Social Value Festival 'SOVAC' Closes Today

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The 'Social Value Connect (SOVAC) 2020,' a private festival related to social value initiated by SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, concluded its month-long journey on the 24th. The SOVAC Secretariat announced that the event ended with the Social Performance Incentive session on the same day.

The SOVAC Secretariat stated that this event was praised for its 'paradigm shift' by significantly increasing social interest and participation through an online method in a non-face-to-face environment.

In fact, over the past month, the number of visitors to the official SOVAC website exceeded 45,000, and a total of 610,000 people watched more than 950,000 content views on the official YouTube channel.

The number of companies and organizations that participated as official partners with SOVAC was counted at 117.

SOVAC plans to continue the enthusiasm for solving social problems from next month in the form of 'Monthly-SOVAC.' Through this, it aims to serve as a continuous platform for creating social value.

SOVAC is a communication and connection platform where experts and citizens who want to solve various social problems and create social value gather to share their experiences and wisdom. Discussions for its launch began in 2018 at the proposal of SK Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The first event, held last May at the Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, attracted great attention with about 5,000 attendees. This year, starting with the keynote speech on the 24th of last month, it was conducted online for a month via YouTube and Naver TV in a non-face-to-face manner. More than 20 events, including 15 main sessions, were broadcast sequentially every day, and some sessions included real-time viewer voting for ranking selection.

Famous YouTubers with an average of 250,000 subscribers aired videos directly experiencing social enterprise products, drawing attention.

In particular, the SOVAC Secretariat reported that many found the various ideas proposed by young generations such as university students to solve social problems impressive, including the 'Good Influence Challenge' held live on the 4th.

The 'Good Influence Challenge' featured entries such as a service where visually impaired people teach Korean overseas online, a local delivery service employing elderly people, and the team from Sookmyung Women's University, which won the competition by presenting a business model where retired athletes directly coach ordinary citizens.

Leaders of major domestic and international groups, including Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun, sent congratulatory video messages, and internet platform companies directly hosted sessions to introduce efforts to solve social problems.

The topics, including regional regeneration, employment of people with disabilities, and empathy education, were broader and more diverse than last year.

Actors Son Hyun-joo and Park Si-eun, influencer Shinsaimdang, broadcasters Heo Young-ji and Park Seul-gi, and comedian Park Young-jin participated, explaining in an easy-to-understand way suitable for the general public, showing that anyone can participate in solving social problems.

A SOVAC Secretariat official self-assessed, "It provided an opportunity to raise awareness of solving social problems to a higher level."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.