Had an amazing time leaving NYC for a bit to attend Africa Gathering in DC. Unlike other typical African conferences, this was literally a gathering of ideas from entrepreneurs ranging from film, music, to solar power, agriculture investment, to youth voting promotion, women’s empowerment. Each speaker discussed their ideas for 20 minutes and it was a packed day full of inspiring moments.
As I am in the midst of job searching, this was the kind of inspiration that I needed. Being surrounded by people who truly believe in what they do remind me that finding purpose in a career is absolutely possible.
Beyond the great inspiration, this was also the first event where I live-tweeted with many cool tweeps whom I had been following on issues regarding Africa. Even without prior realization, I found myself in the same room with @LightSolar, @InnovateAfrica, @Solar_Sister, @KateBomz and more. With the hashtag #AGDC, each organization that presented, we found their twitter handle and there was instant interaction not only within people tweeting in the room, but with everyone else out there who was following the conversation. People and groups such as @VoteorQuench, @kambale, @khwezimagwaza, etc were noticed. Even @WorldBankAfrica retweeted one of my many tweets!
It’s nice to step out of daily routines and search for tidbit of inspiration everywhere. I look forward to many more gatherings as such, and to that end, I must plug for the African Diplomatic Forum that Columbia SPAN (SIPA Pan-Africa Network) is hosting next Friday, November 18th! If you are in the NYC and has time to attend, it’s free to the public and should be very interesting and inspiring! If you are unable to attend (since it is on Friday, and people have jobs and whatnot), follow hashtag #CUADF for the play-by-play live tweets!
