How did you get interested in events and logistics?
How I got into events is an interesting story. I had gone for the Safaricom Jazz Festival in 2017 and I was awed by how it had been set up, in terms of the structures that had been created, the stands, the screens, the sound. I was like, how did this all come together? That’s where my interest in doing events started.
How did you join the Safaricom brands team?
After the Jazz Festival, I had the opportunity to tell my boss that I had discovered my passion, that organising events was my dream job and that I wished to move departments within the organisation. I started first with on-the-job training, like shadowing, where I was stationed with the events team for around two years – just learning the trade, learning how things happen, how stuff is organised. Luckily, two years later, there was an opportunity and I officially moved into the Safaricom events department.
What gives you the most joy at work?
My biggest joy is seeing people smile, people saying good things about an event, just people enjoying the experience. That brings a smile to my face because it shows all the hard work, all the sleepless nights have made someone feel good. A successful event brings out the aspect of joy, excitement, and experience for the customer. It’s all about the customer. If the customer is happy, I’ll always be happy.
What makes a successful Safaricom event?
It starts with how we want to show up for the customer, what are their passion points, and the experiences we want to create with the various stakeholders. There is also the logistical aspect of bringing all the suppliers into one space and ensuring that we can deliver a world-class experience. From that we come up with a strategic work plan and then we go on-ground to execute.
You have been running Safaricom Chapa Dimba. What does it take to put together a football event?
For football, we benchmark ourselves with the international standards – FIFA. We start with reconnaissance (recce) which is what we call a site visit. Basically, checking out the lay of the land – seeing what facilities we need to bring in place, what current infrastructure we can leverage on and the partners that we can work with locally to ensure that we’re empowering the host community. We work closely with security because we bring in a lot of people and one of the biggest aspects of any event is safety. Then we brief our different suppliers – décor, catering, ablution, all the small details that make an event. We take them through the different plans that we have for each aspect, from start to finish, so that now we can come together as a unit to bring this experience to life.
How much time do you need to spend on the ground before Chapa Dimba regional finals?
We are usually on-ground one or two weeks in advance just to make sure that everything is ready, all infrastructure is up, be it tents, the players’ changing rooms, making sure we groom the grounds, etc. The interesting thing about events is that building them takes longer than bringing it all down. Oh, the irony.
Personally, how is it organising Chapa Dimba?
I love football. I am a football fan. The sport itself brings me joy. To be able to execute this for Kenyans, creating a platform where people can showcase their talent, is awesome. Hopefully we can push the young footballers and get to that stardom where we can create the next Lionel Messi, we can create the next Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s all about creating opportunities for everyone and Chapa Dimba is not just about football. We also organise community engagement activities.
We are now in the fourth edition of the tournament. How has it changed from previous formats?
Chapa Dimba has grown by leaps and bounds from when it was just a normal football tournament. This year, we are leveraging technology to empower our players. We have GPS vests that have an Artificial Intelligence (AI) back end to mine the data collected on the pitch. With this data, the players can get scouted digitally, globally. I also love how Chapa Dimba is now not just about football, it’s about wholistically transforming lives. We are working towards creating greater impact in the communities across the country to ensure we are touching everyone’s lives.
