Get your #WomensMonth and #Loeries2017 fix on Biz! - 14 Aug 2017

By Leigh Andrews

Making headlines this week is the news that Tanja Lategan, former CEO of Primedia Online, has just been appointed as MD at Creative Spark, which was acquired by the M&C Saatchi Group in 2015. Lategan, who comes with 14 years of digital experience, will steer the digital agency through its next phase of growth in delivering powerful ideas for a digital world. We wish her all the best this #WomensMonth and going forward!

With social media such an integral part of digital, Tiffany Markman also explains why she proposes barriers to Facebook entry, such as a comprehension captcha, narcissism altimeter and anti-assholery gauge. While it's a light-hearted read you're sure to nod your head in agreement and hopefully the overarching message will resonate with those who don't think before they post or comment on Facebook.
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Event-wise, this is set to be one of the busiest weeks of the year with Ask Africa's Icon Brands Insights Conference taking place in Johannesburg and the Steam Symposium as part of the Open Design Cape Town Festival today; the CXA Awards in Cape Town on Tuesday; the CEM Africa Summit taking place of Wednesday and Thursday in Cape Town; Popimedia's Women Leading Profit-Driven Marketing workshop and GIL Africa both taking place in Cape Town on Thursday; and Friday seeing the Fairlady Women of the Future Awards and start of the Loeries events, with Creative Week Durban's annual highlight, the DStv Seminar of Creativity. Keep an eye out for all our coverage.

Starting with the Loeries, I found out more from Native VML's #LadiesofLoeries - software engineer Phillipa Hickman and copywriter Karmen Wessel. Both are judging the digital crafts category at this year's Loeries Awards, and feel strongly about the need for better female representation in the creative industries. Keep an eye on our Loeries Creative Week special section for all the latest updates!

Juanita Pienaar also chats to graphic design lecturer, Jacqueline Beling, about her talk at the Steam Symposium on the challenges women are facing in the design industry today as well as why the integration of creativity and design to the Stem subjects (science, technology and maths) is so important and how the youth can benefit from this symposium.

You can also visit our Digital Marketing special focus section or download a copy of the eBook for an overview of all the content curated by Louise Marsland. Enjoy!

Leigh Andrews

Andrews was on the inaugural Marketer of the Year (MOTY) jury for the 2019 Marketing Achievement Awards (MAA) as well as an #Inspiring50 2018 nominee herself, and judged over 500 entries for the most recent Epica Awards - the only creative prize awarded by journalists working for marketing and communications magazines around the world. She's also serving on the IAB (SA)'s #Bookmarks2020 Publisher panel.

Responsible for keeping a finger on the pulse of the latest happenings in the marketing and media industry, this is an almost 24/7 role that involves keeping one eye on your inbox with the other on your social media feed, to write breaking news stories and interviewing key people in the B2B space.

All made easier by 13 years of working for companies such as Microsoft, Kagiso Media, Fleet Street Publications, the Mail & Guardian Online, Caxton Community Newspapers and Newsclip's media, marketing and PR publications.