It's 23:33pm on 23-3! #233moments #blogcamp13

I didn't wake up remembering that today was 23-3. I knew it was 23rd March, the day of Blogcamp Ghana 2013 aka #blogcamp13. But did I remember that the date itself was 23-3-2013? As in, 23rd day of the 3 month? Nah. But do you get it? Today was 23-3. That's like the perfect day to signify the number 233, which is Ghana's number. I guess every 23rd March is gonna occupy a special place in my heart. The #233moments posts at 2:33pm on every 23rd March will be that extra special. But like I said, today was the day many bloggers and social media enthusiasts gathered at Blogcamp. But boy, was it an interesting day!

I had been approached by a Presec mate during the week to do some lessons on how to use social media to some people taking a professional course on this day. I told him I couldn't do it because I would be at Blog Camp and that everyone I knew who could do this would be there too. If you could do this, but weren't gonna be at BlogCamp if you were available ...... insert ... you get the point. My friend insisted and said the regular tutor was not available and they really needed someone. So I thought, cool, I'd do this for about 2 hours, 33 minutes and head to the BlogCamp.

When I got to the location in West Legon, I was told my students would be mainly Francophone Africans. This year, I want to befriend many of such people in Accra. So I entered the room and greeted "Bonjour". Before I could get bombarded with French statements, I followed with "Je parle Francais en peut". Disaster diverted. After going through a few Facebook tips, especially with Pages, I wasn't happy about the irresponsiveness they were giving me. They weren't asking or answering questions and I have a cure for this normally. Give them giveaways based on activity. The students got really excited about the Google (:-o) pens I was holding and I got some more engagment. We continued with Twitter, LinkedIn and some tips on how to do more with Gmail. Less than 10% of the students had Twitter, LinkedIn or GMail accounts. Facebook est le roi!

After my short teaching session, I left West Legon heading to the Kofi Annan Center of Excellence of ICT for Blogcamp. I had seen the tweets asking where I was. I would have done "no curve, no bend 90 degrees style" but the sight of people on the roadside waiting for cars to board changed that. So I stopped near a couple of ladies standing at the Legon ECG bus stop and motioned them to come join my ride. They didn't get the idea but I couldn't park there anyway so I had to move forward. I stopped a few metres ahead and parked. The ladies looked in my direction wondering, "what is this?" "is he dangerous?" "which of us does he want to pick up?" "how much would he charge?" After waiting 2:33 minutes, I opened the passenger seat door. Open invitation. That's when they came by and I said I could drop them off at 37. "Accra kra kra kra kra kra", shouted some trotro mate. "we'll go take the Accra car". No p. I locked the door and moved on.

I moved on till I got to "Spanner" junction where I thought I would not span the next kilometres alone. What I really meant is, those 3 ladies didn't accept my offer, but I shall pick people up - today! The first group of people I asked said they were waiting for someone. Thankfully, there was a second group. They were all going to the 37 bus stop. "I'll drop you there". They got in and after about 7 minutes of no communication. I introduced myself to them and they mentioned their names. "This music is from South Africa. She's called Lira. She's the person Becca should want to reach". So they were subjected to the music of Lira for God-knows-how-long and they alighted at 37. #IMGBT. I Made Ghana Better Today. It was around then that I realised mentions of #233moments were happening at the Blog Camp event and it would be a travesty if I wasn't there before 2:33pm on 23-3.

I arrived to meet lunch at Blog Camp. I greeted most of the people I saw that I knew, fielded and answered some 'late' questions and got into some discussions. It was during this period that @Anneina mentioned the not-so-obvious.

@abocco @bloggingghana Is it a coincidence today is 23-03-2013 ? #233Moments #BlogCamp13
— Annatu Neina Abdulai (@Anneina) March 23, 2013

Oh snap! It was a coincidence! Thanks to BloggingGhana's BlogCamp, #233moments saw the most activity of any time today. On 23-3. 2:33pm came and a flood of #233moments tweets happened. Check them all out here & on Google+ too. I posted this tweet.

2:33pm in #Accra, #Ghana. Attending #Blogcamp Ghana which has assembled blogging n social media enthusiats. #233moments #blogcamp13
— Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) March 23, 2013

I spent the rest of the time chatting with friends, catching up and discussing next steps on various fronts. It was a great event, with many digital natives I knew, and many new faces. I attended part of the "tips and tricks" session where I learnt a few things. Yeah, I've been blogging for more than 5 years but I can always learn something new because blogging and social media are like that. I taught in the morning and learnt in the afternoon.

In the evening, the Ghana Social Media awards had arrived.  I didn't end up winning the Best Blog category I had been nominated for, but no shaking koraa. I'd work harder. #WeTryHarder. See all the winners here. Congrats to Blogging Ghana for organizing a great event and awards. A lot of newbie bloggers picked up a lot of valuable information. But most importantly, the main message was "Content Is King". If we don't create and own our own content, someone might create it for us.

PS: In other news, I dey go meet some French women. Tu parle Francais? On dit quoi? Tres bon. :-)