The very first ever green SharePoint event concluded on Saturday at Business Connexion’s office in Midrand.  Verdict?  Huge fun, lovely day, big difference made!!

Check out all the photos on Facebook, or the opening video in the previous post. Get all the slidedecks here.

Some cool stats :

• 7 months of planning.
• 5 international speakers.
• 5 speakers flew in from Cape Town.
• 13 local Joburg speakers.
• About 150 attendees in total.
• 14 sponsors.
• Cost of event this year : R115 000.
• 60 plants sponsored for the the venue that cleaned up 90% of the toxins in the air which helped keep the germs from those sickies at bay.
• R14 000 raised for the Endangered Wildlife Trust for Rhino Conservation.
• 627 plastic bottles recycled to make 220 eco-friendly shirts.
• 375 trees donated to Food and Trees for Africa.
• 220 indigenous Fever Tree starter packs handed out to all attendees.
• That equals 630 tons of carbon neutralised over the next 15 years – don’t forget to plant your trees!  The instructions are inside the bag.
• 3 sponsors that are continuing the good work in rhino conservation, tree gifts and eco-friendly shirts.
• 4 more sponsors lined up for next year already.

Thanks BCX for adopting us this year and helping make it a wonderful day.

To everyone that booked and didn’t show up – people, please :   We have long waiting lists for these events every year.  We had to turn so many people away that could have attended because you didn’t let us know you weren’t coming, and then just didn’t show up.  It costs us a lot of money to give you a free event for the day with plenty of food and gifts.  Please show up if you say you will, or give up your seat so others can.  Pretty please.  Thanx.

And that was that.

We in South Africa, challenge all other SharePoint Saturdays and conferences to make a difference at your events.  There are so many ways to improve the world we live in.  We can have a huge impact as there are just so many of us reaching bigger and bigger audiences.  We have the power to make a difference; it’s the right thing to do; and it doesn’t take that much extra effort.  Show us what you’ve got!