In previous years, 67squared has spent Mandela Day empowering emerging entrepreneurs with corporate identities, business cards and fully functioning WordPress websites. This year however, we’re planning something a little different.

To date, eighteen local  businesses in a wide range of industries – including catering, baking, food production, fashion, leatherwork, recycling, pet rescue and environmental consultancy – have benefited from this process

This year, however, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve taken the decision to change the formula and hold a ‘hybrid’ conference designed to help these young business people deal with the challenges of entering the digital marketplace, in turn opening up unexpected opportunities.

Our traditional branding and website blitz requires intense, day-long, face-to-face interactions between business owners and teams of designers, copywriters and coders. In the current circumstances, we did not feel we could safely replicate this model.

Instead, we’ve opted to hold a largely virtual event in which we shall concentrate on helping our eighteen business owners adapt to the demands of the digital marketplace and the Covid-accelerated evolution of a contactless economy.

We’ve also embraced the possibility of opening up this event to a much wider audience who can benefit from the content of our guest speakers. We’re going to use that opportunity to give our eighteen entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their products and services, as well as to launch the 67squared Mentorship Programme. We’ll also be announcing an exciting sponsorship deal with web hosting company, Xneelo.

The hybrid “virtual real” event – to be held on Friday 17 July at the Century City Conference Centre – will consist of a combination of public and closed sessions. The high-impact list of guest speakers for the public sessions includes:

• Atang Tshikare of Zabalazaa Design: “Creating Partnerships to Sell through Local & Global Retailers”
• Dylan Kohlstadt of ShiftOne: “Crafting A Digital Marketing Strategy for the New Normal”
• Karin Rae Mathee of Dear Rae Jewellery: “Selling your products online via Facebook, Instagram and Shopify” 
• Gary Readhead of Machete Creative: “Introduction to WordPress: Publishing your First Post”
• Tamburai Chirume of ONEOFEACH: “Building a Brand Story that Resonates with Customers – Locally and Globally”

The line-up of speakers, curated by Godfrey Mokeane of Motion Projects and  67SQUARED co-founder Linde Ndaba, has been designed both to inspire and to instruct.

We’re featuring a selection of local designers and business people, mostly from really challenging backgrounds, who  have overcome the odds to succeed in bringing their passion and their products to a global marketplace. 

They’ll be sharing their inspirational stories as well as invaluable real-world tips and techniques. These sessions will be open to a worldwide online audience through the groundbreaking Century City Virtual Conference Centre platform, which brings many of the advantages of face-to-face conferencing into the digital space.

 To register to attend the event, please visit www.67squared.com/virtual-event/