On January 18, 2023, a networking, knowledge-sharing, and industry-improvement workshop took place at the Tramways Building. Attended by more than 200 event organizers, practitioners and service providers from the Nelson Mandela Bay.

The Tramways building has since become a staple of Nelson Mandela Bay’s collection of event spaces since its official opening in 2015. It was designed with the Bay’s arts, heritage, and creative economy sectors in mind. The Tramways has hosted hundreds of custom events since they first opened.

The workshop, which included three seasoned professionals in the field, aimed at raising the bar for event hosting in the Bay in order to assist the expansion of this profitable tourism and leisure industry.

“The Bay needs to step up its game given the recent influx of filmmakers drawn to its breath-taking natural beauty and terrain game” says Marketing Manager at the MBDA, Luvuyo Bangazi.

 The workshop comes soon after the MBDA co-hosted the Market Access Expo, a platform for locally made brands to connect with buyers and sellers.

The thought leadership panel talk was led by Michelle Brown of Brown’s PR during the events workshop. Her business “Brown’s PR”, will be turning 35 years old in business soon.

Buzz Nanto of Obufemi Events and Sesethu Gqomo Seyibokwe of SG Communications were also presenting on topics around the events sector. Following the panel presentation, B&E Conference Centre’s Melissa Palmer facilitated the discussion. Mel has a strong love for the events sector and is a co-founder of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Events Awards.

The event was also live streamed for those who would have loved to be there but could not.

These were some of the questions for the panel members and how they gracefully answered them: 

Michelle Brown 

How have you managed your business networks across the years? “The secret is to maintain relationships. Be aware of what is happening around your city, your province, your country and globally. Know that if you want to organise an event, planning in advance works to your advantage. Stay woke and relevant, move with the times and learn new skills. The key is also respect, respect what your clients do and who they are.”

The advice Michelle Brown had for young Public Relations Practitioners.

• Stay authentic to your principles and values. 
• Never stay silent and speak out. 
• Versatility when it comes to juggling work life and personal life - Have a great support system and priorities. 

Buzz Nanto

How do you advise juggling the organisation of different kinds of events? “Listen attentively to your clients and what they want”. 

What are the challenges of doing events that clients want to be held in uncommon places? “The main challenge has to be thinking about SAFETY first. Are the people going to be able to interact? and then find the right channels”.

Your advice to upcoming events organisers? “Never be afraid to spend money, never be afraid to spend for client recognition, so they can recognise your greatness”.

Sesethu Gqomo Seyibokwe

How did COVID affected your business? “There were a lot of postponements that affected payments, rent and wages, I had to adjust to the situation at hand. The pandemic taught me a lesson that one has to take the skills set they utilise every day at the office, and apply them digitally, maximise them and teach yourself to work well with what you have (live streaming). Engagement was also taken into consideration - taking into consideration polls and questionnaires for livestreams”.

Her advice: “Learn the power of collaboration, because working on collaboration in events reaches a far greater audience in terms of stakeholders and new clients.”

Sesethu Gqomo also outlined the importance of having a body of work that showcases what you have been doing since inception, as you begin to tap into networks that can give you a step up in the industry. 

In closing, Luvuyo Bangazi advised the use and booking of Tramways for events that are adding value to the city’s economy and its community. Melissa encouraged the audience to be active in networking and to look out for more business events around the city this year. Simultaneously, she also announced the first NMBBEA networking breakfast that will be held at the Beach Hotel, 2nd of February - more details here: https://tinyurl.com/GettingStarted2023

For more information about TRAMWAYS visit: www.tramwaysvirtualtour.co.za

or contact: tramways@mbda.co.za