With the change in season comes the most gorgeous Spring weather (in Jozi, at least); a Bok-befokte South Africa - and Bizcommunity - thanks to the 2011 Rugby World Cup happening in New Zealand; and the usual outbreak of new account wins/new appointments/new launches/new beginnings/new partnerships (and allergies, of course). So, without much more ado, Bizcommunity has partnered with Aegis Media to bring you the monthly Thought Leadership Digibates, a series of marketing/media debates which will be broadcast and streamed live, starting this Thursday, 8 September 2011, with a cracker of a panel. Then, we've also partnered with Google South Africa to give all Bizcommunity readers R400 worth of pay-per-click advertising on Google - follow our "Google AdWord Free Trial" series every Monday for the next 12 weeks as we explore the benefits of Google AdWords and take you through the steps of setting up and optimising your first campaign. We'd also like to take the opportunity to congratulate South Africa's very own Raymond Louw on being named one of this year's World Press Freedom Heroes (the other being the late US journalist Daniel Pearl) by the International Press Institute. A heartfelt thank-you, "Oom Ray", for all that you do for media freedom in South and southern Africa, and for always being available for comment. The awards will formally presented at the IPI World Congress in September. The latest Biz Takeouts podcast from the Bizcommunity.com/Chai FM Marketing & Media radio show, on how how to break into new markets using innovative strategies, is now available for your listening pleasure. We'll also be revealing our new permanent show host this week! Gaan "moer hulle"*, Bokke! Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz) Managing editor *To quote our sports and recreation minister, Fikile Mbalula PS The latest Ornico Ad Showcase features TV ads for Checkers, Kalarahi.com, KFC, SABC and Savanna, and radio ads for 8ta, Mutual & Federal, SAB, Gautrain and South African Tourism.
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