I’ve attended a number of tech conferences in South Africa and at every one of them one of two topics seem to raise it’s head, and frankly I think we need to ban the types of people pushing these topics on stage from speaking…

Social Media Marketers

Every time I attend a conference I find that I would have much rather have been listening to one of the developers in the crowd than the person on the stage, this feeling is amplified when a self proclaimed Social Media guru takes to the stage. In South Africa this is especially true because we have a huge amount of talented devs often sitting in the crowd, and a social media evangelist hogging the lime light.

I have nothing particularly against Social Media agencies, but I do take issue with the fact that they insist that a room filled with a thousand tech savy geeks live tweeting from their latest Apple iSomething has never heard of Social Media.

VC and Angel Investors

Another group of people I think conferences can do without are all these VC and Angel Investor types. These blokes very often have never written a line of code in their lives, have a horrible track record in picking investments and most of them have never run a start up or even launched an app. Then we ask them to run onto the stage and for 30 minutes tell us what we should be doing as entrepreneurs thinking about starting up?

This is very much like having talent scouts running on stage explaining what they are looking for at a talent show instead of having the actual talent showing off their skills on stage. It’s always so sad to see all the people clamouring for attention from investors after they speak… Why on earth are we flocking to investors anyway? Shouldn’t they be flocking towards the talent? Put the talent on the stage for goodness sakes.

The Silicon Cape events have been trying to put the talent on the stage. They have this elevator pitch competition they always run, and although it’s a step in the right direction, I feel a 30 second time limit on a world changing idea someone has spent months, if not years coming up with, is grossly dehumanizing and insulting. I personally would never do an elevator pitch at a Silicon Cape event on stage, for that matter I refuse to do elevator pitches in general.

In Conclusion

Can we please for the sake of sanity put people on stage at Tech conferences that are actually trying to build tech? Investors and Social Media Marketers are essentially fanboys of tech, using it and investing in it but not building it. Can we get the engineers and tech entrepreneurs back on the stage please?

If you missed Net Prophet on 13 May, you can now see all the videos of the day’s sessions on the Net Prophet blog.

1. Vinny Lingham – Building a global business – lessons learnt
   
2. Stefan Magdalinski – Observations from building a technology business in Africa
   
3. Adriaan Pienaar – The WooThemes story
   
4. Stuart Ntlathi – The next generation
   
5. Richard Mulholland – The side-effects of social media
   
6. Patrick Kayton – Shaping the future of internet publishing by shrugging off the past
   
7. Arthur Goldstuck – The Sophisticat, the Elephant, and the Secret of the Digital Native
   

The Cape Town [Startup Digest] is a curated events list created by entrepreneurs that is focused on the needs of startups in the greater Cape Town area. They do the work in finding out about the best events each week so you don’t have to.

South Africa Beyond 2010

When: 30 March 2010, 14h00 – 17h00
Where: The Cape Town Hotel School, Mouille Point
More Info: Contact Faghmieda King: Faghmieda.King@enablis.org

Structuring your business for the next 10 years: Enablis panel discussion with Philip Dexter. Come and join a panel discussion with members of the Young Presidents Organization. Entry fee for non-members of Enablis is R50.

19th Cape Town Geek Dinner
When: 30 March 2010, 18h30 – late
Where: Royal Cape Yacht Club
More Info: http://wiki.geekdinner.org.za/wiki/Cape_Town_March_2010

A dinner meetup of the cities geeks and tech enthusiasts. Anyone can attend a GeekDinner, and attendance itself is free. You only pay for your own food and drinks. If this month’s geek dinner is fully booked add your name to the mailing list and book early when the next dinner is announced.

Silicon Cape Networking Event
When: 31 March 2010, 18h00 – 23h00
Where: The Old Biscuit Mill
More Info: http://www.siliconcape.com/events/the-next-silicon-cape

You are called upon to attend the second Silicon Cape Networking Event. We have an extremely exciting line-up of informative entertainment planned for the evening. To keep things light hearted and hilarious, we have roped in one of South Africa’s Most Amazing entertainers, Rob van Vuuren (from Corne and Twakkie fame), as the MC. Justin Stanford will give us a short and sweet update on what’s been happening in the Silicon Cape; One of SA’s leading investors will offer some concise insights into what investors are looking for; and then we open the floor up to YOU, the entrepreneurs. 6 – 8 entrepreneurs will be given the opportunity to shake some stealth by pitching their business ideas to the audience. The audience will vote for their favourite and a small prize will be handed over along with everlasting fame.

Digital Cowboys
When: 31 March 2010, 16h00 – 19h00
Where: Cafe Chic
More Info: http://digitalcowboys.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/next-event-31-march-2010/

Get together in the digital advertising & marketing industry. Everyone is welcome.

Business 2020 Conference: Business, Innovation, Mobile Trends
When: 31 March 2010, 0900 – 12h10
Where: V&A Granger Bay Restaurant
More Info: http://huddlemind.net/events/business-2020-conference-half

This is a business conference business leaders, entrepreneurs and upcoming business men and women. Breakfast will be served at the Granger Bay hotel. We’ll be hosting Marlon Parker and Dave Duarte. Marlon Parker is a Social Entrepreneur, Web and mobile enthusiast, who uses technology to empower communities( See http://marlonparker.co.za/?page_id=2). Dave Duarte is an internet and mobile media educator and entrepreneur. He holds several senior positions in the academic, commercial, and non-profit sectors. He is Managing Director at Huddlemind. The company consults to numerous multinational corporations. (See http://daveduarte.co.za/about).Ticket price: R250.

Cape Town [Startup Digest] is curated by:
Sheraan Amod, Co-Founder & CEO, Personera

Sign up for the Cape Town [Startup Digest]: http://www.thestartupdigest.com