This year’s development programme kicked off on 15 March 2016 when the first national workshop was presented at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).
Attended by 68 delegates from 16 tertiary education institutions, the topic of #FeesMustFall and the subsequent student protest movements created lively discussions throughout the day.
First up was a panel discussion with participants Shirona Patel, Communication Manager from Wits, Kylie Hatton, Deputy Director: Communication from the University of Cape Town, and Martin Viljoen, Head: Internal and External Communication from Stellenbosch University, about the impact and challenges of the protests.
This was followed by a presentation by Emma Sadleir, well-known social media law expert, on the role social media is playing in the protests, after which Willa de Ruyter from Tswane University of Technology and Kavitha Kalicharan from Taurus Communications discussed measurement and the setting of objectives. The launch of the new format of the Excellence Awards by Dr Amanda Hamilton-Attwell rounded off the programme.
“The good attendance and lively discussions are evident of the need for discussions of this nature. It is important for MACE to increasingly become the facilitator of important and critical issues in the sector and this is exactly what was experienced at the workshop,” said Normah Zondo, Vice-Chairperson of MACE, in her closing remarks.
View photos of the event on our Facebook page.
Programme
09:00 Opening and welcome: Lacea Loader, Chairperson of MACE
09:10 Panel Discussion: Implication of #FeesMustFall and subsequent student protest movements and campus disruptions on the marketing, advancement, and communication sector
10:10 Refreshments
10:20 Guest speaker: Emma Sadleir – Media law consultant. Gearing for disruption: Reflection on #FeesMustFall
11:20 Wrap up debate – Emma Sadleir will take further questions as needed
12:00 Networking lunch
13:00 Review of MACE Annual Operational Plan: Lacea Loader
13:30 Presentation: Excellence Awards:
13:30 Willa de Ruyter (TUT: Corporate Affairs and Marketing)
14:00 Kavitha Kalicharan (Taurus Communications)
14:30 Launch of the Excellence Awards 2016 Entry Guide – Dr Amanda Hamilton-Attwell (Business DNA) will be handling this section of the presentation. She will also assist from a moderator perspective to help MACE members with difficulties faced in the entry process.
14:50 Closing comments and departure: Normah Zondo, Vice-Chairperson of MACE