2010 NCP Conference

Some thoughts by Paul Bannister, Acting CEO of the International Marketing Council of South Africa on why communicators should make an effort to attend the 2010NCP conference:

• 27th April 1994 is a date that is indelibly printed in the minds of all South Africans
• It is a symbolic date that, courtesy of the global power of the media, gained the attention of the entire world as they waited to see if South Africa could make the transition to a peaceful democracy
• That we did and in so doing earned the tag of the “Rainbow Nation” was as a consequence of several years of preparedness in terms of negotiation and planning
• That special day (27 April 1994 ) changed the way that South Africa looked at itself and changed the way that the world looked at us as a Nation.
• It was a true “defining moment” that effectively re-categorised South Africa from Pariah to Miracle Nation and accelerated the country to “interesting” and watch” status (to borrow from stock-broking terminology)
• And every single South African  was involved in, and affected by, that special day in our history
• The 11th June 2010 with the opening of the FIFA 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg is arguably South Africa’s next defining moment
• It is true that we have hosted Rugby and Cricket World Cups, continental and global football tournaments, global conferences and four peaceful democratic elections but we’ve never hosted anything on a scale like the FIFA WORLD CUP (which is arguably bigger that even the Olympics)
• And again,  like the 27th April 1994, the 11th June is the culmination of an immense  amount of preparation since the famous announcement on 15 May 2004
• The manner in which we deliver the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will largely define how the World views South Africa from that point onwards
• This “defining moment” will largely determine whether we are seen to be more than just a “peaceful democracy” and whether we are truly “Alive with Possibility” as we have proudly claimed for 7 years
• And just as the 27th April 1994 affected each and every one of us so will the 2010 Fifa World Cup because if we deliver an amazing and memorable World Cup it can provide the springboard to the future growth of South Africa as a globally competitive nation
• In this situation the approach of the 2010 Joint Partnership Conference on 17th August (day 298 of the World Cup countdown as day 300 is on the weekend) is critical as it a vital forum for the Nation’s communicators as we now urgently need to communicate this to the Nation.
• We are  inviting all South African communicators  to the 2010 Joint Partnership Conference as fellow members of Team South Africa and as Ambassadors of this extraordinary country that we are fortunate enough to call home.  This will be a communicators’ training camp for 2010!
• The Conference  is the ignition point for the final “push to the line” and we are extremely privileged to have an extraordinarily influential, informative and inspirational collection of speakers and participants….and a very substantial pool of delegates including representatives from many foreign embassies.
• The programme ,which is opened by the Minister in the Presidency ,Collins Chabane ,includes a no-nonsense retrospective of our performance to date (notably the Confederation Cup) facilitated by Jeremy Maggs .The second facilitated session (after tea)  will shift the emphasis to looking forward and focussing on “Making it happen”. The afternoon session will be split into 4 focussed tracks where the broad areas of opportunity identified in the morning will be unpacked into a series of specific Communication Action Plans
• To leave you with a final thought – one of the greatest challenges that we will each face in the 300 or so days that remain before our defining moment  ( and that we will discuss at length at the Conference ) is that we need to define and encourage  the behaviours and characteristics that define our very South Africanness…it will be this very South Africanness that we will be presenting to our local regional and international visitors…and to billions of global observers via the media…and it is this South Africanness that will determine whether we use the defining moment as a springboard to our future……….and our communicators play the critical role of both stimulating the debate and amplifying the messaging to the Nation.

Popularity: 1% [?]