Founder of Heavy Chef, Fred Roed (1991G), Co-founder and MD of Bluegrass Digital and OD Committee member, Nick Durrant (1991G) and ODU Vice-Chairman, Anton Taylor (2005B)

The Heavy Chef event hosted at the Mitre on Tuesday was a resounding success. The event began with a welcome from chairman Adam Pike (1992O), before MC and vice-chairman Anton Taylor (2005B) welcomed the speakers. Fred Roed (1991G) the founder of Heavy Chef, spoke to a sold-out audience before the two guest speakers took to the stage. The first speaker was Annette Muller, named in 2014 by Forbes as ‘One of the Top 10 Female Tech Founders to Watch’, who outlined her learnings in the tech space. Next up was Mark Forrester (1999G) who detailed his journey in creating WooThemes and WooCommerce, which is used by millions of online stores today. The event ended with a Q&A panel, and then drinks and snacks and networking. There was an eclectic crowd and many new faces, and much reason to have a follow-up event. A big thank you to Nick Durrant (1991G) who drove the event and our incredible sponsors.

Fred Roed (1991G) Introducing the speakers
 

Founder of the Event Organisers, Heavy Chef, Fred Roed (1991G) Reports: "On Tuesday night, I was blown away by the story of Mark Forrester, the humble, self-deprecating, co-founder of WooThemes. Annette Muller, who shared the stage with Mark and also delivered a stirring presentation in a sold-out Heavy Chef event at Bishops Mitre Theatre in Rondebosch, said after Mark's talk "I've always been a fan of Mark's work, but now I'm a superfan.

    
Guest Speakers, Mark Forrester (1999G) and Annette Muller.
 

Mark is one of SA's unsung heroes. His business, WooThemes, has touched the lives of over fifty million people (actually way, way more than that, if you use different metrics) and yet, most of the audience were not aware of Mark's exploits. This made me think, we need to get better at telling our stories. The entire world should be shouting from the hilltops about this home-grown hero and what he's done for the SA and global tech industry."
 

Nick Durrant (1991G) and Fred Roed (1991G)
 

Committee member, Nick Durrant (1991G) remarked: “It was a fantastic event, focused on stories around entrepreneurship and technology. Not only did we hear an amazing story by our very own OD Mark Forrester, but what made it extra special was the attendance of so many ODs, young and old, including OD parents bringing some with their Bishops sons to the event."

CEO of Sturrock Grindrod Maritime, Andrew Sturrock (1986G) who attended the event with his son, Sebastian (currently in Grade 9 Gray House): "I (and in fact we) thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was refreshing to be surrounded by a host of younger OD’s and with an audience that was in different industries. The speakers were interesting and refreshing and I was remarking to Sebastian how awesome the new space is and perfect for little events like this. Certainly, the topic was insightful and it really gives hope as to what is going on around us in Cape Town and leaves a positive feeling around a sea of negativity."

A big thank you to Fred Roed (1991) and the Heavy Chef team, as well as our sponsors: