Larry Madowo, Chude Jideonwo speak on excellence in digital media

The event held at the Four Points By Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, July 27, 2017 saw bloggers, social media specialists, agencies and journalists gather to discuss practices and the advancement of the new media industry in Nigeria.

The event hosted by journalist Arit Okpo was opened with a welcome remark from Tosin Ajibade, founder of NMC and popular blog OloriSuperGal.

“The essence for this is for impact and also for growth in the new media industry”, Ajibade shared at the start of the event.

Samsung’s Head of Product Marketing Olajumoke Okikiolu gave the keynote speech for the event. This was followed by a session on ‘Upholding standards and professionalism in new media practices’. This panel moderated by Princess Irede Abumere, Pulse Nigeria’s Deputy Editor-in-chief consisted of Editor-in-chief of Y!/YNaija.com Chude Jideonwo, CEO of FourthCanvas; Victor Fatanmi and Bukola Fagbola.

This panel discussed the issues in new media practices and how the standards of traditional media no longer fit into the digital era.

"Nothing is set in stone, new media is all about breaking rules and finding what works," said Y! Naija editor Chude Jideonwo.

He pointed out how traditional media was

"New Media has given the society a power and a voice to share their views on different issues" , he said.

The second session was on ‘New Media Content Strategy, intellectual property, and the future of media in Africa’. The panel moderated by media entrepreneur Isabella Akinseye was made up of Kenyan Digital analyst Larry Modowo, Samsung Electronics Legal Counsel Chidiebere Eze-Ajoku and Efosa Aiyevbomwan; Head public relations M-Net (West Africa)/African Magic.

Modowo during his panel highlighted the future of the industry pointing out that coding was important to cope in the digital age. He also shared that a business without a social media strategy for Whatsapp would die as this is one of the biggest social media platforms in Africa.

"Whatsapp is the biggest social network in Africa. Learn to break your content into whatsapp-sharable files," he said.

Advancement in digital media and introduction of new technologies continues to change how we consume content.

Aiyevbomwan pointed this change saying: "Internet is getting faster and cheaper & it's a threat to TV broadcasting. "

The third panel looked at ‘Shaping the future through women leadership and empowerment:The new media approach. Moderated by Lamide Akintobi, CNN’s Stephanie Busari gave the keynote speech for this session. This was followed by a panel discussion with Tewa Onasanya, PR expert Bidemi Zakariyu, Bukonla Adebakin and Adesumbo Adeoye.

While discussing women leadership, Adeoye, the CEO of Esob ventures stressed the need for women to mentor others.

"Powerful women must invest in other women and have a succession plan for when they leave that position," she said.

"We need a new wave of female successor in the parliament and public sector".

Editor of Exquisite Magazine, Onasanya said women's empowerment needed to go beyond social media.

"Women need to inspire, encourage and empower each other beyond the hashtags," she said.

The fourth and final panel explored ‘ Opportunities in New Media era: using social media to attract tourism’. Moderated by TV/radio presenter Tosyn Bucknor, the panel was made up of travel and tourism experts including Ikechi Uko, Wonuola Olatunde-Lamidi, and Chiamaka Obuekwe.

The 2017 New Media Conference also hosted a masterclass facilitated by Adewale Yusuf, Bolu Essien and Toba Obaniyo.