I have spent countless days pondering on writing this piece. One voice thought that perhaps things in Uganda need to be given a chance to evolve. That we should not expect heaven while on the earthy grounds of Uganda. Yet, another voice convinced me that we should not expect Uganda to take the same paths of evolution. That Uganda can instead go through revolutions or make quantum leaps. You know the voice that won.
On May 5th Thursday, I chose to make that dreaded trip to the Yasigi Beer Garden for the Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour. It was scheduled to start at 6pm. Did I say 30 minutes later, there was no sign of a blogger’s happy hour? Yes, one to three people were present, but nothing was yet to happen. Nothing makes the better of first impressions like time management skills. Nothing turns me off like the worst of the same.
A couple of weeks back, I had read a Facebook Post by someone I respect. He was angry that many of these meet-ups keep happening but Ugandan bloggers don’t bother to show up whether out of a no-care attitude or a sign of arrogance. With all humility, I had showed up to this meet-up expecting the mother of ideas that matter and conversations worth sharing, worth acting upon.
![Bloggers meet]()
To make matters worse, the sitting arrangement sacked. It should have been sacked in the first place. Then came the music that kept booming from the nearby speakers. One of my friends was then disturbed by the stench of cigarette smoke that permeated the air. It took a lot of hard work to follow the short talk given by the founder of the Konakry Express blog. He gave important insights. Yes, important especially for news. It was like the fundamentals of blogging. Guess it was magic for those aspiring to be bloggers.
Then my friend made a conclusion at the end of the meet-up. “Look here, this has been my first time and it will also serve as my last time at the meet-ups.” How had he read my mind? These were my exact thoughts.
When the space for conversations was opened up, another disappointment cropped up. Nothing is as important as asking the right questions. Everyone can ask a question, everyone can answer a question but the art of asking the right questions, that belongs to the great.
Right then, right there, I knew something was wrong with the bloggers’ meet-up. It’s a great idea built on the wrong foundations, without clear direction. It doesn’t do much to drive conversations in the way they should go. It’s great meeting in an outdoor set-up and interacting over a glass of beer or wine or a cup of coffee, that’s a great one. But then, there should be something one takes home with them. We need to hold conversations that matter in these meet-ups, and there should be proper definitions on what these meet-ups aspire to be or to achieve. We all know what blogging means in the Western sense of the definition. But we need to understand the same in the Ugandan context. We need to know what we all understand by Ugandan blogging, what are the visions for this Ugandan blogging, what are the aspirations, what is the agenda both individual and group?
I made this post weeks later under the assumption that I wouldn’t be led by any emotions whatsoever. I do hope that the organizers of the meet-up will take this in a similar faith and generate a debate on better ways to hold these meet-ups. Finally, I do hope that when debates around the meet-ups themselves are held, Ugandan bloggers will begin to understand that at the end of it all, a blog must influence. And that the bloggers’ community in Uganda should have the ability to make that collective influence on various issues of importance. Perhaps, there could be a theme to pursue in a given month for each blogger.
We can’t keep baby-sitting various happenings in Uganda, we ought to hold them to certain standards. We shouldn’t expect these meet-ups to evolve, we should expect them to make revolutionary quantum leaps. And those leaps won’t happen if we can’t get the basics right. Basics such as asking the right open questions that generate important conversations. Basics such as proper time management just to mention but a few.
Otherwise, for now, call me obnoxious, call me a know-it-all, I am not about to attend any of the bloggers’ meet-ups or happy hours, whatever the case. The current model of the meet-ups is flawed. And working on a flawed model takes us nowhere. One is better off scratching one’s balls and watching from the side-lines as the pseudo-bloggers enjoy their shine.
Staff Writer
The post I went out to a Ugandan Bloggers’ Meet-up. What a Waste of Time It Was!!! appeared first on Bigeye.ug.
