The public has been invited to comment on the Draft Committee Bill which seeks to amend the Broadcasting Act. The Portfolio Committee on Communications has urged all interested parties to submit written submissions on the draft document by 25 July 2008. 9 Jul 2008
Over the years marketers have had to work at shifting perceptions about marketing only being about sales and profit generation but a part of business that is important to the growth of business and brands. In response, Wag the Dog has launched Strategic Marketing, which is now the official publication of the IMM Graduate School of Marketing. 9 Jul 2008
8 Ink Media announced earlier this week that it is launching the award-winning international travel magazine, National Geographic Traveler, in October 2008. 8 Ink Media currently publishers National Geographic Kids and the National Geographic Society's custom title EarthPulse. 9 Jul 2008
NIGER: Reporters Without Borders is baffled by the communication ministry's decision on 30 June 2008 to close down Niamey's House of the Press, a centre used by journalists for various activities, including training seminars organised by the French and US embassies. 9 Jul 2008
In the fourth of my series on profiling types of salepeople, I take a look at the Quadrant IV or display salesperson, who is required if products are standardised, commodity products or services. 9 Jul 2008
Screen Africa will be hosting a weekend workshop for aspirant screenwriters at Sasani Studio in Highlands North, Johannesburg, in early August 2008. Ideal for anyone who would like to write a screenplay for film or television, the workshop is presented by Cape Town-based The Writing Studio, an independent training initiative. 9 Jul 2008
PARIS: The World Digital Publishing Conference & Expo, to be held in 15 - 16 October 2008 in Amsterdam, is dedicated to revenue-making strategies, winning editorial solutions and resource management, now that newspaper companies have been successful in generating audience and attention with their digital platforms. 9 Jul 2008
Open to anyone with a business idea, or an existing business that wants to expand, the FNB Enablis Business LaunchPad is accepting entries up to 30 September 2008 in 10 sectors: media and marketing/communication, tourism, construction, manufacturing, personal services, IT, “green” business, personal services, business/professional services and transport. 9 Jul 2008
5th Dimension recently entered into a joint venture with Cartesian Consulting, a subsidiary of Direxions, one of India's largest direct marketing agencies, providing 5th Dimension with access to some of the finest marketing analysts in the world. 9 Jul 2008
A R100 (US$13) remittance from a relative living in South Africa was a lifeline to food for Lydia Nxumalo, 36, and her family in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. 9 Jul 2008
On 27 June 2008, the government of Botswana gazetted a media practitioners' bill which is expected to regulate the media by, among other things, setting up a statutory press council. The bill also seeks to register media practitioners residing in Botswana and provides for hefty penalties for any violation of the law. As an example, anyone contravening the regulations stipulated in the bill would be liable for a penalty of 5,000 Botswana pulas (approximately US$750) or three months in prison. 8 Jul 2008
LONDON: The inaugural CBC-African Business Awards took place on Thursday evening, 3 July 2008 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Just under 500 government, business and media leaders from Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA attended the event. The awards were presented at the glittering ceremony, which was co-hosted by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and African Business magazine, and sponsored by Zenith Bank, Ecobank, IGI and the private sector arm of the African Development Bank. A distinguished panel of judges, chaired by Omari Issa, selected winners in 16 categories. The nominees came from north, south, west and central Africa. 8 Jul 2008
The Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) is a statutory development agency for promoting, supporting and ensuring media development and diversity, set up as a partnership between the South African Government and major print and broadcasting media companies, in terms of the MDDA Act No. 14 of 2002. 8 Jul 2008
The finalists for the 2008 The Loerie Awards were released online late yesterday afternoon, Monday, 7 July 2008. Bizcommunity.com congratulates all concerned. 8 Jul 2008
Do you know how much poor customer service is costing your company in terms of direct sales as well as bad publicity? In this day and age, with consumers even more careful about where they spend their hard-earned rands, improved customer service can give you the edge over your competitors. 8 Jul 2008
South African intellectual property laws have been refined over the years to afford protection to the holders of certain forms of intellectual property, including trademark and copyright holders, allowing them to take action against the counterfeiting of their products. With the advent of the 2010 FIFA World Cup not too far off, the issue of protection of intellectual property is becoming an even more pressing issue. 8 Jul 2008
The Loeries might be turning 30 with a bumper festival weekend down in Margate this month, but Nici Stathacopoulos, Loeries committee member and managing partner of proximity#ttp, isn't telling how she celebrated the big “three-oh” in this, the second of our Loeries Committee Q&A series. 8 Jul 2008
In an effort to get communities involved and participating in spreading the good news about South Africa ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, national supporter of the tournament FNB last week launched online social network Shine2010 which aims to rally communities together, provide news and feature articles and serve as an interactive platform. 8 Jul 2008
HKLM Johannesburg will be undertaking the global rebranding of leading international speaker and author, Dr John Demartini, it was announced last week. “We are very excited at the prospect, especially as Dr Demartini is internationally renowned and travels all over the world,” said Sean McCoy, MD of HKLM. 8 Jul 2008
Organisations must emphasise maintaining customer satisfaction in order to ensure that they retain good customer service. This means improving the way contact centre agents handle calls and reducing the need more than one call to resolve an issue. This was the key message from Craig Gibson, MD of Merchants, the contact centre division of Dimension Data, as he spoke at the recent launch of the annual Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report for 2008. 8 Jul 2008
