[No Comment] Awards season - 13 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] It's awards season in the magazine publishing industry, with the Magazine Publishers' Association of SA (MPASA) Pica Awards, for magazine publishing and editorial excellence, having being judged over the past month. The awards ceremony will be in Cape Town this year, 21 November 2008. read more

[No Comment] Cheering for 2010 - 6 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] The bittersweet aspect of one's job as both news editor, editor and journalist on one of the country's largest daily news service providers, is that one gets a ton of mail - thousands of emails a week. The upside is that you also get a pretty good overview of what is happening in your industry because you get to see pretty much everything, from press releases, events, comments, blogs, breaking news, thought leadership - and talk to some of the best people out there on a regular basis. read more    (1 Comment)

[No Comment] Get connected - 29 Sep 2008
[Louise Marsland] Interesting to see the surge in activity on online news sites over the past week as people scrambled for news on what was unfolding on our political canvas. Local events overshadowed the global financial meltdown temporarily, but the web remains the first port of call for instant info. read more

[No Comment] Non-stop news - 22 Sep 2008
[Louise Marsland] Our 24-hour news channel, etv's eNews, came of age this weekend with its non-stop news coverage on the Presidential drama - a panacea for news junkies like myself who tend to channel surf for all news angles. Well done! Also worth mentioning was the scrolling instant SMS reaction from viewers which SABC carried right after President Thabo Mbeki's address to the nation at which he announced his resignation. read more    (1 Comment)

[No Comment] What journos want - 25 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] I'm always impressed by great customer service, pathetically so, sometimes it seems, probably because we're not a very service-oriented culture at the best of times and customer service often tends to be a privilege, not a given! And I can say that with some authority, having travelled overseas a fair bit and experienced some of the best customer service in the world. So when a client actually proactively tries to address a media complaint by finding out what it is that we actually need to make our lives easier as journalists reporting from the multitude of events we attend on a monthly basis, I'm seriously impressed. read more

[No Comment] The importance of transferring knowledge and skills - 18 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] I was discussing knowledge management and capacity building in organisations the other day with colleagues in the industry. I've always felt that those of us who have racked up a couple of decades of work experience in our chosen fields should ‘give back' in transferring knowledge and skills to build capacity in organisations/industry. read more

[No Comment] Key marketers align with CMO - 11 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] The inaugural advisory board meeting of the global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council Africa will take place in Johannesburg tomorrow, bringing leading South African marketers together from most of the major banks, telecommunications providers and other key marketing companies together in one forum. Included are Happy Ntshingila (Absa); Santie Botha (MTN), Connie de Lange (DiData), Noah Greenhill (JSE), Sarah-Anne Orphanides (Standard Bank), Enzo Scarcella (Vodacom), Paul Appleton (Nando's) and Bizcommunity.com MD Robin Parker. read more

[No Comment] Biz gets some ‘mojo’ - 4 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] Having just returned from the United States and interacted with some of the best B2B media brands in the world, I can honestly say that our digital B2B media brands are up there with the best globally: innovative, engaging with consumers and early adopters of mobile media platforms. So I'm particularly proud to announce what we think is a world first for a B2B media brand: a partnership with Nokia to supply our Bizcommunity.com editorial team with N82 mobile phones to truly enable mobile journalism (‘mojos') across our portals, including images and video. read more

[2008 Loeries Special Edition] Covering the Loeries in red and white - 29 Jul 2008
[Simone Puterman] It was the 30th anniversary of the Loeries this year and, once again, for the fourth time, the creative industry were lured to Margate on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast for a weekend of celebration and networking. Bizcommunity.com was there - and we certainly had the Loeries covered! Our brand activation consisted of red streamers on the first night of ceremonies and white confetti on the second night, and, boy oh boy, were we ever so chuffed to see people enthusiastically showering confetti over Gold Loerie winners and streamers strewn over shiny statuettes. read more

[No Comment] Red streamers, white confetti - we got the Loeries covered! - 28 Jul 2008
[Louise Marsland] CLEVELAND, OHIO: Even though I'm on the other side of the world at present at the headquarters of the Trade, Association and Business Publications International (TABPI) in the States, I couldn't help but follow my team's Loerie coverage on the ground in Margate over this weekend and the usual associated industry shenanigans and excitement of the awards winners. Sorry if you're still untangling the red streamers from your statuettes and picking the white confetti out your teeth and other dubious places, but woohoo - well done to the Biz marketing team for a simple, but very effective brand activation - hey, we got Loeries covered! Look out for our special Loeries newsletter later today. read more

[No Comment] What a busy end-July! - 21 Jul 2008
[Louise Marsland] It's a busy time ahead for the team this week, with half off to the 30th anniversary of The Loerie Awards in Margate for the four-day festival weekend 25 - 28 July 2008. Assistant editor Simone Puterman will be heading up the team on the ground, as yours truly will be jetting off to the States tomorrow to present at the American business editors annual conference in Kansas City this week. read more

[No Comment] Ritualistic behaviour - 14 Jul 2008
[Louise Marsland] For all those with kids following the broader government school holiday timetable, this cold morning would have signalled another start to a ritual: the winter school run. Groan. read more

[No Comment] The relationship between philanthropy and press freedom - 7 Jul 2008
[Louise Marsland] One of the most interesting and enjoyable media roundtables I attended recently was one organised by Shelagh Gastrow of Inyathelo to workshop the issue of defining philanthropy - and its crucial role in the maintenance of civil society - with key media and academics. The crux is to try instill a culture of philanthropy in South Africans, who, while giving liberally to religious causes and in some cases charities, do not support organisations that ensure our democratic society prevails as well. read more

[No Comment] Loeries celebrates 30 years - 30 Jun 2008
[Louise Marsland] Well, we know that the advertising industry is just recovering from Cannes, but the countdown to Loeries has begun. It's down by the seashore again in multi-faceted Margate and this year is a very special year as the industry celebrates 30 years of television advertising and 30 years of The Loerie Awards. read more

[No Comment] Are you digitally relevant? - 23 Jun 2008
[Louise Marsland] Are you digitally relevant? Or do you feel as obsolete as your video machine? Does your six-year-old help you work your DVD machine and do you give your latest cellphone upgrade to your kids, preferring to hang onto your old brick as at least you still know how to make calls on that one? Are you actually wondering what it means to be ‘digitally relevant'? Join the club; you're far from alone. But the good news is, is that we're still at the early adopter stage in the South African media, marketing and advertising industry as regards much of the technology on offer and new media solutions. read more