It was a swell time at the recently concluded Social Media Club International – Nigeria Conference which was held on the 25th and 26th of February, 2010 at the Horscal Suites of Nigeria’s Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos. I did a pre-event post/interview and since I was at the event, I thought of ‘reporting’ to YOU readers.

The two day Conference, themed Social Media/Web 2.0 and Brand’s positioning was not only informative, educative and entertaining, but also showed that Nigerians are not left out of the Social Media buzz and are catching up really fast. The event was tweeted live here.

The event’s compere – a budding comedian who goes by the name SACO (Senior Advocate of Comedy) did a great job, thrilling attendees of the event with  rib cracking jokes.

Day One(Februaury 25th 2009): Application of Web 2.0/Social media to health industry initiatives.

After the opening speech by the President of SMCI Nigeria – Mr. Yinka Olaito, the CEO of HCDI (Health Communication and Development Initiative) in person of Mr. Kingsley Obom-Egbulem delivered the first paper of the day speaking on ‘Social Media, Public Health and the future of Health Promotion’. As a Communications and Public Health Expert, he analysed how Social Media/Web 2.0 can be employed in Health Promotion.

The second speaker of the day was Dr. Femi Olaleye who spoke on ‘Social Media and Health Care Initiatives: A Case Study of Wish for Africa Project’. The Medical Doctor and Initiator of the Wish for Africa Charity Project explained how he used the power of the Social Media to raise awareness for the project.

The third and last speaker for the day was Mrs. Ayo Gbemileke, representing Action Health International and she spoke on Health Advocacy and Online Community.

Day Two (February 26th 2009): Web 2.0/Social Media Optimization Strategy For Brand’s Success.

The Day two of the event was a BLAST!!! It was an eye-opener of sort, exposing the power of Social Media on (Personal)Branding success.

Mr. ‘Lolu Mogaji, a Brand and Image Consultant took the centre stage first when he spoke on Social Media and Global Brand “You” Management. He spoke extensively on brand management and how social media tools can improve the brand “YOU”.

Mr. Yinka Olaito took over the podium as the second speaker and spoke on Social Media Optimization & Brand Positioning.

A representative of The Punch Newspaper, Mr. Emeka explained how Social Media can enhance Traditional Media, using The Punch Newspaper as an example.

A Journalist Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, President of Journalists for Christ spoke on how Social Networking Sites can help to grow Organisations, using Journalists for Christ Group on Facebook as a Case Study.

Mr. Uche Nworah, a well read Telecommunications Expert spoke on Nigeria Telecommunication industry and social media marketing.

The last lecture of the day on Fighting Cybercrime war with Web 2.0 was delivered by Gbenga Sesan. He spoke extensively on how Cybercrime had dented the country’s image and how social media was used in promoting the BLING project; he also gave out free copies of the CD – Maga No Need Pay.

In all, it was a great conference and an eye-opener to the benefits of Social Media to promoting your Brand OR Business.

Got questions on how you can get Social Media to work for you OR your brand – drop a comment or send me a facebook message here.

View Photographs of the event here.