Mike Stopforth

Some time back I wrote a post on this blog titled What Is Web 2.0? (Or Web 2.0 For Beginners) which was my humble stab at defining some of the (then most significant) drivers of the Web 2.0 movement / phenomenon / ethos. This post will attempt to do the same for the much-hyped and bandied about phrase, Enterprise 2.0.

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…

Sachi and Lee LeFever of Common Craft fame occupy a very special, non-romantic place in my heart Back in the oooold days (about 3 years ago), when I was still quite unsure of the jargon and buzz behind Web 2.0 and social media, Lee was one of the few ‘A-listers’ who invested personal time and energy into answering my silly questions.

Today they’ve turned that gift for translation and a passion for all things social into a very cool business, producing informative, entertaining videos that quite simply, well, explain stuff. Whether they’re making videos for their ‘Plain English’ series of technology-related shows or for corporate clients, the LeFevers have fine-tuned the art of translation using the very tools they evangelise. Few businesses can boast that!

A bit of fun…

I call myself a Web 2.0 expert. I run a company, Cerebra, which exists to make money helping our clients understand and where necessary utilise Web 2.0 technologies and trends.

As niche as we are, we’re not alone. We have global and local competitors. In South Africa, we have two kinds of competitors - those that started as social media agencies or companies from day one (Younique, Longtail, would be examples) and then companies that have existed for some time in either the digital sphere or general marketing, advertising or branding spaces that have adapted their focus to align with the ever-increasing need for social media services and products (AtPlay, a division of Saatchi, is the quintessential example).