one time to discuss how we can collaborate and collectively move Nigeria and Africa forward is one of our biggest accomplishments.

“I’m just super excited to see the outcomes of #SMWLagos 2018. What happens when you get thousands in a room to talk about the future of Nigeria and Africa, and how they plan to radically disrupt industries across the Continent. It’s exciting!”