Your digital connections are your number-one asset and your online presence matters more than your CV in today’s hi-tech world.
This was one of the key messages that came out of the inaugural Durban Digital Day event that took place last week on Halloween – suitably so, as the tag line was “does the online world scare you?”.
The event was a sold-out affair and such a success that their #DbnDDay hashtag was the top trending topic for most of the day and organisers are now planning to repeat the event in other regions.
Durbanites came in their droves and filled The Factory Café in Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street in Umbilo, to capacity. The event, which focused on all things digital, from online marketing and ||developments to social media and developing content, was the biggest of its kind in KwaZulu-Natal. The day was filled with panel discussions, speakers and networking opportunities.
Copywriter Cath Jenkin warned the audience: “Never look at your website, social media or search engine optimisation as separate things.”
She said they all needed to be integrated online because multiple platforms were essential in the digital world, for businesses and an individual’s personal brand.
In response Cade Lamalette commented on how his business, Death by Digital, sees it.
“For example, your website should be the centre of your universe, you should see Twitter as your call centre and Pinterest as your portfolio,” Lamalette said.
Mike Saunders, chief executive of Digitlab, who gave a key-note address about succeeding in a digital world, said Durban had a lot to export digitally. He said he was talking to a client in France about opening up a branch in London and the client said: “Don’t.”
“His reason was that the creativity coming out of our Durban agency was far superior to that in London… I started to realise that Durban and the rest of South Africa is uniquely poised to outsource our digital skills because of our coupled strategy and creative execution,” he said.
“However, Durban is missing enough businesses to keep the talent here. There needs to be a change in mindset… We need to start investing in our talent here and not ship them off to Joburg and Cape Town,” said Saunders.
Glen Bo, a co-founder of Death by Digital and one of the organisers of Durban Digital Day, agreed with him, but said the event was proudly Durban and there was no other place he would have hosted it.
“Durban is underrated so people here feel the need to work harder,” said Bo, adding that through events like this they hoped to show what Durban actually had to offer.
Durban Digital Day co-founder Fred Felton, of Durban digital firm Falconscove, said it was the first online, digital and tech conference for KZN and a massive success.
‘’For years we have been trying to get a world-class digital conference in place for Durban, and finally that dream is now a reality,” he said.
Bo added: “The idea came about a year ago while I was having coffee with Fred, and eight weeks ago we decided to just go with it and make it happen on Halloween… It was like a match to a gas stove, it just took off and the response has been incredible.”
Felton said the event had attracted top-calibre speakers and experts in the field including the likes of Saunders, Jenkins and Brett St Clair of Google SA. He said the blogger panel, which included the Durban Is Yours crew of Russell Grant and “Bob”, took youth-content to another level.
Durban is Yours also hosted an interesting workshop titled “Youth marketing and controversy in the online age”. They warned that the youth craved “authenticity”.
Grant, the co-founder of the popular blog and online platform, said: “There needs to be a hook to reality and not too perfect… Also, you will never be able to create a young, hip and cool marketing campaign if you do not actually hire young, hip and cool people to do it for you.”
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