Credentials

17 March 2010 – Just how connected is South Africa and Africa? And what are we doing with these online capabilities? Can we teach the world a thing or two about innovation? And what does a company need to do to tap into this opportunity? Attend Net Prophet 2010 to find out.

Net Prophet is back, with registration for the second annual event opening on Wednesday, 17 March 2010. This year the conference, hosted by the RAMP Foundation, has a strong focus on digital innovation in Africa, as well as building a globally competitive IT economy in South Africa.

This year’s Prophets, speaking at the event, include Erik Hersman (Ushahidi, AfriGadget, TED Fellow – AKA ‘White African’) talking about innovation and technology in Africa, Vinny Lingham (yola, Clicks2Customers) talking about building global technology start-ups, and Stuart Ntlathi from the Stuart Ntlathi Institute of Science and Technology explaining why it is so important to encourage previously disadvantaged South Africans to choose technology as a career path.

In addition, World Wide Worx’s Arthur Goldstuck will be a returning Prophet and share his latest online trends and stats with the Net Prophet attendees. Arthur will be releasing World Wide Worx’s latest connectivity statistics, with a close look at the mobile Internet – perhaps even bursting a few bubbles here. He will also chat about strategies needed to succeed in the mobile Internet space, and share some valuable lessons about how today’s youth are acquiring digital skills.

Net Prophet 2010 is a one-day conference based on free, open source knowledge sharing where Internet experts and successful entrepreneurs provide insights, data, sound business advice, and practical ways to turn knowledge into profits. One of last year’s Prophets, Mike Stopforth from Cerebra, described the 2009 event as “how conferences in SA should be run.” The event is definitely not just for geeks and should be attended by anyone wanting to tap into the power of the Internet to grow their business.

“The opportunities that the Internet provides in South Africa and Africa for businesses are simply too important to ignore,” said Tim Price, marketing manager for the RAMP Group. “This year’s event is a celebration of digital success in Africa, and also intends to empower delegates with the knowledge to go and create new success stories, and become our future Net Prophets.”

This year the conference is supported by Old Mutual as platinum sponsor, and will take place in the Old Mutual Business School, in Pinelands, Cape Town on 13 May 2010. The conference is free to attendee, but delegates must register on www.netprophet.org.za from Wednesday 17 March 2010.

“Free access to enabling knowledge is the true killer app. As platinum sponsor of Net Prophet 2010 we are proud to be associated with an event that makes it possible,” said Jack Kruger, head of digital at Old Mutual.

Included in the speaker line-up are:

Arthur Goldstuck – World Wide Worx

Erik Hersman – Ushahidi, AfriGadget, TED Fellow

Patrick Kayton – Bright Sparks & Cognician

Vinny Lingham – yola, Clicks2Customers, Lingham Capital

Stefan Magdalinski – moo.com & Mocality

Richard Mulholland – Missing Link & Thunk!

Stuart Ntlathi – Stuart Ntlathi Institute of Science and Technology

Adii Rockstar – WooThemes

Event details: Net Prophet 2010

Date: Thursday, 13 May 2010

Time: 8 am – 5 pm

Venue: Old Mutual Business School, Jan Smuts Drive, Pinelands, Cape Town

Booking details: Free to attend, but delegates must register at www.netprophet.org.za. Regrettably you will not be allowed access to the conference if you haven’t registered.

- ENDS -

Released on behalf of the RAMP Foundation by:

Vanessa Clark
Twokats Communications
Ph: +27 82 335 1117
Email: Vanessa.clark@twokats.com
Web: www.twokats.com

Twokats Communications is proud to be the PR sponsor for Net Prophet 2010

I’ve been in a bit of a new client frenzy recently and am delighted to have signed up two interesting South African companies run by good people doing things differently. In fact, that pretty much sums up how I choose who to work with.

Firstly I am going back to my tech B2B roots with Jon Maliepaard and the team at Cape Town-based eNetworks. This is a 10-year-old ISP and network services company that has been building enormous enterprise-grade networks for some of South Africa’s biggest companies. They are obsessed with customer service, and one of their clients calls them “networking angels”. They also kick ass with WiFi. eNetworks has been flying under the radar up until now – so watch this space to find out more about them.

This week I also signed up JobCrystal, the only online passive recruitment service. Karl Westvig and Kevin Laithwaite have been plotting how to improve how people get hired and how companies hire staff for some time, and JobCrystal is the result. This PR freelancer will be working hard over the next few months to raise brand awareness and let recruiters and candidates know there is a better way to go about things, thanks to this Cape Town start-up. (Oh, and there is a sweet referral programme too, refer a friend and earn a commission when they get placed).

I am delighted to included these guys in my current list of Twokats Communications clients.

Now and again I get a bit of news coverage myself, as well as for my clients. You can read these articles here:

ITWeb: The successful entrepreneur’s secret

Getclosure! blog: Tip of the Week: Cape Town Summer Hot Spots, 24 October 2008

Getclosure! blog: Consumer Protection Bill Public Hearings, 3 September 2008

Getclosure! blog: Interview with Vanessa Clark, 13 August 2008

THE ABSA CENTRE

I kicked off the PR work I am undertaking for Rennie Property, South Africa’s leading specialist commercial property management company, with a publicity project focussing on the launch of the first phase of the refurbishments of the ABSA Centre. Rennie Property is the manager of the ABSA Centre, and is overseeing the refurbishment.

Here is a selection of the coverage achieved:

Saturday Argus: Ongoing revamp for ABSA Centre, 28 February 2009 [Download PDF]

The Property Magazine: Socials pages, April 2009 [Download PDF]

The Property Magazine: Absa-lutely fabulous, March 2009 [Download PDF]

The Cape Towner: 5 March 2009 [Download PDF]

iAfrica: New look for CT icon, 23 March 2009

Property 24: CT Absa centre to be revamped, 23 February 2009

You can read the press release here.

RONDEBOSCH VILLAGE

The opening of the first phase of new parking at Rondebosch Village, under Rennie Property management, was announced via an advertorial I wrote for the Tatler. [Download PDF]

SaleSearcher was an online specials and promotions listings site that allowed retailers to drive more customers to their stores by highlighting current sales.

Twokats Communications helped launch the site to retailers with a media outreach project targetted at retail and marketing publications. This is a great example of how a B2B media outreach campaign can quickly and effectively be implemented, on a tight budget. In both press releases, it was key to use third party endorsements in order to enhance the credibility of a new entity.

You can read the press releases here:

• Retailers get found thanks to Salesearcher, 9 February 2009
• SaleSearcher brings savvy customers straight to you, 17 November 2008

Coverage achieved:

Marketing Mix: Retailers use a little sale searching, February 2009

Mypressportal: Retailers get found thanks to SaleSearcher, 6 February 2009

Biz-community: TV, video and advertising ‘on demand’ creeps closer, 25 November 2008

Marketing Web: Fish for savvy customers online, 25 November 2008

Biz-community: New search site brings sales to customers online, 24 November 2008

Marketing Machine: SaleSearcher brings savvy customers straight to you, 21 November 2008

Mypressportal: SaleSearcher brings savvy customers straight to you, 17 November 2008

Note: Salesearcher has subsequently been put on hold by the owner, who is pursuing other activities.