To everyone who's commented, tweeted, facebooked, emailed and wished us and sang happy birthday face to face, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! It's an honour to be such a major part of your working lives and you sure know how to make all of us feel special. Winners of our birthday gifts to you have now all been announced on our Facebook page - congratulations! While my Cape Town colleagues were busy partying it up last week, I was privileged to be one of the participants at the annual Habari Media Symposium, which this year took a new name, Tuongee (Kiswahili for "let's talk"), and a different format (much smaller, more intimate and very much conversation-based). And talk we did, whether in session or during breaks or at meals or on game drives or in transit (and probably in our sleep, too!). If you were surprised by how little I tweeted, it's because I wanted to be fully engaged with what was happening and live-tweeting an event prevents this. One key takeout for all of us (whether agency, client or media) was the wonderful phrase "social by design" - that marketing should always be built around people, no matter the platform. Another, from Alistair King of King James, was that digital agencies are currently sitting too low down in the food (ie idea) chain, fighting for scraps of ideas and budgets, and in turn the clients present contended that agencies need to grow up and stop being immature about idea- and budget-ownership and to collaborate properly with clients and fellow agencies (ie all those working on the account should be present at all meetings, otherwise what's the point?). Thank you, Habari Media and sponsors BDFM, BBC, Vodacom Mobile, MTV, Facebook and LinkedIn, for facilitating and joining the conversation at such a wonderful bush venue (Ivory Tree Game Lodge in the Pilanesberg, for those who are interested). Let's talk! Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz) Managing editor & leopard-spotter PS By the way, Sunday Times is still hogging the news - and getting a pasting from readers and fellow media - this time for its lead yesterday, Sunday, 29 August 2011, regarding a racist photograph posted on Facebook which turns out to have been the subject of various media reports back in 2008. *facepalm* PPS The latest Ornico Ad Showcase features TV ads for Levi's, Cash Converters, Red Heart, Appletiser and Mutual & Federal, and radio ads for Oxy, Anglo American, Coca-Cola, DStv and FNB.
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