BUZZ & EXCITEMENT AS THE FUTURE AWARDS SEASON 7 LAUNCHES IN LAGOS

The Central Working Committee of The Future Awards has announced the start of Season 7. The event will launch on Democracy Day, May 29 at an invite-only media and VIP event at The Coral Reef, Lagos. Referred to by the World Bank as “The Nobel Prize for Young Africans”, The Future Awards continues to remain the most influential and popular youth platform that identifies young people who have excelled at their work, celebrates their achievements, and showcases them as role models to inspire a generation of Africans to believe in themselves and the future of their countries.

“There is a reason why, when you Google for “Nigeria’s biggest youth event, The Future Awards is the result that turns up,” says the head of the CWC Ohimai Atafo. “Over the past seven years, we have taken seriously our mandate to inspire leadership and build enterprise and nothing excites us more than the experience of presenting the over 1000 Positive Role Models (especially outside of entertainment) to young Nigerians and Africans.

“Through the very success “I am the future”, “I represent Naija” and other campaigns, these awards have led the charge to restore faith in country amounst young people, fundamentally altered for good the way young Nigerians are viewed as leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs, become a launch-pad for change projects, businesses, ideas and collaborations across the country, gotten more young people involved in leadership and governance, and in pioneering the merging f pop culture with development and advocacy, has made it cool for young people to get involved in their country. We are excited to be on that journey again.”

At the event, the Committee will unveil the campaign for this season, the judges, the process, the categories, and the schedule of activities including the town hall meetings across the country’s six geo-political zones. There will also be an exclusive interactive session with organisers, winners and associates of the awards. The Future Awards 2012 will hold on August 26, 2012. More information on this year’s event can be found on www.facebook.com/TheFutureAwards. Official media partner is Y! (www.ynaija.com).



ABOUT THE FUTURE AWARDS

Referred to by the World bank as 'Nobel Prize for Young Africans”, The Future Awards continues to be the most influential and popular youth platform on the continent. It identifies young people who have excelled at their work, celebrates their achievements, and showcases them as role models to inspire a generation of Africans to believe in themselves and the future of their countries. With outreaches to Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa and having visited at least 24 states in Nigeria, The Future Awards has also been described by respected leaders as “Africa's biggest youth event” and in seven years, has produced 126 winners and over 1,000 nominees. Our mission is to inspire leadership and build enterprise.

To this end, The Future Awards has created authentic made-in-Nigeria superstars, outside of entertainment, fashion and the media. Winners include female farmer and face of youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria, Mosunmola Umoru; international author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, NASA scholar, Tosin Otitoju, founder of the Dustbin Estate Children’s Foundation Tolu Sangosanya, investor of the 1-second power change-over based in Ajegunle, Otejiri Oghoghorie, and the 2011 winner for Young Person of the Year, farm technology entrepreneur and Rolex Award winner, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu. This is a critical mass of young people that are positioned as leaders and whose collective influence can change the leadership equation for an evolving nation.

The Future Awards, and its sister brand, The Future Project have thus become known and respected across the continent for being in the forefront of inspiring a new generation of leaders/leadership for Nigeria, working with the Africa Union, the US Government, the British Council, the Ministry of Youth Development, the Nigerian Presidency amongst other organisations.

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ON THE NIGHT #HASHTAG BY YNAIJA ROCKED LAGOS

It was party unusual when YNaija in conjunction with Chocolate City, put together the first ever #Hashtag party which took place at the trendy Swe Bar on Saturday the 23rd of July 2011. The highly anticipated party was tagged The Convergence – an exciting melting pot of Fashion, Music, and Twitter - never before seen on the Nigerian scene.
The party was hosted by the formidable duo of the smooth talking Andre Blaze and the enchanting Oreka. Comedian Emeka Smith supplied an endless cache of jokes for the evening leaving the guests in stitches.

The Chocolate City boys, led by MI took masterful charge of the stage for the night with charged renditions of their hits. Ice Prince and Brymo opened the show, setting the pace for the night with their rendition of urban anthem ‘Oleku’ they were followed by Jesse Jags with his hit song
“Jago”. MI proved himself as the true Mister Incredible bringing the house down with an electrified performance of popular songs from his latest
album MI2. Efa and Praiz also gave riveting performances.

The #Hashtag party was focused on discovering stars in Music, Fashion, the new breed of social media stars. The music segment aptly tagged The Next Big Thing saw the unveiling of Obiora Ohatz better known as Runz as the winner. The fashion segment, Cutting Edge showcased designs by first runner up Tolu De Souza for her label SOUZA. There was also a segment to acknowledge the Twitter Persona of the Quarter, the result of a three-month poll on the YNaija website.

Celebrities and notable personalities such as Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Stella Damasus, Nse Ikpe Etim, JosephBenjamin, Katung Aduwak, Tee A, Kunle of Rooftop MCs, Gideon Okeke, Ufuoma Ejenobor, Linda Ikeji, Praize, Inyanya, Audu Maikori, MI, Ice Prince, Jesse Jags, and many more posed for the cameras at the Red Carpet segment which preceded this energy packed event.

The popular TV show for young people, Rubbin’ Minds was live at the party and the winners that emerged at the #Hashtag party,artiste Runz, designer Tolu De Souza, and twitter personality Misi Ola were interviewed.

Speaking on the event, Adebola Williams, Managing Editor of YNaija said, “The #Hashtag party would continue as a quarterly event with more collaborations with big music labels. We are positioned to act as a convergence and point of exposure for hot new music acts, edgy innovative
fashion and the new breed of social influences powered by new media like Twitter.”

For the celebrities who flocked to the party, the event provided the unique opportunity to Pause, Tweet and Play. “It was a fantastic night of fun and networking. And more than ever, we’re looking forward to #Hashtag 2!” said Ifreke Inyang, who is an Assistant Editor with YNaija.

click to enlarge image(s)

Credit: Red Media

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RED, content and communication company, launches

The strategy team at Red Media, a media content and communication company based in Lagos, has announced the formal launch of the firm. Red Media enters the market as a leading media company with a prominent development subsidiary called The Future Project.

“Metamorphosing from our previous incarnation as RedSTRAT Communications, we are launching ourselves as Red Media, a new company with a sharpened vision,” said a statement from the company. “Red Media stands at the cusp of a new direction for the communication business, as much across the world as in Nigeria, for at least two reasons:
“First, we are headlining a new model that combines a strong marketing communication business with media content ownership. Furthermore, in a new media space defined by ubiquitous new/digital media platforms, we are one of a very small community of firms that has a depth of practical experience with both Traditional and New media and understand how brands should integrate both spaces – so we are able to give experience-based advice on where best to spend monies to achieve targeted results.”

Structured into two main businesses, its content arm is headlined by the premium Y! brands (Y! TV, Y! Radio,Y! In ‘D News and Y! Magazine), YNaija.com as well as The Future Nigeria Awards, reputed to be Nigeria’s biggest youth event; while its communication arm offers full-service communication solutions with a focus on Public Relations, New Media, Demographic Marketing (and a reputation as a pioneer in Youth Marketing), Editorial Consultancy and Perception Management.

“Our advantage includes an integrated marketing communication mix that gives our clients access to premium content and platforms, a wide network of national and international partners and goodwill, thanks to our network, as well as a knowledge-based approach to brand building,” said Adebola Williams, who is a Partner at the firm.

The company’s heritage over the past six years covers communication services for clients across a wide spectrum including Government, Oil & Gas, Financial Services, Technology, Development, Social Services, Entertainment, Fashion & Style, Education, and Personalities. Clients have included corporates and their brands such as Nigeria LNG Limited, PZ Cussons, Oando Limited, Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Nigeria Leadership Initiative, Nigerian Breweries, British Council, House of Tara, Veda Technology and Alder Consulting, with a strong entertainment PR business that manages communication for international recording artiste Asa, entertainment brand Storm 360 amongst others.

The company is led by Chude Jideonwo, a journalist and communication expert with 10 years experience including work at the Nigeria LNG Limited, Virgin Nigeria, Bank PHB’s The Apprentice Africa, amongst others. Recently reputed for securing an exclusive print interview with President Goodluck Jonathan – his first since assuming office - he is a winner of the Nigeria Media Merit Award and is part of the editorial board of NEXT Newspapers.

Other directors include Mfon Ekpo (Strategy); Cheta Nwanze (Technology), Aziza Uko (Corporate Planning) and Debie Magnut (External Relations). The firm will be presented formally at a media and VIP event in Lagos in September. More information is on www.rednigeria.com and via info@rednigeria.com. RED can also be found on facebook.com/RedNigeria, twitter.com/RedNigeria and youtube.com/RedNigeria.

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