Hosted by Entamoty & Sponsored by ZeePay, the Ghanaian Youtubers Festival & Awards was a success. Here’s my experience and thoughts of the whole event.
So, I didn’t upload last week, sorry about that. But there is a good reason. In case you saw this on the community tab, then I guess you already know all about it. But in case you didn’t, well that’s what this video is about. The Zeepay YT Creators Festival & Awards, how was it? Well, let’s find out.
Mind you, this video is not sponsored by anyone or any organization, so if I mention some names, it’s because I’m genuinely proud and appreciative of their work. Nothing more, nothing less. On that note, this entire YouTube Creators Festival & Awards was hosted by Entamoty and sponsored by Zeepay. Entamoty, one of the largest influencers groups in Ghana and Zeepay which is more like mobile money but better when it came to ease of use and charges, emphasis on charges. For example, the 2022 budget is charging an extra GHc 22 on all GHc 1000 charges whiles Zeepay is charging just GHc 5. So, if you dial *270# and register, you’ll be able to do all of these as well. Yours won’t say Hi Stephen, cos you’re not me, so bare that in mind. Again, not sponsored, I talked about them cos I love what they do and happy they sponsored the Ghanaian YouTubers program. And also, Mr Andrew, the CEO was kind enough to take a selfie with me.
Now back to the post on the community tab, I, among other creators were nominated for an award. My category happened to be in the Ghanaian Tech Youtubers category, which is great. But the competition was tight. With competitors like Innocent K. Boateng, Rick Aqua, Cyber Reviews, Bytes Unlocked, and Gizmo Hub, I was surprised to have been nominated as well. Notice how I’m the one with the least number of subscribers?
I wished Phenomenal Concepts was nominated for Best Educational YouTube Channel as well. At least with that I know we have over 3,000 subs. So yeah, there were other categories besides the two I just mentioned. Entertainment creator, news and media publication creator, lifestyle creator, travel creator, gospel creator, couple channel, food creator, comic creator, web series channel, humanitarian creator, dance creator, music creator and so on and so forth.
So, on the 25th of November, I left for Accra, cos that was where everything was being held at. I think it was for the same reason why not too many people I personally know were able to come. The turnout was great, but it could have been more. Not everyone lives in Accra, so going on a 3-day program with no accommodation wasn’t really ideal to most people outside Greater Accra. I was fortunate to have family in Accra to spend nights over, but for subsequent events, I believe getting creators a place to lay their heads would be awesome. Regardless, this was the first time ever, such an event had happened in Ghana, the very first. The more reason why I still went. You can be part of the 25th, the 50th, the 75th or the 100th, but the first one, chai, that is something else.
On Friday, the 26th Mark Angel had arrived and there was a city tour with creators. If you’re wondering why the Mark Angel name sounds so familiar, then you’ve probably have seen the Emmanuella; this is not my real face video. Unfortunately, she couldn’t come cos she had to be in school. Anyway, I couldn’t go for the city tour cos I’m not too good with mingling so I stayed at home, and slept. More like rested, cos I had been travelling all night. If I factor in the bus waiting time, people getting down to pee and buy food and the bus getting spoilt at Kasoa, it was more like 10 hours journey. I was tired.
Saturday, the 27th was the Creators Summit at the Zeepay Headquarters. That, I went. Everything regardless the summit was professional, too professional if you ask me. From the registration process which you had to use these standing tablet things, the tags and the whole setting up of the place was professional. Even their washroom was on point. Oh yeah, I have a weird way of accessing places I visit. If they’re washroom experience is bad, it’s automatically disqualified from being called a nice place on my list. I think so far, China Mall, the bigger one at Spintex has had the worse washroom on my list. But I believe the most professional thing was given us access to their Wi-Fi, nothing beats that.
At the summit some VIPs came up to speak, most of which I had never heard of them or even dreamt of meeting them in person. Someone like the French Ambassador for Ghana, where on earth was, I ever going to meet her. Oh, she also has a YouTuber Channel, Touch of France. Wode Maya, Kwadwo Sheldon, Zion Felix, Miss Trudy, Jessica Opare, Samuel from Entamoty, Jael from Pulse Ghana and so many other creators joined in panel discussions with some workshops after was. Fun fact, I was singled out during one of the workshops for how I had branded myself with the Theyo Larbi baseball cap and t-shirt. I enjoyed that swollen head moment. So yeah, there was a lot to take in, literally. Some water, some drinks, some food, even though my fish looks angry here. But at the end of the day, I had to leave. There was a Creator Night Party though, but I didn’t stay.
Sunday, the 28th was the Creators Awards Night at the Accra City Hotel. If you’re wondering, yes, I did check their washroom, and it was nice. They passed my test. With LIVE performances from Bosom P Yung and eerhm, this guy, the night was fun. And the moment of truth, the award for the creators. 17 awards were rewarded with some 3 extra ones for Mark Angel, Wode Maya and Ama Governor, I think. Funny enough, the Ghanaian Tech Youtuber Award went to was the last but one to be rewarded. So, I had no choice but to sit in throughout the whole program. Rick Aqua won, of course. It was no surprise to me at all. That guy is doing amazing with his channel, and I’m planning on stealing his thumbnail ideas.
