Circum-Alert: BarCamp Ghana 2011 (Focus on Career Development)

Hi Folks!

It's been ages since I blogged and I must say even I am surprised at how few posts I've been able to publish since starting grad school. Some of you have emailed questions concerning pursuing a graduate degree - to do or not, what to consider, the works. Once I have some free time I'll probably do a post on my candid impressions about graduate school. For now though I couldn't let this event pass without some mention on Circumspect: BarCamp Ghana 2011!

Globalization = (By Force/Voluntary) Partnerships
Life in this globalized era means many things. One of those is the importance of partnerships and collaborations. Like it or not, what happens in one part of the world resonates in another. Choosing not to 'participate' in the global system doesn't necessarily mean you're excluded anymore: case in point, the global financial crisis. A similar dynamic is evident at the local level and especially when you're actively seeking to influence your national or local system through one project or another.

Connections Vs. Networking
Everyone in Ghana has at one point or another encountered the need to use "connections". This usually entails having a family friend or distant relative put in a good word on one's behalf in order to improve one's chance at an opportunity. While it might get the job done, it's by no means a sustainable way of creating partnerships. What happens if your family has a falling out with that 'connection'? Does that mean your job (and everything invested) is on the line? And what about the thousands other people who you don't have an apparent link to? What opportunities are you missing out on there?

I think it's time the mindset in Ghana changed from "connections" to networking. Here, networking is not an ad-hoc (or last minute) attempt at getting your foot in the door, but a more long-term, strategic development of professional relationships that are mutual. From personal experience, nurturing relationships with people in fields I'm interested in, or just curious about, have had a positive impact on the opportunities I have undertaken. Already, the momentum around strategic career development is being built in Ghana and BarCamp Ghana 2011 focuses on exactly this.

Mentorship & Career "How-To"s
How exactly do you go about networking? What kind of things should you be thinking about with regards to pursuing a career in technology, public service, international affairs, etc? What exactly is a resume or CV? How about the 30-second elevator speech? All these things go into nurturing and developing one's career and laying the foundations for a successful career. Who better to give insight than people who've already been there?

BarCamps are in essence about networking and fostering collaboration around innovative ideas and solutions. Under the theme: "Establishing Partnerships to Transform Dreams into Action-Based Projects: Lessons from Mentors", BarCamp Ghana 2011 will take on the issues head-on and introduce inspirational and well-versed mentors who share candid insights on how they got to where they are, and what you need to do to get to where you wanna be.

So, if you're free on Sat. Dec. 17, 2011 from 8am to 6pm and would love to develop networks both in-country and abroad, then you wanna sign up to BarCamp Ghana 2011. As always, the event is FREE to the general public. Venue: AITI-KACE

NB: Final event details will be announced via the BarCamp Ghana Website: http://www.barcampghana.org/ and Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/BarCampGhana. Please see below for a press release and further details.

BarCamp Ghana 2011- Press Release

Review of 'The Perfect Picture' & the Ghanaian Movie Industry

The Ghana-Naija movie industry saga. That's always a tough one where I'm concerned. On the one hand is my allegiance to Ghana - my motherland, homeland and basically where most of my formative years were spent. On the other hand is my undeniable connection to Nigeria - my birthland and the land of my ancestors. Even though I barely remember that much about Nigeria, I do joke about when I will "finally return to my birthland." Maybe it's this umbilical connection, that makes me slightly biased towards Nollywood when it comes to the Ghana-Naija movie saga. Truth be told, I barely paid Ghanaian movies enough mind when I was growing up. I was more likely to watch a Nigerian movie instead, and even then, I was picky. Ramsey Noah or Genevive Nnaji had to be part of the cast. Why this bias towards Naija movies? It's simple really; their acting was generally better. These days, I'm more willing to watch anything Ghana-related. For one thing, the surges of homesi...

Lifestylz GH Interview: Sangu Delle

As part of Lifestylz GH’s interview series, we bring you our premier interview with Sangu Delle. Profile: Sangu Delle Sangu Delle is a senior at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Ghana, and is the youngest of five children in a bi-religious family (his father is Catholic while his mum is Muslim). He attended Christ the King Catholic School (CTK) and went on to study at the Ghana International School (GIS) until his O-Levels when he transferred to the Peddie School (a college preparatory school in NJ) on scholarship. His areas of concentration in academics are Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development. Aspirations To be involved in the development of Ghana and Africa at large in some capacity. In the past, he was more involved in non-profit and development work, but has increasingly become active in entrepreneurial and business ventures; a testament to his belief that there should be “less foundations and more entrepreneurs” in Africa. In his own ...

Interview: Maame Sampah, Emmanuel Lamptey, REACH Ghana

Circumspect interviews Maame Sampah and Emmanuel Lamptey, Executive Board Members of the Representatives for Equal Access to Community Healthcare (REACH) Ghana to find out how they got started, what projects they're currently working on, and what they're looking forward to. -- Circumspect: Tell us about yourselves. Maame Sampah (M.S.): I’m currently a graduate student. I’m with an HIV group right now, and so I basically do HIV research. Before then, I did undergrad in biochemistry and French at Grinnell College. I’m doing grad school at [Johns] Hopkins now. I went through the Ghana education system - Wesley Girls, Bishop Bowers before then. I can give you the name of my nursery school. And yeah, so here I am. I’m going to be in school for a while, and basically I’m going to end up in a career in clinical and research medicine. I have a huge family, I have four siblings. My parents both live in Ghana. My siblings however are kind of scattered in the U.K and here [U.S.] an...

Circumspecte

Search This Blog