Flair Magazine Now more than ever, it is time to believe in the potential of our nation and its key role in promoting Africa and the Middle East. Lamia Kamel, the mastermind running the prominent PR firm CC Plus and the woman behind the recurring Narrative Summits, is all about that mission. With a strong belief in PR’s ability to connect people in the business world, she is always looking to throw the spotlight on success stories and role models that can inspire people to have a sincere sense of social responsibility and strive for quality in the Egyptian market. We sat down with her to discuss the upcoming Narrative Disruptors Event in April and the prospects of continuing the narrative…
Can you tell us the difference between the Narrative Summits held previously and the Narrative Disruptors Event held in April?
Since we had the first Narrative Summit in 2016, we’ve held it annually for three consecutive years and we wanted to make sure that it’s sustainable and consistent – that it wouldn’t be just an event but more of an ongoing initiative. In order to do that, we wanted to come up with activities tying up the concept of Nation Branding with different topics. The upcoming event is about a subtopic of the narrative – innovation. Egypt is very progressive when it comes to embracing entrepreneurship and aligning with artificial intelligence. We called it ‘disruptors’ because it’s about innovation and everyone who has a stake in it. We still have the arms of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, UN for Women, the US Embassy and Endeavor, which is one of the leading entrepreneurial institutions and NGOs working to upscale small and medium-size enterprises, such as Zooba and Solariz. So, we kept the same model but this time we are partnered with a digital solution provider – Victory Link. We’re also expecting more youth will be involved in the next summit since it’s about innovation and technology.
What are the common factors between the speakers this round?
Leadership and innovation. Whenever we have a speaker, narrator or disruptor on stage, they need to possess a certain degree of capabilities regarding empowerment, leadership and ability to engage the audience. We want the audience to leave with engaging thoughts because we’re not here to give you recipes on what needs to be done but rather, recipes on how to move forward and how to think. We don’t have exact solutions but we leave you with a trail of thought that keeps you engaged and interested in the topic of making a brand out of your nation – be it in marketing, in medicine, technology or whatever field you’re in. You would know that there is a purpose in what you’re doing and you can do it with a sense of responsibility, ethics, integrity and quality because you are an ambassador to this country you’re a part of.
Which topics can we look forward to?
There is artificial intelligence, culture, art, media and sustainability. It’s a very big step for us to engage a regional media platform in our work. The idea is to expand outside the boundaries of our country and get exposed to more of those channels. This is something we are very excited about.
What do you hope to achieve with this event?
I’m hoping to shake the still water, as usual. I’m hoping to show the world what communication and PR is able to do. It’s the kind of work you do for nations and not just companies. Another mission is to actually seek leaders and get them out of their shells by putting them onstage. Some of them are famous but others are low-key. For example, Karim Shafei from Al Ismaelia company, I don’t think I’ve seen him talk anywhere, and he has an amazing story with his company. He’s taken all those Downtown buildings, renovated them completely and kept their artistic identity at the same time. He kept them economically viable by renting them out to investors and companies. Not only did he participate in restoring the Downtown area, his company is also involved in amazing activities with the youth. They hold visits every Friday where you can register your name, and then you get to go Downtown and take a tour – for free – to watch all the beautiful historic buildings and spots in that area. He brought so much content to his business and yet we don’t know the man behind all this. So part of the mission is to get those people out of hiding and show the world that we have leaders and they know what they’re doing and are willing to support you.
What challenges have you met in this journey of continuing the narrative?
Keeping the interest because at some point people may get bored or lose focus or think that if they’ve attended once, they don’t have to go to the next event. We need to always keep it interesting by diversifying the topics and getting different types of speakers so that you can involve different types of audiences, and this has been a challenge. We’re also hoping more people would see the purpose in what we’re doing and support funding it, so we are able to do more by inviting more international speakers, for example.
Where do you see this project going in upcoming years?
I want the Narrative project to be the Egyptian platform that supported the branding of our country. I want it to be able to export itself to the regional and international communities. I want it to become one of the pillars in promoting the nation, so whenever there’s a good story, people would call us up to highlight it, and then we’ll also have more content to entertain our audience with. I’m hoping that eventually we can hold a Narrative event in other Arab and African countries. Because Egypt is one of the key leaders in the Middle East and Africa, I think we should be able to support the branding of those nations and I want Narrative to be a part of that.
By Sarah Guirguis
