MIKESTOPFORTH

I’ll be updating live from the CSA Awards in Sandton. Just arrived and the venue looks great, I’m seated with Vincent Hofmann, Shaun Custers and no doubt one or two other cricket geeks. Ok so my hopes of being able to live blog the event were dashed by a lack of space on the table. [...]

Yes, you heard me right.  I am a racist.  And I venture to suggest that you might be too, if you’re honest with yourself about it. Recent events in South Africa have, to borrow Jenny Crwys-Williams of Talk Radio 702′s phrase, “lanced a boil” filled with putrid racist muck, and the contents are spilling out [...]

After a marathon 30 hour transit from Jo’burg to Austin, the last few days have been spent acclimatising to a dry Austin that is starting to enjoy the first signs of Spring, and of course with it, the deluge of crazy people (70,000+) that descend on this small city for the SXSW music, film and [...]

Earlier this year I wrote about how impressed I was with the RAMP foundation and their efforts regarding the 2009 Net Prophet conference. Considering that, and how blown away I was with the second annual Bookmark Awards evening held last night at Movida in Jozi, it’s clear that digital in South Africa is definitely growing [...]

Erik has tagged me as part of the “Why I Blog About Africa” meme. It’s proved a tough one to answer. I blog about Africa primarily because I was born here, I guess. I sometimes feel guilty calling myself African because in many ways South Africa is to Africa as America is to the rest [...]

I was privileged enough to receive an invite from Reuben Goldberg to join him on an episode of his popular talk show The Internet Economy which airs every Friday night from 7-8 on ClassicFM. We spoke about the broad subject of social media in South Africa, the article I wrote the other day (the Next [...]

It seems Google South Africa, which until now has pretty much hovered under the radar (other than one or two events that they’ve hosted), suddenly find themselves in hot water with Cape Town-based ‘IT  and  Digital  Marketing  solutions provider’ Entelligence the Competition Commission. This intriguing press release found it’s way into my inbox today… Cape  Town  [...]

You gotta hand it to Mandy – she knows how to get read better than the rest of us do. The insatiable Mandy de Waal has made the transition from hard core journalist and real world entrepreneur into the Web 2.0 equivalents in record time and I daresay she’s ruffling a few sensitive feathers in [...]

It was inevitable that the 27dinner movement would eventually outgrow it’s PBwiki-hosted home in time.  The movement has grown substantially and truly exciting things are coming up.  The new site is up at 27dinner.com.

I’d like to humbly request that you understand that the new site is (and will continue to be) a work in progress, it’s not meant to be perfect this first time around so your feedback and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Nothing changes about 27 – you still get to attend for free and we’re going to try ensure that the content is not only up to standard with some of what you’ve seen before, but even better so.  We’ve also decided to respond to the numerous enquiries we’ve had from companies wanting to get involved in the form of sponsorships, etc. in such a way that it doesn’t detract from the ethos and culture of the movement.  In other words, we’ll only allow companies to get involved if it adds to your experience and pumps energy and value back into the community.

So check it out, let us know what works and what doesn’t, and what needs to change.  And thanks especially for you continued support of the dinners countrywide.

TECH4FRICA, a “web and emerging technology conference for Africa” being organised by Gareth Knight (of Kindo fame) has officially launched it’s website with info about the upcoming event. It’s due to be held at The Forum in Bryanston over 3 and 4 October and already at this early stage has a very impressive speaker line [...]

I’m a sports lover. I’m absolutely obsessed with cricket and rugby and seldom miss international fixtures, while trying to catch as many provincial matches as possible. When there’s no cricket or rugby to watch I’ll happily waste time taking in whatever is on the telly with the exception of horse racing or showjumping, both of which give me the heebies. Can’t tell you why, they just do.

I watch club and international football selectively but because our national team leaves a little to be desired in terms of recent form and I don’t associate directly with any one Premiership or European club side, it’s not a life or death past time. Besides soccer irritates me, more and more every time I watch it. Especially when I compare the game of rugby and rugby players to their soccer counterparts. Here are seven reasons (seven points for a converted try) why rugby kicks soccer’s ass any day:

Without going into too much detail, do you support Ramon Thomas’ assertion that the article written by Mandy de Waal about the who’s who of Web 2.0 in South Africa was ‘distasteful and offensive‘ or do you think Nic was right in saying that Ramon’s response “immediately marginalises his audience and those involved in his article”?

Have your say…

I met Darren Gorton online and then for the first time in person over a cup of Vida coffee. Darren must have walked away from the meeting with a very interesting first impression though, because he picked the worst day in the history of my short life to touch base – not his fault of course, I was just in a horrible place. He very kindly maintained contact though and although I haven’t had a chance to make up for our first meeting yet, he has been updating me with the progress of a fascinating project he’s co-ordinated, dubbed The SA Blook, which has now come to fruition. From the introduction to the Blook on Darren’s site:

Welcome to the SA blook, a collaboration between South African bloggers with a strong belief in the future of our nation. Essentially, it is a book, originally published online and written by a diverse group of writers with strong views about our country and the reality South Africans find themselves living in…

The Afrigator blog announced this morning that a new feature – Topics – would be added starting with a page highlighting social media mentions and conversations around the xenophobia crisis in South Africa at the moment.

I’ve just picked up on a fantastic post from one of my favourite bloggers, Lee LeFever from the Common Craft Show which is a must-read for all of us immersed in the Web 2.0 evolution.

I’ve often criticised advertising agencies of losing site of the bigger picture as a result of striving for bigger, flashier ads, edgier copy and design and of course, elusive awards. But Lee’s post has pointed my accusatory finger right back at me – do I have blinkers 2.0? Am I so worried about my traffic, Twitter replies and blog rankings that I’ve forgotten that the vast majority of my clients and their customers don’t know about, or don’t care about anything 2.0-ish.

Yesterday I wrote about how I felt we needed to do something more as bloggers (i.e., more than just write) about the xenophobia crisis in our country. I’ve had numerous responses, Stii came up with some suggestions and I also gather that a march has been organised.

I’ve also just received an email from my friend Dion Forster, who is a prolific blogger, respected leader in the Methodist church and a Mac and Vespa evangelist to boot, referring to his blog post from today. This hopefully provides you or your company with another practical avenue for contributing to the situation…

The horror of the last few day’s xenophobic violence in Johannesburg has left us all feeling shocked and hopeless. The danger here is that it’s very easy for us (and I’m speaking to the predominantly wealthy and white audience that reads this blog and makes up SA’s blogging fraternity) to remove ourselves from the situation because we think it doesn’t impact us directly.

If you look very carefully you’ll notice that the Golf is actually leaning, along with the people inside…

Ok so I’m kidding but heck, what a phenomenal photo…