A group of four students from the School of Business have conceptualized and spearheaded the formation of social media clubs dubbed ‘SocialPro Clubs’ in universities across the country. This will be possible through Social Edge Africa, a social media consultancy company based in Nairobi.

The initiative which has been endorsed by the Ministry of Information and Technology and will be officially launched by Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, on 25th, October, 2012, at the University of Nairobi, School of Business. All are invited.

The Social Media Clubs will work with UoN’s Marketing Students Association and Business Information Students Association. The pilot phase will take place in four universities in Nairobi over the next month before rolling out to other universities and campuses across the country in January. The Social Media Clubs shall combine efforts with the marketing, PR and IT clubs in the proposed universities.

These clubs will unlock the potential of social media to the students and expose them to the limitless possibilities that online technology has to offer. Various schools and faculties can also integrate social media networking sites to teaching, ease content sharing and make learning more fun. In addition the schools and faculties will learn how to create, optimize and share digital content in various formats with students across various platforms as well as help them embrace new media and thus use it to connect, engage and gain valuable feedback from the students.

Social media ambassadors will be recruited in a campaign dubbed “BE A SOCIALPRO.”  The group is organizing the first Social Media Awards in Kenya scheduled for November. The competition will focus on awarding social media excellence on Blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Nominations are currently ongoing.

“The core objective of these clubs is to teach, educate, create awareness and impart knowledge and skills of various disciplines of social media platforms to the university students,” says the 24 year-old Muthuri Kinyamu, the founder and business director at Social Edge Africa.

The initiative seeks to develop a talent pool of graduates with a solid understanding of new media to bridge the knowledge gap and demand that is there today for people with skills and expertise in various disciplines of social media.

Click here to view the presentation schedule for the day.