Maiden “Development through New Media Course” Held

Penplusbytes in partnership with Participatory DevelopmentAssociates (PDA) last week held the first session of the “Development through New Media” course for individuals from government institutions, Civil Society Organisations and private individuals.

The three day programme offered the participants an insight on how to strategically use new media tools to promote one’s institution and also effectively communicate with the organisations audience.  The course involved the use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and the art of “Writing for the Web” for advocacy, research and as a platform for knowledge exchange. In addition, participants were taken through how to maintain their social media sites, create active interactions and also engage their audience on social media.

Participants were drawn from the Judicial Service of Ghana and Civil Society Organisations from both the Northern and Southern Sectors.

Madam Grace Tagoe, Director of Communications of the Judicial Service and a beneficiary of the session said “the program has been very useful and it is a commendable effort from the two institutions. We would be grateful if it could be extended to other staff members of my organization. As a communication expert, I believe adding social media as a means of communication will increase my audience, as it will reach out to the online community as well.”

Mr. Wisdom Vinyo from Toyace in the Volta region expressed his excitement on the course, saying that “with the upsurge of online tools and the rate of growth online, this course couldn’t have come at a better time. Many of our programs at Toyace are targeted at the audience in the community but with what I have learnt during this course, we will be able to reach out to other CSOs online and channel efforts to get our voices heard online."

The “Development through new media” is aimed at providing CSOs, government institutions, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises and individuals with skills on how to plan and deploy a basic social media communications strategy for their organizations to strengthen their capacity to deliver vision and mission.  It was designed to help organisations understand social media and the principles and dynamics that underpin it through a hands-on approach.