As I walked from the car park to the entrance of the auditorium at La Palm Royal Beach, something caught my attention so I decided to investigate further.

On my left was a conspicuous Stand from the Ghana Prisons Service with items on display for sale at affordable prices. I wondered about the significance of the Prisons Service at a web, media, tech and entrepreneurial summit.

I inquired about their purpose and I was told the items displayed were designed by Prison inmates who have received training on entrepreneurial skills that would enable them to survive once they are out of prison. That was when I knew Kobby Kyei was indeed a Generational Thinker.

Kobby Kyei (MC)

The host (Kobby Kyei) made a majestic, elegant and awestruck entry into the auditorium which was accompanied by a beautifully produced documentary and pleasing poetry.

For whatever reason, he decided to be the MC for his own program. And he could not have made a better decision. Perfectly executed.

Being the MC obviously afforded him lots of opportunities to slip in titbits of his various mantras to motivate the participants.

One that he’s particularly known for is “The fact that you’re from a poor background doesn’t mean your back is on the ground”. This, he has been trumpeting throughout his media campaign for the 'Shine Summit'.

Perhaps if there is anyone who has attempted to debunk the theory that 'negative news sells', it has to be Kobby Kyei. He obviously doesn’t believe in negativity. He calls himself 'the positive blogger' for good reasons. He believes though negative news for a brief moment would get people choking on their breakfast, it is however fleeting and hence may not last. He urged young
media practitioners “go at your own pace, follow “evergreen stories, positive news, impactful stories, community problems, always focus on positivity and success will follow".

Tommy Annan Forson

Old wine always tastes better.

Tommy Annan Forson affectionately called Uncle Tommy, does not need any introduction. I sat quite far away from the podium but I could say he spoke from a mental outline – experience at display.

Obviously, if you attend a program and a speaker with 43 years of experience in broadcasting and 32 awards is speaking, you only become wide awake and listen attentively. Uncle Tommy has spoken on countless occasions about how appalling it is to listen to some radio programs in Ghana lately. It is either abusive speech, degrading language or over- politicising of every issue in the country.

“There are three rules in broadcasting,” he said “practice, practice, practice.” To him, it’s unimaginable how some presenters do not practice their delivery but just walk into the studio and start their programs. “Some presenters even call the station to tell them to start the program while they’re on their way…This should never happen !!!”, he added.

"Be that first-read version of yourself and not the second-read version of someone else". Recounting the terrible kind of propaganda reportage on the Ghanaian broadcasting landscape, he concluded that “we are sitting on a time bomb”.

He stressed the need for professionalism, decorum and respect for all but especially the elderly, in the media landscape. In fact, listening to Tommy Annan Forson felt like sitting in a Journalism class. I envy those who
were fortunate to have been taught and mentored by him.

Old wine always tastes better indeed…!!!

Portia Solomon Gabor

The journalist who won the Journalist of the Year at the 26th Ghana Journalists Awards organised by the Ghana Journalists Awards. She congratulated the blogger (Kobby Kyei) for putting together the summit.

She began her presentation with an effective and beautifully crafted illustration of the hen that sits on an egg for 21 days to show how she got the invitation to speak at the summit 21 days ago.

In a way to encourage the young and experienced school-going youths who may struggle with academic work, she outlined the struggles she endured with the mathematics subject.

She said: “Not that I did not understand Mathematics, Mathematics did not understand me”. She however mentioned that she was very proficient in literature, current affairs, and English Language.

The highlight or rather turning point in her carrier would probably be when she had to re-do a story about some Ghanaians in a village who died in a capsized boat on their way to school. Her focus was to get life jackets for the villagers instead of food items that were previously provided to them by the sitting Member of Parliament for that Constituency.

Her relentless effort got results and the inhabitants of that village were provided with life jackets as a protective measure when they crossed the river.

Nathan Kwabena Anokye Adisi (Bola Ray)

He started his presentation with an emotionally touching story of how he almost lost his voice which was his main asset and had to undergo a surgical procedure to restore it. He recounted months when his movements were within the confinements of his bed, almost motionless and hopeless. That was a heart-wrenching story that sends chills down one’s spine.

As a man who believes in local businesses and has championed the Ghanaian music, arts and culture industry, Adisi mentioned how he could assist younger businesses by advertising their products on his social media handles. He kept stressing the importance of digital media in the arts, reporting and journalism space.

“The digital age is important because technology is changing, so in order not to be in one place, the person who does not upgrade could be deemed as going back…We have to upgrade; young ones are coming up with smart and intelligent ways of doing things”.

He emphasised that, although digital media has augmented the way work is done, passion for the job – (whatever you do) was imperative. He espoused that “without passion, the effort will be fruitless”. He concluded by urging all inexperienced broadcasters and entrepreneurs not to hesitate in asking for help from experienced ones like himself.

Anthony Mensah Dzamefe (CEO of Caveman Watches)

Unassuming in appearance, but very poised, accurate and convincing in speech. One of his outstanding quotes was “Spend time doing business instead of chasing people…Don’t be dependent on the “big men”, you didn’t create your product because of them”.

He said this to emphasise the point of spending more resources in building one’s product and brand instead of forming the all too familiar and perpetual notion of having a sense of entitlement.

Using his own experiences of several failures he had encountered, he said again… “After you build a valuable product, success would come chasing you…Turn rejections into redirections.”

He mentioned how he struggled through different businesses but failed and finally settled on selling watches. It all started when he bought just one watch for himself but ended up selling it to someone who admired it. He then decided to turn buying and selling watches into a business.

Out of interest and probably mere curiosity, he visited roadside watch sellers and repairers, buying and observing intently with wide eager eyes how the sellers repaired the watches. He then experimented by dismantling and reassembling the watches he bought, which unlocked his potential as a watch manufacturer.

His last words were “Don’t be in a rush to look rich…sometimes I had a lot of time but I had no money”. “I have no time on my hands now and I still have no money”.

French Ambassador(Ambassador Jules Armand Aniambossou)

The Guest of Honour for the occasion – The French Ambassador to Ghana – His Excellency Ambassador Jules Armand Aniambossou. He said with warmth and empathy, “I was in France when I received the invitation as the Guest of Honour for the occasion…I couldn’t miss it for anything”.

He was overly elated to be part of the program and urged the youth to seek excellence, obedience, respect and eschew all forms of pride and arrogance in all they did. He reiterated Kobby Kyei’s statement of the importance of attending school for the association in order to get “classmates”.

“Emmanuel Macron was my mate in School,” said the French Ambassador.
In order to brighten the hopes of young Ghanaian and African youths, he mentioned the premium the French President Emmanuel Macron puts on the African continent. He said: “The world is eagerly waiting for the African continent...The continent is young, strong and with a bright future”.

He stated that the French Government is more than willing to build a future with young Africans through technological innovation, particularly the positive use of social media “Where are the ladies”? He quizzed…he was eager to see a total inclusion of women in improving and changing the ecosystem.

“Passion, responsibility and consistency are important if we are to improve and change the African ecosystem”. The French Ambassador disclosed that France is ready to work together to improve the African ecosystem hence the French
Government has allocated $2m in support of the development of the youth in Ghana.

Futurist Kwame

Coming events cast their shadows indeed. His name is Futurist Kwame -Kwame A. A Opoku is a Futurist, Global Business Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker, Brand Architect, Public Speaking Coach, Serial Entrepreneur and social media/Digital Marketer.

Eloquent, confident, courageous and convincing. He mesmerized the crowd with his
“technological eagle eye presentation” that looked into the future for all plausible scenarios.

His presentation gave a vivid description to the appreciation of the audience how technology has influenced lots of human activities and changed over the years. With his enthusiastic firm conviction and with some sense of humour, he excited the audience with improvements in Technology, some of which sounded unimaginable and absolutely implausible.

Then he released what scientists call the 'Amygdala' which represents the sense of fear and unbelievability the human displays towards seemingly impossible inventions or outcomes.

To the participants, most of the futuristic inventions due to their Amygdala seemed impossible, but the speaker made it clear with illustrations and examples that prove that those inventions were not mere conjecture, but indeed realities

Nana Ama MC Brown

Now known mostly as 'Terminator', Nana Ama Mc Brown started her presentation with dance moves from King Promise’s Terminator song. That stimulated the audience and got most of them on their feet in ecstasy.

Being very practical and straight to the point with some humour, she stated “If you are not ready to survive, don’t start…I believe in Ghana because I am a product of Ghana...it doesn’t mean I want to do politics…I just believe in building Ghana.”

“Know yourself and know your capabilities… Choose a hobby that you love most”. The actress and TV host believes so much in identifying one’s hobby and making a living from. She stated the importance of being mentored by experienced pace-setters. Doing seemingly menial jobs like ironing clothes for actors and actresses because she was late for her role was not something she was ashamed of. “I cooked, washed cleaned and did all kinds of jobs just to get
opportunities” she said.

“After discovery, be ready to learn and serve… Successful people would tell you their secrets as you walk with them closely”.

She took time and learnt a lot from her association with the CEO of Miracle Films and that was where she got her skills and opportunities from.
MC Brown said again that at a certain point in her life, it was important to think in retrospect and position her new life of stardom as one that is appealing. She opined that there is always the need to discreetly avoid keeping company with people who do not add value to one’s brand. The opposite would be detrimental to the hard-earned good reputation.

Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon - Wode Maya

“We have heard all the speeches and beautiful motivational messages, but I’m here to show you the way…I will show you the way…I am not going to inspire you; I am going show you the way” said Wode Maya.

With Ten (10) years as a YouTuber and accumulating hundreds and thousands of dollars and followers, the successful YouTuber said he was ready and willing to mentor young Ghanaians who would dare venture into the digital space. He challenged the youths present to dare start a YouTube channel and contact him for his assistance as soon as possible.

In order to motivate the youth and urged their endurance in the digital space, he said “My mother thought a spell had been cast on me when I decided to be a YouTuber…Now she asks me, which country are you going to next”?

He likened YouTube to an ATM machine in the sense that, one could withdraw money from it only when there is money in the person’s account Bank. He also likened blogging/vlogging about unnecessary and less impactful content to fast food. It’s an easy-to-make and fast-consuming delicacy that doesn’t nourish the body enough.

The opposite is true for spending time and creating more impactful content that can last for 5 to 10 years. He termed such impactful content as “evergreen”.

Bernard Kafui Sokpe

The gentleman who is behind the Verification badges for Ghanaian celebrities on Twitter. He is also a brand and marketing consultant who worked with Twitter as a senior manager some time back.

He stated the importance of brand management and the challenges and inadequacies an individual endures when building a brand or product on the way to success.
He stressed that the content being created should be authentic and align with one’s values and the nature of the brand.

Because social media has the power to influence its users either instantly, logically or passively, influence does not need to be about numbers, it has to do with content.

Being a brand specialist, he elaborated on the importance of paying more than the usual attention to getting one’s 'content game' right.

In all, the Summit was educational, motivational and affirmative in nature. It was surprising that this was the maiden edition. The total number of people who registered to be part of the Summit was 750, but the auditorium ended up with about 850 people in total.

It was well-planned and executed to perfection.

In Public Relations practice, the end of one campaign begins the next one. We look forward to next year’s 'Shine's Summit'.