For the last three years, I’ve wanted to go to ElRe7la but somehow I missed it every time. And now I regret missing all the chances I got before to join the camp.
I encourage everyone who has their own business to go, as it is truly a unique experience that you will come back from with great learnings and reflections.
Organization
So let’s see, we have 135 people staying for four days and there are many aspects to handle, starting from transportation from Cairo, having engaging activities, to making sure everyone is safe, enjoying their time and liking the food 😀
This is a really hard job but you should have seen ElRe7la team mastering this! Starting from the cool buses and giveaways (thank you Careem Bus) to how they managed to keep everything organized during the camp, everything was on point.
The Location (Sharm El Naga, Hurghada)
The place is perfect if you do not want people to get distracted by too many things happening around and it basically keeps them focused on what they are doing – not too many activities and outings around. And the food was delicious, too.
User Experience
As an attendee, I was satisfied with my experience with ElRe7la not only because the camp was beneficial but also for the obvious dedication that the whole ElRe7la team showed in the very small details. For example, how they woke up everyone in the morning, how inclusive the camp was, the bilingual material available and how the activities accounted for everyone’s preference -diving, yoga, and board games.
Size
ElRe7la public camp is the biggest activity they do in terms of the number of people, duration and number of startups and industries joining. So adding the organizers and facilitators we were around 135-140 people from 90 organizations and 15-20 industries joining this camp for four days. I believe if it were larger than this, it would not have been very effective for networking and activities so the size was perfect for the purpose of the camp.
Networking
If I could name one thing -without thinking- that is very exciting about ElRe7la, it’s networking! The organizers design the camp around the idea of how to connect people on both the professional and personal levels. The activities are designed to encourage people to go meet others and to be open and ready that other campers will come to talk to them. So even if meeting people is not usually your favorite thing, ElRe7la will help you do this without pressuring or overwhelming you.
It all started with some preparations like the delegates booklet, which was sent to our emails five days before the camp that has everyone’s information so you can prepare for your networking journey. This also helps the organizers know everyone who is coming so you will always be called by your name!
And then during the camp, you are prepared to connect with others along the whole day during the sessions and the fun activities (open mic and morning activities). You will find yourself talking to and getting to know everyone!
Content
The content basically focuses on what you as an entrepreneur need to learn and develop throughout your professional journey. This includes getting to hear successful startups stories and lessons learned, being mentored by successful entrepreneurs from different industries, networking with other fellow startups that may lead to great partnerships, and getting the chance to pitch and talk about your product to all these people.
It was also nice, balancing between the content delivered by the invited facilitators and the content delivered by the participants. As Ayman Shehata, ElRe7la Managing Partner, explained, “We are not only focusing on offering master classes but also the peer to peer learning that can happen.” So it was great to have activities such as the open space where people can discuss the topics they are interested in and the tools fair where participants got the chance to teach others a skill or a tool they master.
The only thing I would recommend is tailoring some of the sessions to work for professionals/ team members of startups too. Almost all the content was directed to founders and CEOs you -as a professional- may feel lost sometimes as the content doesn’t really reflect your challenges and interests.
Affordability
It costs you EGP 4000 to join ElRe7la if you’re going to use a shared room and EGP 3300 if you brought your own tent. Compared to camps outside Egypt that are almost the same as ElRe7la, this is a reasonable price. What was very interesting was that some of the people who attended got discounted tickets for the camp through partnerships and opportunities for startups.
For me, the experience was great and I’d definitely want to do it again. I’m also very excited about the post-ElRe7la meetups and gatherings. I hope they are as effective as the camp.
Here’s my rating of the camp!
Blog -: ElRe7la 2019 Public Camp Review
