Using social media for a cause.

Last year you couldn’t have missed the name Meka Akerejola if you were in Abuja. The already popular On Air Personality became a sensation once news broke of his ailing health and the need to help him raise a staggering sum of N7,000,000 for a surgery in India.

I was seating at my desk the day I heard read.  The incessant red bleep on my Blackberry was a symptom of the virus known to man as a broadcast, which had infected it. It was one of those ones you skim through impatiently to see if it deserves your attention. Someone needed saving… mhmm, mhmm, a kidney disease… nod, nod….then I saw the name and dropped the phone in alarm. It was Meka Akerejola, someone I knew.

I dialed his number from my contact list anxious to prove it was not so.

I had met Meka when we called him Mekadon. It was 2006 in Ahmadu Bello University’s Hot 100 fm. Memories. Standing in front of the room that housed the station in Suleiman hall, co-hosting with him on a show where I interviewed someone and talked about making lemonades when life throws you a lemon, I remember someone said I laughed too much … memories.

Then I moved to Abuja and he gave me my first tour, I remember NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) had just been built and he took me to see it, it was the most beautiful building in the city at the time. It was this Meka, my Meka, whose name was trending on twitter, facebook, radio and blackberry.

I was going to see him.

I wanted to see for myself.

I wanted to stop him from dying.

We laughed at how he had become an instant celebrity; his phone was constantly ringing now. Different people wanted to help, they didn’t want him to die and he didn’t want to disappoint them. There was also the downside to his popularity. He didn’t like the pity, the “Eyas” and “Peles”, most of all he hated the pause at the beginning of the calls, that deliberate silence to allow him say the first “hello” to hear if his voice was frail and sickly.

But largely he was positive. Taking his very public travail in stride.

The crowd funded #SaveMeka campaign with appeals for N1000 donations, turned out to be a very successful crowd sourced effort championed via social media.

This Sunday, we meet Meka and take score, did social media pass? What helped, what failed and what can be done better next time? All this and more in iBlog’s March edition where the conversation is about using social media for a cause, even the cause of saving a life!

Heinrich Boll Stiftung foundation will also be there talking about a cause close to their hearts, Vistagarnier Limited will be teaching on "how to monetize your blog and affiliate marketing", it will be a fun spread!

Reserve your seats today. Ping 26BEF129

Venue: Juice place 2, Funk Shui Lounge, 25 Libreville street, near DSTV, Wuse 2, Abuja.

Date: March 24th, 2013

Time: 5:00pm

Session 1: Affiliate marketing and your blog with Vistagarnier Intl. PLC

Session 2: Using social media for a cause!Guest Appearance by OAP, Meka Akerejola, Rhythm FM (#Save Meka) and Heinrich Boll Stiftung

Ticket: N3,500

Be a part of the social media community in Abuja- omonaikee@yahoo.com for details