One of my sub-resolutions, besides #SelfLove is to get more involved in street photography. I've consulted the big brother +Nana Kofi Acquah and an equipment upgrade and slight modification of my shooting style will be announced soon. Gratefully this is also consistent with last year's #Deeper resolution. Progress. More soon.

Before getting knee deep in this new photography journey though, I spent the last 72 hours test-driving ths #Huawei P8 Lite front and back-end cameras for daylight, night time sample pictures.

My barber, Paul from Krew, is one of the good fellas. He takes immense pleasure in making sure my beard looks groomed. So I did a session at the Krew Barber shop at Labone across the street from +Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine  in Accra. Selfie below:

Normal Selfie shot with #Huawei P8 Lite

Feeling fresh & super cool taken with the Beauty Level Vintage & Valencia Filters #Huawei P8 Lite

While Green Lantern  (my car) has gone to the mechanic for a tune up and other much needed upgrades and body work; I've been gallivanting on foot and discovered a relic that reminded me of the last times I was in Nigeria: Abuja & Lagos for #ShapeAfrica trip, blog post here. I was amused to find out that we, in Accra, now have our own Keke Na Pep! #Claps

Digital Influencers get invited to cool events and my invitation for #BarclaysGhana's new branch launch didn't disappoint. If you all remember, a few years ago when I posted how I had to draw a directional map before  I could open my first bank account in Ghana? (I'll job your memory click here) Well yesterday #BarclaysGhana took a giant leap forward, that allows customers to make cash deposits at ATMS across 67 branches in the country.

With fellow digital influencer Prince of CranchOn Blog shot with #Huawei P8 Lite

MacJordan asking questions on instant account set-up at #BarclaysGhana shot with #Huawei P8 Lite

#BarclaysGhana ATMs that accept check deposits shot with #Huawei P8 Lite

#BarclaysGhana ATMs shot with #Huawei P8 Lite

Some of my tweets on this.

#MosquitoClaps Armed with the #Huawei P8 Lite my selfie game these past 72 hours did not disappoint. Any comments or questions on the camera & photo features of the #Huawei P8 Lite hit me up @eagamor on all social media networks.

First month of 2016 started off with a bang. I resolved, as I have for a while now to start the new year with a new mantra that develops on last year's #Deeper. And I remember sharing my train of thought with a close friend who expressed apprehension when "someone mentioned" #SelfLove. Thirty-plus days into the new year and I am convinced I couldn't have picked a better time to shape my decisions and actions. More on #SelfLove in a bit...

One of the positive results to committing to #Deeper is my engagement with +Global Shapers Accra. The Accra Hub is an entrepreneurs-packed group of young professionals who are passionate and have the potential to truly leave a positive impact on the world.

In 2015 I applied for, and we won, the opportunity to host #ShapingDavos in Accra on the topic "Building Trust in Public-Private Partnerships" (blog post here) this year the topic “Creating 75 million entrepreneurs, is it possible?

#ShapingDavos is a global phenomenon that connects 20 cities from around the world to discuss 10 topics related to the theme of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2016 in Davos - Klosters. Our discussion points, contributions and recorded session will be part of the engagement world wide at www.shapingdavos.org

For-Profit Session: 3:30 - 4:30pm

Selorm Branttie - Mpedigree

Alloysius Attah - Farmerline - Kumasi Hub*

John Armah - Orios Group - Accra Hub*

Ruben Atekpe - Mecowa - WEF member and Accra Hub Founder*

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Social Impact Session: 4:45pm - 5:45pm 

Kim Green - Yes Ghana

Hassan Salih - MESH

Yaba Haffar - Teach for Ghana

Daniel Owusu - Cape Coast Hub*

William Senyo - Impact Hub Accra - Ho Hub*

Emmanuel Leslie Addae - TedX Accra

Elizabeth Patterson - GEIG Education Initiative - Kumasi Hub*

The conversations were insightful with video snippets here on some of the most memorable quotes #WEF16

Group picture 1

 

Group picture 2

To check out the full video: for-profit video link here and social enterprise here.

After our event sessions we plugged in to the World Economic forum to share contributions based on what was discussed.

  

I was honored to share nuggets of wisdom based on the fantastic contributions from the #ShapingDavos in Accra 2016 panelists. Full video here.

#Deeper ampa! We made sure we also had the video snippets contributing to the social media impact of our local events and I appreciate our sponsors and partners who made it possible to raise 5,500ghs in less than 1 week. #GamorLegacy

For those who have been following, I did an un-boxing (post here) for for the surprisingly useful Huawei P8 Lite recently and I got quite a number of positive feedback from people who didn't know about the the phone either.

At Citi 97.3 FM's #D2R concert I decided to try-out the really awesome camera features that allow for low light photos and even better crisp intelligent video shots.

Bisa Kdei is one of the most well-received artists during Citi FM's #December2Remember concert December 2015

Photo shot with Huawei P8 in low light Bisa Kdei's performance at Citi FM's #December2Remember

And then I tried to be even more adventurous and recorded video with the Huawei P8 Lite's 13MP camera for maximum image resolution of 4160 x 3120 pixels tell me what you think of the video below:

If you were at the concert or have tried your hands at Huawei's P8 Lite, shoot me a quick message @eagamor and let's compare notes.

Olu, Muriel (my mother), Grandma Anniky, Ayo, Kobina | photo credit: Sawyer family archives.

It has been a crazy awesome and crazy challenging 2015. Reflecting on the June 3rd Accra Floods, the December 17th car robbery but in the same token appreciative of the World Economic Forum on Africa conference panelist opportunity in Cape Town, SA my feature in BBC and this newspaper clipping from the Ghana's Daily Graphic, Business edition:

Daily Graphic Business: Tuesday November 3rd-9th 2015 

Helps me appreciate all that has happened this past year even more. In spite of the struggles, challenges and difficulties there are bright spots, real bright spots that have helped deal with each obstacle and challenge. For that I am grateful. A wise person once shared with me that there isn't life without obstacles, and so as I turn thirty, I am contemplative and appreciative about all the victories (big or small) that help make this journey memorable. To all of you who have followed, and continue to follow this blog, thank you. There is more to come, especially as I explore content creation with evermore advanced mobile devices here and here.

If you haven't already, do follow @eagamor on Twitter as I resolve to live in the here and now and celebrate our individual and collective success as #MasterOfTheMoment

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#Deeper #‎IStandOnTheShouldersOfGiants‬ The cute youngest girl, Muriel Vanderpuye, will go on to be the wonderful woman who gives birth to me 30 years from this day. Grateful. ‪#‎SawyerInMe‬ ‪#‎QuarteyInMe‬ ‪#‎Mama‬ ‪#‎MosquitoClaps‬‪ ‪#‎GamorLegacy‬

Everyone loves the Christmas season. It is a great time to reconnect with family, and if yours is benevolent, a time to exchange gifts. The festive season is always special as my birthday falls on new year's eve and gives me extra motivation to think about, and implement, my new year's resolutions.

One such resolution of mine is to take mobile more seriously. The mobile devices of today have in-built specs that would dazzle anyone from 2-5 years ago and for social media enthusiasts and bloggers: they allow us to consume and produce content on the fly. Being an Apple enthusiast I'd bookmarked an iPhone 6 purchase - if for the very least, to sync with my MacBook and other devices that make my working life simpler and easier.

And then surprising happened...

I received my first Huawei device, ever. I almost feel giddy. It is not that I haven't owned an Android phone before, I dabbled with HTC's Dream G1 device, and even owned Samsung's Galaxy Two, yes there were a few before the new Galaxy 6s and Galaxy Edge were introduced into the market. And if you have been an ardent follower/reader of this blog there was the Samsung A5 and my thoughts on that here. But never have I owned a Huawei, until now; and I have been pleasantly surprised. I'll be more than happy to share with you the highlights and functionality of the Huawei P8 Lite, especially in our Dumsor-laden, expensive data Ghanaian environment in a bit. In the meantime, Afi hyia pa! Check out the pictures and the brief unboxing video on what's to come next.

It is "Crazy Charley..." how time flies. I tried figuring out the first E.L. track I heard 3 years ago and One Ghana [For Your Pocket] sticks out vividly for two reasons: the catchy tune/witty lyrics and the Taxi -painted Bentley! I remember asking myself who IS this young rapper and why does he sound so familiar?

Elorm Adablah or EL was one of my seniors at Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, go figure! Not only that, he and my Clerk House (2) mate Francis Kuma aka Foxy aka Jinx/Frank P were part of another  Ɔdadeɛ Jayso's Skillion rap group. Fast forward almost a decade later and E. L. is headlining his 2nd concert in tandem with his freshly released mixtape. B.A.R. II.

Working at +Y1079FM I got a complimentary copy of the new mixtape a few weeks back and it has been on rotation on my phone and in my car. My current two favorites:

Work 2: is a song is for all of us who can't/won't/don't know how to stop working, and when we do work that we are truly passionate about, we swear we haven't worked a day in our lives!

There is something melodic about "We No Dey Hear" and I'm impressed with Lil' Shaker's growth and appreciate getting introduced to Jo Cue on this mixtape. There is also a youthful irreverence and persistence that "We No Dey Hear" captures EL - "...dem talk wanna matter but we no dey hear." #CoolDudesUnite.

How many times have we (you and I) rep-ed New York on Alicia Keys/Jay-Z album, rep-ed Miami because Khaled & Pitbull or Chi-Town because of Common? Nope we aren't from there and this "get crunk" track sets me up nicely for any occasion. Riding with the boys? Wossop; I'm gonna kill this presentation and make these Cedis turn into Dollars real quick Wossop; fresh to death and ready to stunt on these girl(s) charley Wossop! EL mentions the neighborhoods I've lived in from North Kaneshie to Airport Residential. #MyGuy

To be fair, there are hard-hitting songs from hip-hop heads with versatile, lyrical tracks for all. These three resonated with my-everyday-life without me even trying hard.

Pictures at the Tigo Music #Bar2Concert below:

Trigmatic from #YFMGhana family

The B.A.R. himself: EL

Jayso before the crowd: #PioneerStatus

And now my personal fav videos taken with my iPhone 5c:

Every year Jamestown by Accra High Street is packed with cultural and artistic brilliance.

This year's Chale Wote theme, piqued my interest and "African Electronics" did not disappoint. Big-ups to the volunteer team that puts this showcase on, the Ga community and residents by Mantse Agbonaa for being such enthusiastic and fun hosts. If you missed check out #ChaleWote2015 on Twitter, you wont be disappointed.

Better than Mayweather vs. Pacquiao #ChaleWote

Selfie Booth #ChaleWote

Young Boxers #ChaleWote

African Electronics in full effect #ChaleWote

Mantse one of the leading brains behind #ChaleWote

Do make sure you're glued to AccraDotAltRadio website the official #ChaleWote news source. #MosquitoClaps

Saturday May 16th, turned out to be a packed day! After being a guest at many a MESH Confab, I was invited to speak at May 2015 edition and I was humbled and nervous at the same time. The last confab I attended, featured fellow  Ɔdadeɛ +Jayso Skillions, +Nicole Amarteifio  and +Yaw DK Osseo-Asare as speakers. It was insightful, informative and inspirational.

This year +Aisha Obuobi & +Joe Osae-Addo and I got to exchange ideas and engage with the MESH creative society.

Even though I was billed as a "YouTube Expert" I focused more on my personal storytelling journey as a multimedia journalists and made a case to encourage more digital Ghanaian content through collaboration.

A big shout-out to +Sed Tsegah  for taking this picture #MeshConfab2015

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After 5pm I dashed back to Legon to join in on the #DumsorMustStop vigil. I got to Tetteh Quarshie a little after 6pm to join in on the +yvonne nelson & other Ghanaian movie stars and celebrities led non-partisan protest to the country's electricity crisis.

                          

Wanlov "was there some"

Placards demand for a solution to #dumsor

Van Vicker, DKB and D-Black in attendance

Young professionals lamenting the electricity situation

Mr. Sam Mends (Omni media/Citi FM) speaking with the media

See boys.

Fellow Ɔdadeɛ 

Ever since I can remember, my mother has been holding parties for children during Christmas holidays. The work, effort and selflessness usually ate into our own Christmas holidays and plans. But the joy on the faces of the children, and my mother's, always made it well worth it. She got the practice from her father.

Giving back in some way shape of form was inculcated in us by our family at an early age. In high school, I volunteered at a hospital for two years and met my godmother Kathryn Smith. In college I joined many a a volunteer organization including Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. and in Ghana I was thirsty to keep that balance - productivity coupled with impact as part of my routine.

I started with Rotaract see earlier posts here and here.  And created the habit of going outside my comfort zone for outreach programs, cervical cancer awareness drives and general doing-good in my community.

On February 24th, at my induction I was supported by my Rotaract Club of Adentan family and close friends. As I re-affirmed my commitment to "Service Above Self" #GamorLegacy

Our snazzy induction class flyer!

Moments before being officially announced as a member of the Rotary Club of Accra - Ring Road Central

President Franklin Attah of Rotary Club of Accra - Ring Road Central & Emmanuel Gamor

Fellow Rotarian Lamisi and my Rotary mentor Dr. Dennis Addo (right)

Table of Men Rotarians at the Rotary Club of Accra - Ring Road Central

Holding up my certificate of membership: Rotarian Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor - Rotary Club of Accra - Ring Road Central

Friends and members of the Rotaract Club of Adentan 

My induction mentor & one of the oldest Rotarians PAG Abbi Dodo

Feb 24th felt like swearing-in ceremony: "Service Above Self"

Fellow Rotary inductees: Billy & Sheba & Emmanuel Gamor

All these pictures were taken kind courtesy of fellow Shaper, mentor and awesome friend +Yawa Hansen-Quao #WeAreOne