Google Business Group: Google, a natural instinct? – TJ Benson.....(Do You Agree ?)

 TJ Benson is a freelance writer and contributing editor to aspire.org,ng wrote an article on Google as a Natural instinct and it goes like this:
What do you do when you first open your browser window on your laptop? Google. Yes it has become a verb. The search engine is more than a to-visit site that you surf once in a while or when you feel like it. You open Google because a voice in your head tells you it is the most reliable search engine. Its simplicity has made it arguably the most used engine, surpassing others like devilfinder.com, ask.com and even Yahoo. It has been known to adapt to the changes in the world, involving users as much as possible; in recent times it has used the artwork of children around the world for its site, including children from Africa.
 On the 30th of August, one of its departments, Google Business Group organized a conference for young entrepreneurs and business people in Abuja, hosted at Merit House Maitama. Attendance was free and lots of young people from Kaduna and Nasarawa were also present.

 The first speaker, the Head of the Google Business group Nigeria, Kaosiso Anaekwe gave the introduction, and thanked us for coming. Then he went on to ask us that if we found ourselves in a foreign country for a sporting event, say FIFA, with no means of communicating to a cab driver, what would we do? It was in the ensuing silence that the first Google App, Google TranslatorTMwas introduced. He went on to emphasis how an organization must keep on adapting to the problems in its surrounding environment, if it must remain relevant. Amidst the applause, he went on to introduce the next speaker, ChukwuemekaAfigbo. Afigbo started by asking what the term online meant. He went on to stress the importance of having an online presence, as the market was gradually shifting into the virtual world; more people were coming online everyday. Since Google needed internet as fish needed water, what was it doing in Africa? After all internet availability was far from excellent. Google had come, because they saw an aggressive market activity in Africa. They had come because they knew that these businesses, especially the small-scale ones run by young people would be a lot easier if relevant tools were provided. He put on projector display, young people,whose use of Google tools had given their businesses a supernatural boost.
  In summary according to him, Google’s mission in Africa was 3-fold;
 •    Access: reducing stress as a barrier to all potential buyers.
 •    Relevance: Making the internet relevant and useful to the locals.
 •    Sustainability: Building an internet ecosystem that will nourish and benefit users.

 After expatiating on these points, he called 12 people out to give brief summaries of their businesses. Some were fashion designers, ICT specialists, magazine publishers and the like. The remaining audience was divided into 12, with each person with a business on the podium as a group leader. They were informed that at the end of the program, there would be a contest where each group was to give a comprehensive plan on how the Google tools about to be explained could be applicable to the respective businesses of each group. There was a bit of excitement about this contest, it went without saying that the winning team would take some freebees home.
 The next speaker,AbiodunAdepojua.k.aBiggy, went on to give a brief overview of some Google tools like; Google Trader, Google Maps, You-Tube, Google Drive and Google sites.

 There was a lunch break followed by a preparation for the contest by group members. The contest was colorful, each group came up with something innovative, the Google Representatives were impressed. In the end, Group 7, a team let by a charismatic lecturer came first. There were mock-grumbles in the crowd about the lecturer being un-qualified to be in the contest, but the grumbles were silenced with souvenirs. It was an event to look forward to, lots of acquaintances were made that day. From another perspective, other than the fun and learning aspect, the seminar had a jarring effect on my mind; it gave me a fleeting, yet crystal look into the technological revolution that is currently ravaging the planet. One of the success stories displayed for our benefit on a projector was a young bookstore owner who suffered poor book sales until he took his business online, via Google of course. After the success stories we had lunch. The winning team proposed use of You-Tube for contestants of their talent hunt to post audition videos ‘because we don’t want to have them screaming in front of our faces, there is no need to waste their transport fare if they won’t win’. Another team, a fashion design house who produced their clothes at home proposed thus ‘We can now take our works with us everywhere we go, with Google Drive, including measurements of our customers. We can also have pictures of our designs on our Google Website, with price tags, when you click on your choice a form linked to our Google Drive pops up, asking for your measurements, delivery address and contact. This way, we create a virtual mall.’ It is simply breath-taking, the manner which Google Apps are taking over many tasks especially in our business lives. The global market is already online and in a matter of time, even the local will be too. Then, if it isn’t already, Google will become a natural instinct. , you can check his blog tarfabenson.wordpress.com for his ideas on art and hook up with him on twitter @TJBensonNG

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