The Content Creators Conference

It was only a few weeks ago when I made my Bucket List for 2016. ‘Meet Someone Famous’ made it to Number 65 and ‘Be on the Guest List for an Event’ was recorded next to Number 104. I knew the first one would be the easiest to quickly scratch off my list but I had no idea that the exciting encounter with a TV personality would be between Brett Rogers and I.

Being on the guest list for the #POSSIBLEConference started out with an online application for an invitation to the conference, where you had to give evidence of projects you’ve worked on, as well as links to your social media accounts. A confirmation followed a few days later with an itinerary with full details for the event. I was very excited about what poster had promised I would get out of the #POSSIBLEConference ‘learn how to hone my craft, define my voice, build my audience and take my content creation to the next level through meaningful brand partnerships.’

When my colleagues and I got to the venue, it was already packed even though we were an hour early, the whole outside area buzzing with a frenzy of young creatives. After having the most delicious chocolate croissants that we’d ever eaten in our whole entire lives, we made our way to the inside of the auditorium. In all the time between getting an electronic itinerary and the one that was hanging around my neck on a lanyard, it never once occurred to me to ever look and see who our speakers would be for the day. So one can imagine how incredibly astonished I was when the keynote speaker turned out to be none other than ‘ProVerb’.

After an endearing introduction, ProVerb delved into his presentation themed: Personal Branding. His talk was really engaging; inspiring us to interrogate how we communicate our brands to an audience. He spoke about ‘the values and building blocks’ that make up his brand; a personal touch that I deeply appreciated because it helped for his views and experiences to be understood practically.  Actually both the conference days were made up of speakers who were not only influential content creators in their fields but they also seemed to have been briefed to utilize what I found to be a very effective teaching style; by sharing their stories from a very personal and relatable perspective. It felt like we got front row seat access to ‘what’s worked for them and what hasn’t’ in the most sincere and honest way.

To say that the first day was intriguing and insightful is an understatement. You had to have been there to experience the awesomeness of the conference for yourself. As a young creative myself, who is committed to growing and developing as a writer/blogger, I knew that my life would never ever be the same again, after just the few hours I spent at The Alexandra Theatre in Braamfontein. I walked out overfilled with respect for creatives and their craft a little more than before because I finally understood how they transformed their ideas and aspirations into great achievements. And from what I could discern, success really seems to just be a hella lot of hard work and staying true to your own authentic creative expression. And even though I left feeling overwhelmingly challenged, I also felt closer to realizing my dreams than any other time in my career.

Oh and by the way, all the pictures on this blog post were taken by yours truly ❤