As Festival drew to a close last Sunday so began two other high profile conferences, as well as the National Schools Festival in Grahamstown.
As Festival drew to a close last Sunday so began two other high profile conferences, as well as the National Schools Festival in Grahamstown.
The Highway Africa conference and the World Education Journalism Congress (WJEC) attracted more than six hundred delegates and a number of high profile speakers from universities and newsrooms around the world.
People came from far and wide to participate in workshops, attend panel discussions and listen to lectures. There were thought provoking presentations and debates that brought out a marvellous array of innovative ideas to satisfy anyone’s thirst for knowledge.
However in this day of e-everything it is reasonable to ask why all this isn’t done remotely over the internet? It would save bags of money and certainly cut the carbon footprint of the two meetings if all the interaction were done online.
It would be very easy to post all the speeches and presentations on a web site, if this hasn’t been done already, and people could read them at their leisure without having to put up with visas, airports
and a drive from Port Elizabeth.
The answer to the above question is that conferences are really about meeting people and networking. Sure, the presentation and the prescribed debates are inherently worthwhile, but the long-term value and enjoyment come from the informal discussions that happenafter the official sessions.
Immediately after a lively panel discussion, delegates instantly jump up to carry on the conversation or ask questions from a participant who had said something provocative.
At meals and at after dinner entertainment, people are constantly talking, exchanging business cards and working outways of developing ideas for their mutual benefit.
It is this vibrant interaction with other people who share your interests that make conferences worthwhile. Consequently while the success or failure of a conference is usually assessed in terms of the quality of its presentations, perhaps a better measure would be the number of interesting acquaintances you make.
Whichever of the above methods you choose, both Highway Africa and WJEC were highly successful gatherings.
