Besides celebrating reading and culture, the milestone Sharjah International Book Fair 2021 (SIBF), being organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) at Expo Centre Sharjah from November 3 to 13, has announced 12 workshops focused on social media and online marketing for all age groups.

Broadening its range of offerings, SIBF’s social media workshops will run the gamut, from the basics of creating engaging content online to learning powerful marketing methods and even creating simple home automation systems. The workshops are free-to-attend onsite and will take place at the book fair’s popular Social Media Station.

The wide range of sessions will include: 10 marketing secrets in writing that attract people to your business in seconds, by Ahmed Alkhawaja, Emirati speaker and marketing and advertising expert, who will also host a session on Powerful marketing psychology methods that influence your audience and customer; Steps to create content on social media, by brand marketing specialist Abdullah Darwish; and two sessions will be presented by certified coach and media personality Hala Harb, namely,How to turn purposeful information into entertaining content and One man show – the process of creating content from A to Z and what happens behind the scene.

Porta pop art in clay and Pop Art will be led by Mahmoud Safwat, caricaturist, sculptor and digital artist; while Abdus will lead two sessions, namely, Build your smart city and Simple DIY home automation system. Personal Marketing Mythswill feature marketing consultant and trainer Rami Issa who will teach participants how to create engaging Instaposts; while How to use the Internet to advance your business will be led by brand strategist Samaan Mikhael; and finally, How to turn your expertise to a lucrative online business will be presented by entrepreneur Sarah Refai.

Themed ‘There’s always a right book,’ the forthcoming 40th edition of SIBF will see the participation of 1,632 publishing houses from 83 countries. More than 15 million books will be on display throughout the 11-day celebration of literature, knowledge and culture.