The journey began on November 11, 2008. I was in London and  my cellphone rang. The voice on the other end said, “ Yvonne, would you accept an invitation to speak at Harvard? “ my response...” has anyone ever turned down that offer?

So, 3 1/2 months later, many nerves, lots of reading, many quiet panics, and much excitement later, here I am in very chilly Boston... Kindly sponsored by South African Tourism, to whom I am eternally grateful for facilitating this wonderful opportunity

I fly via London to absorb some love and support from Shelley, Miles, Johnnie, Rich and Debbie, -  the books, “Africa Rising” by Vijay Mahajan, and “Africa the Good News” clutched under my arm.                            

I arrive to -6°. Boston is wintery, stark, grey, and very cold. I spend a few days acclimatising myself and getting over the jetlag which holds my head in a vice, waking me at one o'clock in the morning. I am blessed because my friend Nolene, just happens to be in town, from Miami. (Nothing is a coincidence!) We tour the city on a trolley bus and eat delicious clams downed with a good sauvignon blanc. We indulge ourselves at the famous Stephanie's on Newbury Street- a treat beyond compare... and we are hosted by her gorgeous daughter at the fascinating Liberty Hotel Veuve Clicot champagne bar followed by another magnificent meal.

And so the long-awaited February 21 arrives. I wake up, excited and ready for the challenge. It is a beautiful sunny day. The Harvard campus is impressive. The buildings all beautifully built of red brick and large white columns and I suppose one anticipates a certain aura. I was not disappointed. As I walked across the campus, I felt incredibly privileged. My ex-colleague, Simon Barber from Brand South Africa, has come up from Washington for the Africa on the Move Conference. It was wonderful to see a familiar face and to have some tangible support.

The conference, called “Africa on the Move: transforming quick wins into lasting change”, had attracted over 1000 delegates, mainly African in origin, but living all over the world many of them in America.

The opening plenary hall is incredibly impressive and was filled to capacity. The entire day, although many of the Africa's challenges were acknowledged, was extremely positive. If I had a personal  worry or concern, it was that we were preaching to the converted. Everyone who attended the conference believed in the potential of Africa. My question is how does one reach the unconverted?

A lot of the content I had heard before, but it's always interesting to hear that there are 17 African countries whose growth is more than 5%, that the African Development Bank has allocated $75 billion for infrastructure, that East Africa will be connected with Internet cable shortly and that a road will be built from Gaborone to Nigeria.

The barriers to progress were discussed, how the financial collapse would affect Africa, how most currencies have depreciated and how there has been a slowdown in capital inflows. But we did not linger there. We talked rather, about how all schoolchildren in Rwanda have a computer, how the brain drain can be beneficial to the continent because education and resources can be mobilised from anywhere in the world and that frank discussions on governance are lifting the rest of the continent.

And then on to my panel discussion. The moderator was a professor of law at Harvard business School, Lucie White. She was tremendous. We struck a common chord immediately. She loved the concept of nation branding and was very interested in the work that we are doing for Action for a Safe South Africa. Our one panellist, Vijay Mahajan, the author of Africa Rising, who I was extremely keen to meet, had cancelled at the last minute due to illness. (His absence did however, give us more airtime!) The other two panellists were Yvonne Ndege from Al Jazeera, and Mark Sorbara from Africa Risk Consulting,  smart, funny, stimulating, and I felt privileged to share their panel.

Lucy asked me to kick off the discussion. My opening statement saying that we must not allow Bono to define the African perception met with a round of applause, and I was off to a good start. So what does drive the perceptions of Africa? The CNN effect,- They refused to cover the Ghanaian elections because there was no promise of bloodshed and mayhem, the ongoing reliance on any of the kindness of others which just elicits pity and contempt..and of course, movies like Blood Diamond. Mark added to the discussion by saying that America particularly had to “get beyond the love affair with African poverty”. He also talked about the Pity Peddling Popstars -- an alliteration that I loved.

So how do we strike the balance between highlighting the gains in Africa, versus the challenges in Africa? - By contextualising the news, responding to the negatives, by putting forward an alternative view, and telling authentic stories that do not reek of propaganda. We talked about whether or not Africa is a homogenous brand or whether in fact there are 53 unique brands on the continent.  Funny that, because we don't expect France to be like Poland but the world thinks that Rwanda is like Namibia. It is my opinion that if every country in Africa started promoting its stories of excellence, the stories of the great entrepreneurs, the stories of higher than average return on investment, that we would start to change the perceptions of the continent.

We all agreed, that Africans themselves had to become positive ambassadors, that we had to get people to visit, that Africans abroad had to invest in the continent, and that we had to get politicians to understand the power and role of marketing. New media poses an amazing opportunity, as everyone becomes connected by the Internet or cellphone, the possibilities for communication open up. It is up to Africans to tell their story because in fact, THEY are the brand. I was asked to expand on our increasing tourism figures, and How Action for a Safe South Africa, is exploring the root causes of crime.

The role of the individual was highlighted. We have to keep the politicians honest, live the brand, be responsible for talking the continent up not down, create a global conversation via new media, and do small actions every day that make a difference.

The panel was supportive of each other's message,  - it was a witty, fast moving, interesting and inspiring exchange. We were all inundated at the end by people wanting to connect and wanting to know more. That evening, at the wonderful gala dinner, surrounded by people, resplendent in African dress, Raphael told me that the Africa brand panel had been the most enjoyable of the day.

Later I read on twitter “Yvonne Johnston gets cheers at Harvard Africa conference when she says: "You can't let Bono set the agenda''. about 24 hours ago from web”

So, thus ends my first visit to Harvard...but like Arnie...”I’ll be back!”