Owerri Tech Meetup (OTM) — Full Story
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
— Martin Luther King Jr.
Long before now, I had always thought of ways I could contribute to the Tech ecosystem in my own little way. I am always on the lookout for opportunities that allow me to learn more, grow and better develop as an individual in my immediate environment (and beyond).
Most times, when I see people do amazing things with regards Tech in other countries, I am always like ‘why this can’t be happening in Nigeria too?’ ‘Why can’t we find a way to make things work in terms of general socio-economic development just like other countries?’ But then I realized that many people, just like myself, don’t have the required resources or network of people who can help pull anything off, so most times I just dream and make plans while I wait for the opportunity to present itself.
Asides working on a web project back in school as well some other early stage start-ups after school and during my NYSC service year, I always heard about, but missed out on many tech events and tech-related programmes largely because most of them were hosted in Lagos and I was schooling in the northern part of Naija, FUTMINNA to be precise and then went on to serve in Abia state.
Fortunately for me, it was in Abia state I was able to attend Start-up Weekend organised by Daniel Chinagozi, where I met a lot of cool people and shared contacts with some who eventually made this meet-up in Owerri happen.
Just a few days before the end of NYSC, I got a job with a new IT firm and moved to Owerri, barely four months on the job, I had gotten stuck on a routine that had me moving from Home — Work — Mosque — Back home. As someone who loves to get really involved in a lot of interesting and equally challenging activities, I soon got bored. Even before I managed to settle in my new environment, I had been checking on things happening in Owerri as regards Tech, GDG, Tech groups, Meet-ups, Hubs etc., and found that there was barely anything going on in the community. Then I thought, “shey na like this we go dey dey?” Why not find a way to bring people together, network, learn from each other, give room for growth and then gradually, we can start to have something we can call a Tech Community and lay a solid foundation for something bigger? I felt like, asides running a start-up, there are numerous ways to contribute and grow the tech community — and that was basically what inspired the Owerri Tech Meet-up.
Fueled by this divine revelation, I DM-ed Oo Nwoye like; Sir, this and this is what I have been wanting to do but I no too sabi how I fit run am. He replied within seconds, “abeg drop the sir, find a convenient venue, time (that took some weeks though) and send me the eventbrite link. And then, the buzz started. From there, Aniedi Udo-Obong got to know about it and started following me on Twitter. YAY! I literally flooded his DM with messages about the many great things I wanted to do. Lol. Despite his busy schedule, he gave me his full attention, support and links to get support from Google and that was it.
I started thinking of people I could invite as guest speakers and then remembered my Ogas I met at Startup Weekend Abia, John Nnanna and Hanson Johnson, I had reconnected with John Nnanna via Facebook and told him all about the meet-up and viola! he was ready to attend. I had previously sent my boss, Hanson, a mail through Aniedi Udo-Obong about something entirely different they were helping to get functional. I took advantage of the opportunity to invite him, my invitation was met with an instant positive response. In my mind (Lol, I think a LOT), I was like if the Big Boss Hanson shows up, mehn! that’s going to be huge!
I also reached out to Canice Ngumah, really great guy, told him what was about to go down, requested for his support and as they say, the rest is history. I’ll also use this medium (on Medium, Lol) to appreciate OO Nwoye. He never failed to remind me on several occasions: “no go use smartphone to take pishures o… Make he no be like say na MEETDOWN we do.” Lol.
Below are some of the pictures from the Meet-up. You’ll find my captions rather….interesting.
Networking session
Q/A session
Panel Session Handled by the Boss Hanson Johnson
Event closes, Vote of Thanks
August 26th felt like my birthday though! There were lots of challenges few days before which almost stopped the Meet-up from holding, but giving up was (and is) a luxury I couldn’t afford. More importantly, I couldn’t dare to disappoint all those who gave their support through cash and kind and have been looking forward to being at the Meet-up. I was ready to give it all it takes to make the meet-up work and I’m thankful, truly, thankful to God and everyone who made it happen. It was a very enlightening and inspiring time with young, passionate individuals like myself. Lots of ideas were shared as real networking and collaboration happened amongst a good mix of students, bloggers, entreprenuers, developers, designers and photographers from within and outside Owerri.
There have been debates in recent times about what exactly a Tech Ecosystem is and if we really have one in Nigeria and not just a community with the hype of being an Ecosystem. However, with the support I got from the Nigerian Tech community, if I were running a start-up I probably would have gotten huge funds to help me better execute vital projects. Plus, there’s a handful of mentors ever ready to give necessary guidance and support. I think this goes to show the level we are right now in the Tech landscape generally. We might not be at the Silicon Valley level yet but eventually, we will get there — as long as we keep growing and giving support to each other.
I want to give special thanks Aniedi Udo Obong, Oo Nwoye, Google for the support, Hanson Johnson, John Nnanna and Canice Ngumah for believing in me and sacrificed a lot to come speak at the meet-up. They really inspired us. As a matter of fact, they made the meet-up a successful one. Our guests went the extra mile to keep participants at the event engaged and it was a great experience generally. Adewale Abati and Momoh Silm i see you! thanks for trying to reschedule just to join us at the meetup.
To everybody that reached out in one way or another to give support, advice and contributions, yeah I am talking about YOU, there are so many names to mention but thank you, thank you so much.
And to those who i disappointed or let down due to some circumstances, I am truly sorry and I accept responsibility. Thank you for being there.
Tips and Advice shared by Hanson Johnson
Know what your users want, people live out of data.
For freelancers, your latest job should be the best, do better than your last job.
Use pitching events to get your ideas/start-up to potential investors and users.
It’s not enough to have only an idea, have money and people with complementing skills.
Don’t waste time building what your users won’t use. Try to share ideas with few friends/developers. They help bring in a new perspective for a better product/idea.
Udacity Nanodegree Certification speaks for itself. It’s worth getting for people thinking of certifications to get.
Lessons learned from organising a Meet-up:
Plan the meetup as early as possible
Get the speakers confirmed to be at the meet-up at least a week before meet-up date, reiterate their attendance.
Have at least, two people to help facilitate the meet-up and keep things organised especially in cases of larger number of participants.
Try to engage with as many people as possible before the meet-up starts fully. Quality conversations inspire confidence. I got to talk to more than half of the participants individually.
People are always willing to volunteer and they understand that you aren’t perfect.
For updates on future meet-ups, follow the links below. Another one is around the corner.
With your continued help and support, we will place Owerri on the map as a hotspot for the Tech industry within Nigeria and beyond.
WATCH OUT FOR MORE EXCITING STUFF TO COME OUT OF OWERRI. This is just the beginning!
Gracias!
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