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  1. Easy2Map: Winners Of South African Software Competition Share Tips On Product Focus Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler November 20, 2012

    We chat to the winners of the Startup Knight Competition, Kishan Kalan and Steven Ellis – the founders of Easy2Map. The competition was run by Byte Orbit and Ching Payments which offered the winners software development to the value of R100 000 and ongoing mentorship. Find out what they would advise for products entering the competition next year, as well as their plans to scale Easy2Map. Read Further

  2. How Anthropology And Technology Can Better Tackle The Mobile Market Together Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler November 9, 2012 1 comment

    Ken Banks is the founder of kiwanja.net, an organisation merging technology and anthropology. For the last 20 years, Ken has left his home in the UK to focus on mobile technology projects in Africa that create positive social and environmental change. He has also been acknowledged by National Geographic and BBC as a leader in his field. We speak to Ken about his fascinating inventions which have improved African countries tremendously, and hear about how his path led him to our continent. Read Further

  3. How To Measure Online And Offline Success: SleekGeek SA Shares Insights Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler November 5, 2012 1 comment

    Elan Lohmann is the name behind SleekGeek SA – the platform that encourages healthy living and a fitter lifestyle. Elan has plenty of experience in the digital space, having managed News24.com and more recently been the Manager Director of Avusa. Elan has since quit his job to follow his dream full-time – transforming lives through social media – two things he knows best. We talk to him about how digital and healthy living have meshed to make his vision a reality. Read Further

  4. Why The People Make The Brand: Head Of Virgin Brand Explains Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler November 1, 2012

    Fiona Ross is part of the Virgin Group Global Brand Team who are responsible for defining the brand purpose, developing innovative new Virgin businesses and expanding the Virgin brand into new markets. She joined the team in 2006 as Head of Brand for South Africa, and also serves on the Virgin Unite Africa Board and is part of the advisory team for the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship. We chat to her about representing a brand that falls into many industries, dealing with criticism, and we learn of the wise words spoken to her by Sir Richard Branson. Read Further

  5. Why Incubation Labs Are So Important For Start-Ups: Derrick Kotze Of Mlab Explains Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 30, 2012

    Derrick Kotze is the CEO of mLab, an incubation laboratory that offers support to entrepreneurs and start-ups for creating innovative mobile solutions. We talk to Derrick about the incubation process for technology based businesses,  the requirements needed from these entrepreneurs, and we hear about some of the best examples and success stories that have been created through mLab. Read Further

  6. Heavy Chef Session: Graham Warsop On The Importance Of Digital Agencies Winning International Awards Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 25, 2012

    This month we celebrated another successful Heavy Chef event with the Founder and Creative Director behind The Jupiter Drawing Room – Mr Graham Warsop. The focal point was the importance for digital agencies to win international awards – something Graham knows a lot about, as the winner of 17 Cannes Lions, 27 London International Statues and 70 Medals at the New York Festival. Read Further

  7. Graham Warsop: What Digital Agencies Should Consider Before Entering Work Into Events Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 23, 2012 1 comment

    Leading up to our event tonight, we chatted to our guest speaker, Graham Warsop, founder of The Jupiter Drawing Room, about what we can expect later this evening. Graham discusses his favourite awards, how awards are measured, and what agencies should consider before entering their work. Read Further

  8. ITWeb Africa Reveals New Payment Methods To Improve Data Revenue In Africa Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 22, 2012

    Gareth van Zyl is the Editor of ITWeb Africa, a site that provides analysis and insights into the continent’s changing telecoms and technology industry. We get a chance to talk to Gareth about his experience working in digital in Middle Eastern Asia, and we find out his predictions for the South African technology market, which includes new payment methods to help improve the country’s data revenue. Read Further

  9. How To Build An Online Audience: Key Elements Explained By Primedia’s Athar Naser Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 18, 2012 1 comment

    Head of Juice Content, a division of Primedia Online, is Athar Naser. Juice Content aims to deliver content across digital platforms and create custom written material, as well as strategize and manage social media platforms. We speak to Athar about their content marketing differentiations, building an online audience, and their new involvement with SCNET. Read Further

  10. Why Crowdsourcing May Be Better Than Angel Investment Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 17, 2012

    Steven Markovitz is one of Africa’s greatest producers of documentaries, short films and festivals. With over 20 years of experience, Steven is the founder of production company, Big World, and is also the producer of the short film, Inja/Dog which received an Oscar nomination in 2003.  Steven’s latest project is Rollaball – a film that focuses on men in Ghana with Polio who play soccer. He recently pitched his project on Kickstarter in the hopes of getting funding to produce the movie. We chat to him about crowdsourcing, funding and why coming from South Africa may be a disadvantage. Read Further

  11. How The Youth Will Drive Technology In 2013 Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 16, 2012

    Graham Brown is an industry analyst, business author and public speaker based in the UK.  He is also the Director of mobileYouth – a research advisory firm founded in 2001. Their aim is to connect the youth with companies in order to provide helpful customer insight. We spoke to Graham about the great work that mobileYouth is doing and how he thinks the youth will impact technology in the future. Read Further

  12. Silicon Valley Versus Silicon Cape: What Are We Lacking? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 15, 2012 1 comment

    South African born Vinny Lingham has an impressive résumé, being the founder and CEO of Yola, co-founder of SiliconCape.com, previously the founder and CEO of the global search marketing firm incuBeta and its subsidiary Clicks2Customers. He is also a board member of ChessCube, SkyRove, and Personera. Vinny was once on the marketing advisory boards for Nasdaq-listed companies ValueClick and Yahoo. Now, his latest venture is Gyft, which he explains to us, as well as talking about the contrasts between Silicon Cape and Silicon Valley. Read Further

  13. The Social Media Landscape Of South Africans [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 11, 2012 3 comments

    Arthur Goldstuck and his team at World Wide Worx, together with Fuseware, explore the findings of the South African Social Media Landscape for 2012. For more information on these statistics, click here. Read Further

  14. What Are The Real Advantages Of Google+ And Hangouts? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 9, 2012

    If you are unsure about the comparisons when it comes to Skype and Google+ Hangouts, look no further. We chat to Brett St Clair, Head of New Products Sub Sahara at Google. With 17 years of experience in mobile media, marketing and advertising all over the world, Brett offers us valuable explanations about the benefits of Google+ and Hangouts. Read Further

  15. South African Startup Competition: Are You A Software Product Startup? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 8, 2012 2 comments

    A new opportunity has come along for software product startups, in the form of the Startup Knight Competition. We talk to Amit Ramdath, CEO of Byte Orbit and founder of the event, about what the competition entails, how to enter, and why this competition is a great platform for South African startups. The grand prize will be sponsored by Byte Orbit and will consist of software development to the value of R100 000 and ongoing mentorship. Read Further

  16. How To Maximise The Power Of Word Of Mouth Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler October 1, 2012

    We chat to the founder of Wordstart, Mongezi Mtati, about his idea for a community of influencers and networks that connect with brands using the power of word of mouth. He shares his thoughts on startups, funding, brands using influencers, and provides us with some fascinating statistics about trusted sources. We also find out about his experience with The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and how it helped his ideas get off the ground. Read Further

  17. Heavy Chef Session: M-commerce With Angus Robinson And Jon Hoehler Posted in Heavy Chef News, Videos, Concocted by Wendy Tayler September 28, 2012

    Last night we celebrated our much anticipated Heavy Chef Session centred around M-commerce. Our expert speakers, Angus Robinson and Jon Hoehler enlightened us on the advancements that mobile shopping has made. Read Further

  18. How To Regain The Attention Of Your Customers Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler September 21, 2012

    Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg are recognised leaders in the online marketing field, providing their usability and marketing services to over 26 countries around the world. The brothers are also the authors of “Waiting for your Cat to Bark?” – a bestseller as voted by the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today. Jeffrey has written for Forbes.com and Bryan has been voted as one of the Top 10 User Experience experts by eConsultancy. We speak to them about usability testing and the biggest concerns faced when conducting A/B testing. Read Further

  19. The Art Of Online Writing: Conversation Versus Information Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler September 10, 2012 1 comment

    Michelle Atagana is the managing editor of Memeburn and an influential Tweeter. Her Masters Degree in New Media and Journalism is accompanied by a fascinating thesis that focuses on her passion for social media technologies in the South African journalistic space. We chat to Michelle about journalistic trends, the mythical ‘need’ for blogs, and the comparisons when writing for online versus print. Read Further

  20. How To Build A Community Around A Non-Tangible Product: PayPal UK Explains Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler September 6, 2012 1 comment

    Jon Bishop is the head of Innovation Communications at PayPal UK. Before joining PayPal, Jon was the head of social media at Gumtree.com where he proposed and executed Gumtree’s first social media strategy based on their brand and business needs. With rich experience in the industry, we asked Jon to compare the two communities and also explain how to build a loyal community around a non-tangible brand such as PayPal. Read Further

  21. Rich Mulholland: Has Micro-Publishing Decreased Quality Content? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler September 4, 2012

    Rich Mulholland is the founder of Missing Link, a very successful presentation firm. He is also the co-founder of 21Tanks, the well-known idea-implementation business. With these two successful businesses, he has become a sought-after speaker and often guest lectures at The Cape Graduate School of Business and the Gordon Institute of Business Science. We ask Rich about whether blogging is necessary for entrepreneurs as well as how micro-publishing has decreased the quality of content online. Read Further

  22. Usability: The Benefits Of Using Different UX Methods Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler August 31, 2012

    We ask usability expert, Oli Gardner, co-founder and Director of Marketing at Unbounce, about the different types of usability testing methods that can be used, as well as the benefits of each. Read on for some valuable tips on how to choose the right method. Read Further

  23. How Communication And Industries Have Been Disrupted By Digital Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler August 29, 2012

    Director of Deloitte Digital, Andre Hugo, holds the latest information about digital in South Africa and how it is impacting businesses. We talk to him about how digital has disrupted various industries, the future of digital and how conventional communication has transformed. Read Further

  24. Case Study: How To Run A Successful Twitter Campaign Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler August 28, 2012

    The USA for UNHCR became a popular organisation last year when they launched a global Twitter Campaign, referred to as The Blue Key Campaign. This was the first U.S based initiative to encourage citizens to speak out for refugees. The campaign aimed to provide a broadened base of support for the leading organization safeguarding the rights and well-being of displaced people around the world. We decided to chat with two people that led this campaign to it’s success. Lauren Meling – Manager and head of Digital Media Marketing at USA for UNHCR, and Shonali Burke – Vice President of Digital Media & Marketing, MSL Washington DC. Read Further

  25. Fundamental Questions To Ask When Conducting Usability Testing Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Wendy Tayler August 27, 2012 4 comments

    Oli Gardner is co-founder and Director of Marketing for Unbounce – The DIY Landing Page Platform. Oli is responsible for operating the inbound marketing program primarily through the use of content on the subjects of conversion rate optimisation and landing pages. Prior to Unbounce he was a creative director, interaction designer and led a usability team. Currently, his career is focused on improving user experiences. We chat to him about the greatest Usability myths, important questions to consider when doing usability testing and how to go about guest blogging. Read Further