About a thousand participants are expected to converge at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) auditorium 900 for the 5th Edition of the What I Wish I Knew (WIWIK) Conference.
Slated for March 1, 2019, this year’s event is on the theme: “Emerging to the Fore”. Invited speakers for the conference include Kafui Dey, CEO of Dey Marketing Ventures, Ibukun Janet Ogundipe the Country HR, Maersk Ghana & Togo, Olusegun Akinkugbe, a John Maxwell Certified Trainer – UK and Kwabena Situ an IFRS expert.
The keynote address is expected to be delivered by Petra Aba Asamoah, a Chartered Marketer, author and training consultant and the event will be hosted by founder and convener of WIWIK, Bernard Tawiah.
Established in 2015, the conference, over the years has engaged roundtable experts and mentors to share their life journey and experiences in order to help individuals progress beyond their comfort zones.
It also seeks to Inspire, Educate, and Advice (IEA) undergraduate students.
According to Mr. Bernard Tawiah, he was inspired to share his experiences of undergraduate study with final year students at the University of Cape Coast during his stay as a student of the University. He, therefore, birthed the WIWIK concept.
Mr. Tawiah believes that while it is wise to learn from your own experiences, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others.
He said: “The concept has gone beyond the vision bearer and University of Cape Coast where it was birthed and it is currently run by Apice Human Consult Ltd. The conference has grown rapidly from 80 attendees to about 1000 attendees each year.”
He added that although the WIWIK Conference has enjoyed partnership from reputable institutions such as University of Stirling (UK), ACCA, Dalex Swift, Esther’s Company (UK), Jobberman and Google Digital Skills for Africa, there is the need for more Strategic partnerships for the WIWIK dream to live on since to reach a global coverage.
The WIWIK conference has also attracted international partners and speakers in the last 4 editions from Nigeria, United Kingdom and South Korea. In Ghana it has hosted key industry players such as PwC’S tax partner, Ayesha Bedwei and the 2017 GJA Journalist of the year; Bernard Avle. The conference can boast of over 2500 alumni since the maiden edition in 2015.
Touching on challenges, Mr. Bernard Kwame Tawiah said: “Our major challenge was how to measure the impact of the WIWIK Conference and also monitor the progress of our alumni. We needed to come up with an intervention which could help us get in touch with these previous participants in the world of work. WIWIK Alumni connect was born to address this problem where we meet our alumni who are in the corporate world in smaller interactive group settings and find out their challenges with respect to career and provide them with bespoke solutions.
Advising the public, the founder noted that it is very important to start small while having the bigger picture in mind. He said emphasis must be placed on practicals and realities instead of theoretical knowledge.
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Source: WIWIK
