News 91 of 193

IDRC Senior Communications Advisor Maria Brunelli was in Cape Town, South Africa, June 16-19 representing the Centre at the second annual Cape Town Book Fair. She recorded her impressions in a daily private blog. Here are some excerpts:

This is a very vibrant event.

Although only in its second year, the Cape Town Book Fair attracted 49,000 visitors nearly doubling last year’s attendance. This figure doesn’t include the thousands of children who attended the show with their school groups.

People I spoke with noticed how much the Fair has evolved since last year. Not surprising, considering it was created in partnership with the Publishers’ Association of South Africa and the long-established Frankfurt Book Fair.

The IDRC booth
Our booth was a modest two-by-four metre space where we displayed some of IDRC’s most recent books, fact sheets, the IDRC 2007-08 CD, and other publications.

Booth duty can be exhausting, but I’m a bit of a ‘social bird’ – I like to interact with people. I asked what brought them to the event, their areas of interest, and so on. Needless to say, most visitors had something in common: a passion for books.

The visitors to our booth included librarians, students, writers, journalists, teachers and professors, NGO workers, printers, city planners, and lawyers, as well as a couple of homesick Canadians living in South Africa that just want to chat!

Workshop event
On June 20, IDRC hosted a half-day "Information For Change" workshop. The 140 guests enjoyed the well-balanced mix of speakers, which included Shemila Mohamed, Ineke Burkens, Brian Wafawarowa, Grey Nyali, and Lumba Siangra as they shared their perspectives, experiences, and beliefs about the publication of knowledge for development.

Final thoughts
Overall, the event was a success! We managed to reach out to interested parties, connected with colleagues, and got the word out about IDRC and its work.

2007-07

News 91 of 193