If you analyse most successful people in the workplace, you will notice one glaring common denominator: Most of these people are lifelong learners.
In your grandparents’ days, you could get a degree from university and you would be set for life because the career you studied didn’t change much throughout your life. But in 2018 and beyond, the speed at which the world evolves is increasing thanks to technology which means that degrees aren’t always even preparing youngsters for life after school let alone how to be relevant in the workplace in five or ten years.
That’s not to say that degrees aren’t important (they are) but these days, people need to update their understanding of the world much like we continuously upgrade the apps on our smartphone. The process is continuous and never ends.
You can read more about our views on the current education system here:
https://suitsandsneakers.co.za/6-problems-current-education-system/
In other words, people need to be curious about the world and make the time to learn something new each day. This is why Suits & Sneakers has created a special type of “school” for adults…
HOW DID THE SUITS & SNEAKERS MEMBERSHIP COME ABOUT?
Suits & Sneakers has been organising TED talk-like events since 2015 but the aim has always been to evolve the ecosystem to the point where it starts to resemble a re-imagined schooling system for adults and we can finally say that time has arrived.
Toward the end of 2017, Suits & Sneakers started its own membership program and opened registration to a closed group of loyal followers. We did this to test our different ideas out with people who were familiar with what we’re trying to achieve.
Now, with more than 80 members and growing every day, we have officially decided to open up the program to anyone who’s interested in lifelong learning, blended learning (face-to-face events mixed with an online university) and regularly interacting with a community like-minded individuals who want to grow and move this country forward.
WHAT DO ALL MEMBERS GET WHEN THEY SIGN UP?
- Complimentary access / preferential seating at our FIXED (monthly learning) events (example: https://suitsandsneakers.co.za/suits-sneakers-presents-mastering-the-art-of-disruption-with-john-sanei-jhb/)
- Complimentary access / preferential seating at our Suits & Sneakers Main Events (example:Â https://youtu.be/6HKjITfqing)
- Exclusive invites to monthly member ONLY events at a different location each time (example:Â https://youtu.be/hyzCG7qzl7c)
- Access to our online university (more about this below)
- Exclusive offers from our loyalty partners
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO JOIN?
We have three tiers of membership:
- Da Vinci – R99 a month
- Newton – R249 a month (1 Real Life MBA ticket included)
- Einstein – R499 a month (2 Real Life MBA tickets and 2 Main Event tickets included)
Essentially, all members get the same benefits excepting that the more expensive tiers are pre-buying their access to our flagship events (like Real Life MBA and Main Event) throughout the year at a discounted rate.
Also, our membership runs month-to-month which means that members can cancel at anytime provided they give us a month’s notice.
WHY IS YOUR ONLINE UNIVERSITY SUCH A BIG DEAL?
It’s more about the part that our new online university plays in the Suits & Sneakers ecosystem. Face-to-face events have been around since the dawn of time but once you’re done with the event, the learning generally tends to fade.
Online learning platforms have really come a long way in the last decade or so but haven’t really solved the world’s education problems because it’s boring for most people to sit at your computer for hours and hours watching digital tutorials.
It is our belief though, that the blended solution is best. Imagine attending a conference or workshop, learning from some incredible people on the day or night, and then when you get home, you can continue learning from the person you just watched on stage. You see, before that speaker steps foot on stage, we would have worked with them to create a digital pathway filled with additional YouTube videos, podcasts and articles all linked to elements of the speaker’s talk.
Our online university is a combination of Facebook, Netflix and Discovery Vitality. Not only do you visit our platform to learn daily but you can track other people’s learning that you follow, you can share learnings with each other and every bit of your learning is recorded. This means that we can eventually gamify your learning by offering you rewards from partners the more you learn (just like Discovery’s Vitality program) and in the end, you are building a continuous CV of your informal education.
PEOPLE ARE SIGNING UP BECAUSE…
- There is a face-to-face Suits & Sneakers event every week where you can learn something new and meet like-minded people at the same time!
- Our online university gives people a way to connect with other members and share content with each other in a social setting.
- Ultimately, every time a new member signs up, they are helping us develop our ecosystem to the point that we can eventually offer free access to young people who can’t afford a tertiary education. In other words, we eventually want to offer education to young people at NO cost. That is how you fix the inequality levels in a country like South Africa.
Watch this testimonial from Eben Uys who owns and runs both Urbanlogi and Mad Giant in Fox Street, Johannesburg:
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
If you’re ready to rock and roll immediately, you can sign online up via this link (takes less than 3 minutes):Â https://www.electronicmandate.com/suitsandsneakers/
Otherwise, give us a shout on info@suitsandsneakers.co.za and someone from our end will send you more info, etc. or even call you if you want.
I have a few enquiries around group bookings for your events and where they are held.
Please contact me.
Well done on the launch. It’s nothing short of phenomenal.
Small paradox. If degrees are important, then ongoing learning is not. It’s either one or the other.
I am a strong proponent of education and not necessarily qualifications. I understand that the world requires qualifications to employ you, but as an institute of higher learning you cannot support both.
You either support and help the evolution toward a world in which qualifications don’t matter as much as they do today or you offer degrees.
I think everything you have done thus far was brilliant. You just have to realise that you cannot be all things to all people. Pick one and stick with it.
PS. YOUR FORM BELOW DOES NOT ACCEPT MY .AGENCY DOMAIN EXTENSION IN THE EMAIL SLOT. NOT EVERYONE IS A CO.ZA OR A .COM ANYMORE