My personal story from Stream starts back in December 2016, How a Conference after being inspired by the people met and conversations had. I made a promise to myself and to my fellow Streamers. helped me be a better I promised that I would show a video from a new business that I would create at Stream 2017. A very loft and vague Human. promise, but it is amazing what happens when you put these dreams out into the Universe. Six months later I encountered By Will Green, Apurimac Africa a problem that I could solve, I started a business around it. Just to clarify, I am not a bot or a Russian fake news agent and Three months later we had piloted it with one of South Africa’s I legitimately stand by the above statement with no intention leading and innovative life insurer. Another three months later of baiting your click. I promise to give you least one idea that we had shot and edited a film outlining the story. Another is a fair value exchange for the 1 minute it will take you to read three months later and we had attracted four more clients. this article. What was more rewarding is that it was in an industry that Any business executive worth her weight in salt will know the. I had never worked in before, and it was directly helping large investment it takes to attend a conference. This includes. my fellow Africans that did not have the means to help the time away from family and the work to catch up after the. themselves. In total we helped 100,000 people and helped conference. The repeated pitches, the late nights entertaining. them benefit by $7.6 million. Our goal now is to expand from and lack of sleep in overpriced hotels and uninspiring. Financial Services into Healthcare. conference venues. The very thought of a conference can lead. In our lives we need to take a deep breathe and stand back. to an increase in personal anxiety.. Draw the proverbial line in the stand and plough your energy I had the privilege to attend one of the most liberating into making your dreams a reality. Being away from your daily conferences in the world. An unstructured ‘un-conference’ pressure allows you to decide what dreams you really want to which is slowly becoming the rage and new normal for turn into a reality. corporate conferences around the world. Having attended all four of the expertly organized WPP-curated Stream The takeout from this year's Stream Africa conference was it Africa conference held at the beautiful Spier Wine Estate in was inspiring to see how many people were reflective on how Stellenbosch, South Africa. to intersect their strengths with their purposes that were not What was so special about this ‘formula’ is the freedom. challenged within a ‘marketing or communication or brand’ The freedom to meet new and interesting people from across frame. Since I believe it is our duty as educated professionals Africa and the World. The freedom to discuss and share new to build a future for the next generation of business leaders. and crazy ideas like "How public blockchains will impact Africa is such a young and vibrant continent with such marketing in Africa or How you can network your brain." amazing diversity. These diversities clash to provide both The freedom to wear a skirt or shorts and serendipitously unique challenges and opportunities. It is these challenges share a glass wine with a stranger… at brunch. that make me optimistic about her future. Like most tribes the quality of the whole is directly related to A future that I am fully invested in for my family. the quality of the individuals. As the saying goes "If you want to live a billion lives, solve a Stream attracts the continent's best shape-shifters, future- billion person problem." In doing so you might even create a makers and story-tellers. business ‘Rhino’ and not a ‘Unicorn’ that is valued at a billion dollars. Marketing Maverick Seth Godin, says it best when he says that I am committed to collaborating with other likeminded the future of marketing is with empathy to frame it as follows; optimists to convert these problems into opportunities for the "People like us, do things like this". Stream defined this benefit of the next billion Africans. definition perfectly for me. Join me www.linkedin.com/in/willgreen 53