The final list of SA blook authors

One thing I love about the blogging community is the willingness to take part in new things, as evidenced by the brilliant team of writers who have agreed to be a part of the SA blook group of authors.

Last week I announced the initial list of authors, with a promise to reveal the remaining two writers soon. Well, last week was one of those crazy weeks where the unimaginable happens, to the point where today I can't give you the remaining two writers...

... but only because there are more than two more to announce.

And here they are [again, in no particular order]:

• Kerry-Anne Gilowey
• Tycoon's Geoff Candy and Hilton Tarrant
• Mandy de Waal
• Andy Hadfield
• Grant Brewer
• And in true blog tradition, there will also be a guest post, written by someone who's writing I greatly respect [and who doesn't have a blog yet, even though I keep telling him he should have one!] - Siyabonga Nhlumayo
  

So then, the complete list of authors [bloggers] looks like this:

• Andy Hadfield
• Duncan Drennan
• Eve Dmochowska
• Grant Brewer
• Justin Hartman
• Kerry-Anne Gilowey
• Mandy de Waal
• Melissa Attree
• Nic Haralambous
• Paul Jacobson
• Saul Kropman
• Tycoon's Geoff Candy and Hilton Tarrant
• Siyabonga Nhlumayo - our guest writer/blogger
  

And some other information that people have been looking for - the blook goes live on 1 June 2008, so make a note in your diaries. I'll post an update next week listing some of the topics allocated to our writers.

In the meantime, here are some fun facts about the blook and the authors:

• At least six of the writers have their names as domain names [should be seven by the time the blook is released].
  
• There are a couple of Thought Leaders on the team, four Tech Leaders and a Times Blogumist.
  
• Many of the writers have ties to some of SA's great media players, including the Mail and Guardian, Avusa and Moneyweb.
• The field includes a bunch of entrepreneurs, an engineer, a lawyer and three CA's.
• The average age of writers is 30 [okay, I'm just guessing here - I figure the average must be somewhere between 20 and 50, but that just doesn't sound the same].
  
• Of those invited to write, two courteously declined to take part, and two did not reply at all.
  
• There are five awesome volunteers.
• At the time of posting this, eight of the writers are listed on the satwitter wiki.
• Bloggers use a variety of platforms including Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad and Movable Type [although Wordpress seems to be the clear favourite].

For those interested, you can find more information about the blook here

Perspectives: Is Brazil more significant than the whole of Africa?

This one took me a while to get over... it's one thing to look at SA compared to the rest of the world, but we also need to consider this continent that we are a part of and see where that fits into the global picture.

Firstly some quick background information. A list of 181 countries in terms of 2006 GDP [in US$ terms] is headed by the European Union at $14.5 trillion, followed by the USA at $13.2 trillion. Together these two make up almost 58% of the total world GDP of $48.1 trillion. The rest of the top 10 includes other countries such as Japan and Germany and ends with Brazil in 10th, which has a GDP of just over $1 trillion.

How does Africa fare compared to this lot?

Just look at the global perspective - here's a comparison between Brazil and Africa in three distinct ways: [Brazil on the left, Africa as a whole on the right]

Land area

Population

Wealth generated [GDP]

Incredible! Africa consists of 53 countries. Brazil is one country. Despite being only about a quarter the size of Africa in terms of land area and population, Brazil as a country generated as much wealth in 2006 as the whole of Africa did. And Brazil is also an 'emerging market economy', like South Africa is.

The big question, with this information in mind - what opportunities does this present to Africa [and South Africa]? Where Africa has historically relied on natural resources and labour to generate wealth, surely these statistics indicate that this isn't working.

How do you change the economic focus of an entire continent over a relatively short period? What do we need to do to change these circumstances? How can we create the possibility of exponential growth? These are all questions that need to be answered for Africa [and South Africa] to better position itself for the future.

Perhaps technology offers us a part of the solution? What do you think?

You can find my other posts in this theme here -> Perspectives

Sources:

• Land area: Brazil; Africa
• Population: Brazil; Africa
• GDP: Brazil and Africa

A blook for such a time as this

Most people would agree that we live in challenging times. This is true globally [with talk of a world political and economic crisis getting louder], as well as here at home in South Africa, where many are negative and heading for greener pastures.

And not only do we sit in the midst of uncertainty now, but our history is littered with tales of wars, disputes and general discontent. But this is true of almost every country, and having spent my whole life here and seeing so many people fleeing the country for no reason other than to get away, I wish that people could see the opportunities that sit right on our doorstep.

So with that in mind, here it is, the central theme that some brilliant writers have been tasked to work around and play with, along with the guidance of specific topics.

The blook will be about South Africa from the perspective of bloggers [taking into account their different viewpoints] - a positive and constructive look at where SA is today and the opportunities that lie ahead of us. There are many books about SA's history and lots of stories about how SA is struggling today, so I think that for a moment we should stop looking at history and problems, and start looking at the present, the future and some great opportunities.

City Press has an interesting billboard in Johannesburg that tells passers-by something along the lines of "Either you break it, or you build it". This is also true for SA - in the end, it comes down to nation building. I believe it was Augustine that said "I believe in order to know" - an amazing truth that often escapes us. I know that everyone who wants to help build this nation we live in has chosen to believe in its future. I hope that after reading this blook, all of us will see more of its amazing potential!

Certainly, the blook is aimed at the wired community [and could therefore have a slight technology bias], but hopefully it will also reach the eyes and ears of those who don't read blogs very often and mean something to everyone.

For those who missed it, the blook was mentioned on Media Update earlier this week. Many thanks to Pat for taking the time to look at this and include it in there.

Next week I will release the names of the other writers in addition to those already published [it's been an interesting week, for sure] and give some more details about the release.

Oh, and I have to give a quick mention to Nic's unusual approach to writing his blook chapter - you gotta love it!

At long last... I'm LinkedIn

After deliberating and procrastinating for a while, at long last I have updated my profile on LinkedIn. [see the nice blue button in the right sidebar for link too]

What is LinkedIn, you ask?

Very briefly, it is a social tool that allows you to create a network of professional connections online. This differs from facebook which is far more focused on the creation of a network of friends. So while you would not want that investment professional you met at the Sandton Convention Centre to join your facebook friends list, it may be worthwhile having him as a connection on LinkedIn.

Honestly, I was always hesitant to create this profile, mainly because of online privacy concerns. However, after becoming increasingly involved in and exposed to developments online, meeting more and more people with LinkedIn profiles, and then also finding this excellent post by Guy Kawasaki explaining top ways to increase the value you get out of LinkedIn, I made the decision to go ahead. So here we are. It's a first attempt and I'll probably refine and change it as I go along, but for now it will do nicely. And although I start off with just one connection, every journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

It holds definite benefits to professionals and business people, and while it's true that here in SA, we're not as socially advanced [from an online perspective] as other countries, and therefore its not often that we come across someone with a LinkedIn profile, my guess is that with reducing broadband costs and increasing levels of broadband penetration over the next year or so as we ramp up to the 2010 World Cup [with some cities even promising complete wireless coverage by that date], this will change rapidly in the coming year or two.

In fact, I think soon we'll see a lot of professionals walking around with LinkedIn profile url's on their business cards [this is on my to-do list], as well as seeing these links included in tenders and proposals submitted to prospective clients, to give them more information about the team that will be serving them.

Face it, if you're involved in business [and in some cases, even if you aren't] more and more people will be looking for you online. And they will find you. Yes, there is some info that you can control and some that you can't. This is one you can control and target at the appropriate audience, so why not do just that?

For those interested, here is some more comprehensive info:

• Top ten Linked-In Do's and Dont's
• 100+ Smart ways to use Linked-In
  

Tuesday morning alibi

Tuesday the 29th of April saw us gather for the third brekkie-run, once again at Doppio Zero, Sunninghill.

The attendance register ballooned from four the previous time to nine this time, exhibiting a growth rate that some of those present would give their left leg to see in returns in the portfolio's that they are responsible for. [Both Mr Bester and Mr Hill were first time attendees, the latter showing true commitment by joining us all the way from Australia, although our German contingent was conspicuously absent].

Sadly we never got to the wealth of nations, instead considering how quickly the local and global economic climate has turned. This was strongly emphasized by MG, who explained how some analyses that he and his colleagues were doing had unearthed research touting huge growth prospects in all industries they looked at as recently as August 2007, and now just eight months later, they were hard-pressed to justify an investment in anything other than money-market accounts. For all the negative indicators, it was good to hear that MG wields such power in determining the suitability of due diligence suitors for his employer. At least we can all sleep well knowing that it lies in good hands.

As for the markets, what we do know is that usually the best thing to do is the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Does that mean we should run away from risk-free investments and pursue risky ones? Ah, well, perhaps MG's broker could give us all some tips on how to achieve the needed growth rates. Or perhaps we should just speak to Mark [not about girlfriends, don't worry], who's exorbitant yet legal profits made courtesy of our own JSE will reportedly be financing a month-long trip to South America. Don't forget to buy a round-trip ticket, Mark. Not a one-way.

Oh yes, and no pink shirts present again... phew.

I'm sure I've missed out many of the other highlights here, but all in all, a great morning connecting. Looking forward to next time! See you guys there.