Farida Bedwei & 2 Others Wins Festival of Ideas 2011 Awards

This tweet below from one of the organizers of the Festival of Ideas conference got me very inspired to write this blog-post about the award recipients who happen to be young and energetic change-makers from Ghana in my Social Circle.

Yesterday, I virtually joined and participated in Day 2 of the #FestivalofIdeas event from Takoradi which took place at the Accra International Conference Center. If you follow this hash-tag; #FestivalofIdeas, you’ll definitely come across a couple of tweets and re-tweets from me.
 
About Festival of Ideas
Festival of Ideas is a business and social conference organized with partnership with Otabil & Associates in Ghana every August. The conference brings over together thousand of corporates executives, business leaders, change-makers and professionals for a 2-day series of high-profile and business talks with renowned world-class speakers as a resource for business development and wealth creation (entrepreneurship). The theme for this years conference was on “New Business Models! New Media!! Enduring Values!!!”
 
Day 2 of #FestivalofIdeas
The main topic/theme for the Day 2 was on: Social Media, Technology & Corporate Communication. Michael Ikpoki – MTN Ghana CEO presented facts and figures in his presentation on Mobile Telephony & Emerging Technology as Business Solutions while Mr. Kofi Dadzie, CEO – Rancard Solutions also shared very vital information on Social Media as a tool for Business & Personal Development.
There was a Colloquium on “Corporate Communication & Media Content” which featured a host of industry experts like; Estelle Akofio Sowah, Country Lead, Google Ghana who highlighted on “Effective Utilization  of the Internet for Content Development“, She stressed on how Ghanaians & Africans in general needs to promote local content by putting much information online. A practical example is how Ghanaians are able to locate places, business and other venues on Google Maps. Google Trader & Blogger, Facebook Pages and Twitter were examples of platforms and services that she mentioned can be used in achieving such task.
Mr. Edward Boateng – Founder of Global Media Alliance also talked on “Strategic Lessons from CNN: A case study in Emerging Media“.  I honestly enjoyed the various points Mr. Samuel Atta-Mensah, MD, Omni Media made on “Engaging Traditional Media in Content Promotion.” I really like his coined term; “Hybrid Media” which the speaker says, is the merging of the Old Media & New Media. This means, old/traditional media won’t die but will survive the test of time if its practitioners embrace and join the band-wagon of New Media.
 
Festival of Ideas 2011 Awards
According to the organizers;

The idea of an award for young Ghanaian Achievers was conceived by Legacy & legacy to climax the 5th Edition of the Festival Ideas in August, 2011. Over the years, the festival has sought to help nurture great ideas and also to empower participants to act with courage and make different in their world. Its all about moving thoughts to actions and impact.

The Ideas Award focus on under 40-year-olds Ghanaian whose initiatives are been celebrated globally. The honouress consistently reflects the ‘New African’ that Ghana’s 1st President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah spoke about: One who persists in spite of the odds, show courage in the face of fear and exhibits creativity in the midst of chaos. Each celebrant have championed a cause that they need not have pursued, but which ultimately proved beneficial to the wider society.
 
Ideas 2011 Awardees
1st Place  – Farida Nana Efua Bedwei

Farida Nana Efua Bedwei was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and spent most of her childhood in Dominica, Grenada and the U.K. before the family moved to Ghana when she was nine.
She got Cerebral Palsy when she was 10 days old, and was home schooled by her mother until she was 12 years old when she entered mainstream school for the first time. To the surprise of all, she excelled and has risen to become one of the top software engineers in Ghana. Her first novel; Definition of a miracle is available on Amazon and other bookstores throughout the country. She’s currently Managing Director of Logiciel; a software company specializing in mobile solutions for financial institutions.
 
2nd Place – Ato Ulzen-Appiah
A blogger, Technologist, Young-entrepreneur, Barcamp-Ghana organizer and an African Music promoter is a recent graduate from Stanford University, California. Ato has championed the development of online platforms for African Music, language and developmental issues in a most unique way. Museke.com and Kasahorow.com are some of his initiatives. He’s the main brain behind the Barcamp-Ghana movement; an ‘unconference” gathering of young people with the simple of desire to share ideas and learn in an open environment. Since 2008, Barcamps have been organized in different cities in Ghana as well as in the US and UK. The MIT and Stanford graduate is also the co-founder of GhanaThink Foundation. You can follow him on Twitter via @Abocco
 
3rd Place – Bright M. Simmons
Bright B. Simons is the Director of Development Research at IMANI, and the President of the mPedigree Network. He performs a range of  functions at IMANI related to social marketing, research and coordinating alliances. In 2009, he joined the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer Community at Davos. Bright, a TED and Ashoka Fellow, is a member of the Evian Group, and an active member of other development-focused societies in Africa and elsewhere, including the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Mobile Communications of the World Economic Forum. He is a recipient of numerous awards, ranging from Marie Curie and Commonwealth Vision Grants to a PPARC Scholarship in Gamma Ray Astronomy.
 
 
 
 

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