World Cup nostalgia - 13 Jun 2011[Cheers, Sindy Peters (@sindylp): Africa editor] Around this time last year the 2010 FIFA World Cup was in full swing, vuvuzelas were blown from every direction, cars were dressed in the South African flag; we walked around with ridiculous looking arm-warmers and yet wore them with pride. This past Saturday marked the kick-off of last year's World Cup - many still look back in nostalgia as productivity staggered and many spent an obscene amount of cash in order to watch the games, buy the memorabilia and share in the camaraderie and euphoria that swept South Africa and Africa. read more Mobile, the way to go - 6 Jun 2011[Sindy Peters @sinylp: Africa editor] According to research conducted by InMobi, 60% of African mobile web users are shopping via their mobile devices. This is a huge number considering there are 489 million mobile web users on the continent. read more Africa’s voices will not be silenced - 30 May 2011[Rod Baker: GM Content] Media freedom in many parts of Africa is under threat. In Morocco, a cultural television programme has been suspended while in Uganda, the police raided a private newspaper and arrested four of the staff. In Sudan, authorities there are holding a radio journalist apparently without charging him. In South Africa, with its much-vaunted 'best constitution in the world', the governing party, the ANC, is intent on steamrolling their controversial Protection of Information Bill through Parliament. read more Bizcommunity.com unveils new face - 23 May 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] After months of behind-the-scenes activity, we're thrilled to unveil a revamped Bizcommunity.com, featuring a host of new features - from an expanded set of self promotional tools - such as personal profiles appearing on the front page of the websites as well as in the newsletter, to the ability to find, follow, subscribe and share with your favourite industry personalities and opinion leaders. New and updated features include Profiles (set up or update your profile); the Industry Wall which may be browsed by industry or category; the People directory which allows you to find people by industry, by category or job title; Follow and be followed: subscribe to the updates and comments of select individuals via the newsfeed by clicking the Follow button beside any profile; Showcase: individuals or companies can showcase designs under 13 different categories; My archive: you may now archive any content you find on biz to read at a later stage by clicking on the 'Add to my archive' icon found at the footer of every article. read more Erring in the need for speed - 16 May 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Working for an online media publication can be ridiculously fast-paced since news moves in and out of your inbox quite regularly. The upside to this is that you're always in the know; the downside is that in the rush of the exchange, you could make a rather nasty mistake e.g. read more Malawi media loses industry stalwart - 9 May 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Yet another stalwart of the Malawi media industry, Edward Chisambo, passed away over the weekend; the managing editor for Blantyre Newspapers Limited succumbed to malaria and hypertension. His unfortunate death comes at a time when Malawi could use the support of all its veteran members in the fight for press freedom in the country. read more Marking World Press Freedom Day 2011 - 4 May 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Yesterday, Tuesday, 3 May 2011, was World Press Freedom Day, marking the 20th anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991 in Windhoek, Namibia. Above is the 2011 Map of Press Freedom, a graphic representation of country ratings produced by Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organisation that has monitored press freedom worldwide since 1980. read more Take a page out of Ghonim’s book - 18 Apr 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] It seems like just the other day the people of Egypt were taking to Tahrir Square demanding the exit of their then president, Hosni Mubarak. One man however, really stood out from the crowd: Wael Ghonim - instigator of the uprising via Facebook. read more Fans by association - 11 Apr 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Coca-Cola launched its Surprise your Senses campaign in Malawi over the weekend using music as a hook to attract teenagers and young adults into buying into the brand. They've used a similar approach in South Africa attaching the brand to music-related events such as the annual MyCoke Fest / Zerofest music festivals, as well as the talent search TV show, Coca-Cola Pop Stars. read more Countdown to royal spectacle begins - 4 Apr 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] The royal wedding is almost upon us! While to some this means nothing and the day will pass as per usual, to others however, the world will stand still and they will be glued to whatever media gives them a front row seat to see Prince William and Kate Middleton walk down the aisle. CNN has decided to go all out on the spectacle with multi-platform coverage featuring a host of live programming and in-depth features that should have royal family fans salivating. read more Who's handing out your flyers? - 28 Mar 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Handing out printed promotional flyers at traffic light intersections is common across South Africa. I have someone coming up to my window on a daily basis with stacks of flyers hoping I will be interested in taking one. read more Know thy social media (Pt two) - 14 Mar 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] I've been a huge supporter of the local rock / alternative / indie music scene in South Africa ever since Bizcommunity launched the BizLounge. I've attended gig after gig - from The Dirty Skirts to The Rudimentals to Goldfish - and we have some great talent here. read more Social media: the good, the bad and Sowambe - 7 Mar 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] Social media is a nasty distraction; I have to literally close Facebook if I am to get any work done because if the site is left open on my browser, there's a more than likely chance I'm going to keep up with my "friends'" every move. Twitter is a whole other beast - I'd say it's almost an addiction; to constantly be in the know and to be on top of things, from general politics to NASA's latest trip into outer space, is very satisfying - it allows you to form an opinion on just about everything. read more (1 Comment) While we were watching the Oscars - 28 Feb 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] This morning, while watching the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, I logged onto Twitter and noticed a stark contrast in my Twitterfeed. On the one hand, plenty were excited about the Oscars, tweeting the winners as soon as they were announced. read more Don’t be digitally duped - 21 Feb 2011[Sindy Peters, Africa editor] It is scary how sceptical consumers now need to be as we entrench our lives in the digital era. While con artists have been around since the beginning of time, the need to be ever so wary when engaging and transacting online has increased vastly. read more |
