Socalising in the digi-age Geeks and non-geeks alike have ample social media to poke, prod and tweet to their heart's content. The term "social life" has taken on a new meaning in the digi-age of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter etc. My 16-year old sister asked me recently if I was on Twitter, to which I replied, "No." She is, and she's dying to get her hands on an iPhone so she too can become a regular tweeter. I just can't understand why she'd want to provide a moment-to-moment update on her state of being to the world and why the world would care. Funny enough, the world does care and the more popular folk have hundreds of followers. However, Twitter's figures are not as great as they appear, according to a recent Nielson research report. More than 60% of Twitter users have stopped using the micro-blogging service a month after joining, according to Nielsen Online. Twitter's also about to possibly lose more users from the African continent with the official launch of Afrigator's Gatorpeeps. While Justin Hartman, MD and co-founder of Afrigator, says they're not trying to steal Twitter users, I'm sure it's inevitable as an African network might seem more appealing to African social media users. Either way, Twitter has some work cut out for it if it wants to retain its users. Some good news though for those struggling to get their Loeries entries in on time for the 2009 awards is that the deadline has been extended to the end of May. Entries from Africa and the Middle East are eligible for the competition so it would be wise to get cracking asap. Good luck! Sindy Peters, Content manager Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com. | Top stories
Marketing
 South African marketing guru Chris Moerdyk has been appointed non-executive chairman of Bizcommunity.com, the country's leading online destination for marketing and media industry news. Moerdyk's appointment is with immediate effect. Read more >>
2010 FIFA World Cup
[Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane] NELSPRUIT: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has joined hands to ensure that South Africa has enough electricity during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Read more >>
Advertising
 The 15 May 2009 deadline for The Loerie Awards 2009 has been extended by another fortnight to 31 May. There will be an additional extension fee for all entries received after 15 May and no further extensions will be given after 31 May. Read more >>
Advertisement:  Y&R UK's Simon Sylvester will deliver the keynote address at the 2009 APEX Awards gala, followed by the awards announcements. The banquet takes place on Thursday, 21 May 2009 at the Vodadome at Vodaworld in Midrand, South Africa. Read more >>
Branding
 [Walter Wafula] Southern Enterprises a clearing and forwarding firm in Uganda has adopted a new brand in a bid to reposition its business in the global market place. The company unveiled a new logo last month, which it plans to use in its day-to-day business. Read more >>
Cinema
 "Izulu Lami" (My Secret Sky), a feature film directed by South Africa's Madoda Ncayiyana, received the ‘Dikalo Best Feature Film' prize at the International Pan African Film Festival, held in Cannes in April 2009. Read more >>
Digital
[Titus Kaloki] The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is claimed to be the highest capacity system being built on the eastern seaboard. The venture is spearheaded by its investment arm; WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company) which has the greatest reach through its shareholders in East, Central and South Africa. Read more >>
JOHANNESBURG: The US$600 million, 14 000km West Africa Cable System linking southern and western African countries with Europe should be in service by 2011. Read more >>
Education and Training
Relicom, in partnership with Synthesis Communications is staging an event called Evening of Reading to encourage Nigerians to read. The companies have designed the platform for lovers of poetry and writers to meet and listen to poetry recited in a relaxed environment. Read more >>
JOHANNESBURG/CAPE TOWN: The theme of the third biennial Knowledge Management Africa (KMA) conference, which opened Monday, 3 May 2009 in the capital of Senegal, is lofty - "knowledge to reposition Africa in the world economy". But the aim is more down-to-earth: to find ways to apply vital information to the basic question of improving the lives of Africa's people. Read more >>
Eventing
The 11th annual African Renaissance Festival will be hosted in South Africa at venues in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay from 25 - 30 May, 2009. The theme adopted for this year's African Renaissance is “Uniting the African World”. Read more >>
Media
In an effort to help protect Somali journalists, one hundred bulletproof vests and helmets have been provided to them. Somali journalists work in one of the world's most volatile environments - media houses are frequently closed and violence has become a daily fixture. Read more >>
[Larry Kilman] "I got put in jail in Zimbabwe for simply doing my job. They said I was 'committing journalism' and I hope they were right." That's how Barry Bearak of The New York Times described his arrest, brief detention and expulsion from Zimbabwe for trying to report from the country during the last elections. Read more >>
 Project "One Click One Pic's" goal is to catch the earth as it is on Saturday, 24 October 2009 from vantage points worldwide. The project aims to commemorate the date when the first photo of the earth was taken in 1946. The project, organised by HEAPFO, has called on Africa to participate. Read more >>
[Busani Bafana] BULAWAYO: Zimbabwe's unity government is stuttering in its attempt at restoring press freedom in a country which had once branded independent journalists as ‘enemies of the state'. Read more >>
HARARE: The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) have called for a media reform conference taking place this week to be boycotted after two Zimbabwean journalists were arrested for the second time. Read more >>
 On 3 May 2009, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) held a conference on media freedom and safety of journalists to commemorate World Press Freedom Day (WPFD). Minister of Information, Farhan Ali Mohamud announced the disbandment of the Media Council at the event. Read more >>
NAIROBI: Four years ago, a furious Lucy Kibaki, Kenya's First Lady, marked World Press Freedom Day by storming the offices of leading independent publisher the Nation Group with her entourage. She was outraged by the group's portrayal of her dispute with a neighbour and seized phones and laptops in a demonstration of the low respect one powerful figure has for a free press. Read more >>
 [Gregory Gondwe] Zain Malawi has entered into a three-year long partnership agreement with Malawi's National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA). Under the partnership agreement the company will annually sponsor the management of some activities to mark World Press Freedom Day (WPFD). Read more >>
Mobile
Middle East and Africa mobile network services provider, Etisalat, has become the latest mobile company to fall victim to the activities of hoax emailers. Read more >>
 Mobile social networking company MXit, with 13 million subscribers worldwide, has introduced Africa's first Mobile Book (MBook), in a bid to promote literacy and reading among its majority youth audience. Read more >>
 Mobile-XL, a mobile technology company, today, 5 May 2009, announced that it has reached an agreement with Go Places, the premier East African travel guide, to make dining information available to mobile audiences. XLBrowser users can now search for restaurants by name, cuisine or location and query additional information such as hours or contact information. Read more >>
Online Media
 Afrigator officially launched the beta version of Gatorpeeps today, Monday, 11 May 2009. Gatorpeeps is a new micro-blogging service that the company hopes will connect other like-minded African Afrigator users together through short updates and community interaction. Read more >>
Printing
[Gregory Gondwe] Nation Publications Limited (NPL), publishers of The Nation Daily, Weekend Nation and Nation on Sunday, scooped all the National Media Institute of Southern Africa print awards (NAMISA) at the ceremony held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 1 May, 2009 held as part of this year's World Press Freedom commemoration. Read more >>
Production
[Titus Kaloki] Many have always wondered what is creativity and how can it be measured. How can one tell creativity from the norm and how can one tell what has been creatively done or not. A respected panel of experts who worked on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, provided their definition of the term. Read more >>
Promotions
[Titus Kaloki] For most companies the most important part of business is getting new clientele and accounts. It is for this reason that many spend millions in advertising and marketing. However, newer ways of lowering costs and creating brand awareness have sprung up. Read more >>
Public Relations
 The 2009 IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence, has this year received 342 entries from 43 countries including Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The awards will be presented at the GWA Gala Dinner taking place in London on 29 October, 2009. Read more >>
Retail
[Francis Kokutse] ACCRA: It looks like someone is not telling it as it is as far as meeting Ghana's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on water supply is concerned. Read more >>
[Sam Hungwe] Zimbabwe's banking sector is working towards re-introducing international credit and debit card purchasing and cash dispensing systems, which collapsed at the height of an economic crisis over the past decade. Read more >>
WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has opened a window of possible funding opportunities for the bankrupt Zimbabwean government, says an analyst. Read more >>
ADDIS ABABA: The global financial crisis is on everyone's lips. With first hand reports of job losses, house foreclosures and citizens living on credit card debt, the impact of the crisis on the individual worker in the developed world is clear. Kudzai Makombe interviews Mwila Chigaga, ILO regional senior gender specialist. Read more >>
BANJUL: Dwindling stocks and profits are driving thousands of young Gambian fishermen out of the industry but the government hopes to lure them back through tighter regulation and greater investment. Read more >>
 The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa (SAPICS) and co-host, CIPS (The Chartered Institute of Purchasing), are gearing up for the first ever SAPICS/CIPS Conference, which takes place in Windhoek, Namibia, on 29 May 2009. Read more >>
 Uganda's leaders now have access to maps that will allow them to reduce poverty through better management of the country's wetlands. The map from Mapping a Better Future shows that highly impacted wetlands are spread widely across Uganda and are located in areas with both low and high poverty levels. Read more >>
PRETORIA: South Africa has lifted visa restrictions against Zimbabwean citizens visiting the country for a period of 90 days. Read more >>
TV
 On 6 May, 2009 Sony Entertainment Televsion (SET) broadened its reach in sub-Saharan Africa when it simultaneously launched on both DStv's Premium and Compact bouquets. The total number of subscriber households for SET in Africa, according to a release from the company, is currently over two million. Read more >>
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Mobile
 Coca-Cola is calling on all young and creative minds to produce an amusing video clip showing how much they love the new carbonated energy soft drink, Beat. The 30-second video clip should demonstrate the campaign's pay-off line, "What would you do to get your beat?" Read more >>
Out Of Home
 We are inundated with sporting events at the moment. Have you made the most of this opportunity to market your brand? If not, it's never too late to get a piece of the action, and Right Stuff's Sports Range provides you with the perfect tools to boost your brand presence. Read more >>
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