Sahar Dwaikat represents WISE at MediaME Forum 2012
Being a participant of TYO's cycle one businesswomen's project Fostering Women Entrepreneurs in Nablus, and their current phase two project Women’s Incubation Services for Entrepreneurs (WISE) has been a great asset in helping me grow my business as well as networks. My name is Sahar Dwaikat, and I am the owner of Flyer Ad, a Nablus based company which designs, manufactures and distributes promotional materials such as leaflets, flyers, business cards and other print advertisements. Fortunately, due to the networks I have established as a participant of WISE, I was nominated by Amal Daraghme Masri - General Manager and founder of Ougarit Co. for Marketing, communications, and Media, as well as the co-founder of Al Qalam Printing and Publishing Co Company - to attend the MediaME Forum 2012. MediaME Forum 2012 brings together stakeholders from traditional and digital media industries to meet, gain knowledge and discuss the digital media future of the Levant region. The conference was held on December 3-4 in Amman, Jordan at Grand Hyatt Hotel. Participants ranged from digital advertising clients to media agencies to business owners, and so on.
Upon arrival on my first day, when I approached the registration desk I was happy to see my name and business logo for Flyer Ad for Graphic Design on my badge. Prior to the start of the first session of the conference I was able to speak to several of my business peers, some in the field of website designs and other with graphic studios.
During the conference topics like mobile advertising in MENA region and its content (text, dynamic ads, rich media, interactive media that is used for branding and creating awareness),digital advertising, data structure, the Arab advertising model, and the MENA digital audience were covered.
The second day of the conference was concentrated on gaming and how it is branded to target specific demographics, as well as social media effectiveness, including the Middle East's brand and their representations on Facebook. The importance in the role of Arab lifestyle content through websites for weather, weddings, leisure, etc. was also discussed. One workshop stuck out to me in particular on social media, which was led by Khaled Ahmed the Social Media Manager at mobile company Zain. In the workshop he sighted the importance in using Facebook, Twitter and other tools like those: Twilert, Row Feeder, Divr.it and Buffer. At the end of workshop I was able to speak to Mr. Ahmed about adding a social media component to my business. We agreed to keep in touch via email to discuss these possibilities at greater length, and I am eager to follow-up with him!
This was a very useful trip for me, as it was the first time I had been in a conference that targeted my sector specifically. This allowed me to meet thought leaders in my field and exchange ideas with them, as well as think about advertising and technology more broadly in the region. Furthermore being a part of this forum motivated me to start expanding my business online more, and not just remain complacent with print advertising. All the speakers and participants a part of the MediaME Forum 2012 ate, drank, and breathed business, which encouraged me to work harder. I hope someday my business and I reach such heights that I will be a guest speaker at this conference!