Monthly Archive for October, 2008
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According to Adam Sarner, an analyst with market research firm Gartner, over half of social media campaigns will flop at a time when everyone is scrambling to get on board the social networking bandwagon. This may come as a surprise since lots of companies are planning and executing social marketing initiatives with lots of expectations of reaching new markets more precisely with much higher returns on investment (ROI) compared to conventional internet marketing approaches. The full story can be read on the CNET web site here.
Here is a link to the blog posting on the inaugural skunkworks@innovation event. I did’nt manage to attend to the full event but there are lots of presentation downloads that show how advanced and exciting the Kenyan ICT scene is getting.
This is great news! Just found out that Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One Supremo is calling for the sport to impliment drastic cost cutting measure. In this case, he wants all Formula One teams to use a homologated engine by the year 2010. This course of action is largely being neccesitated by the fact that Formula One has become such an expensive sport and at current rates, its possible that two teams may exit within the next year. Another major factor in this call is that the melting financial markets in the US and Europe mean that major Formula One sponsors will have to cut back on their spending significantly. Ecclestone’s proposal would see each team still building their own engine, however, it would be done to a standard design while team’s without manufacturers would have theirs built by an independent contractor. This sort of plan could create the most amazing propsect of more teams joining the Formula One game. A crazy idea that floats into my mind is what if top African brands could sponsor an African Formula One team just like Force India have done for India? Now that would be one fantastic possibility don’t you think? Infact, I’d say its very realistic and definately worth taking seriously.
I recently found out about Africa 24 Media, an ambitious initiative that aims to take African News and Media to the next level. The multifaceted Africa 24 Media just launched its web site as the primary delivery channel for African content, from all countries and sources, within and beyond the continent. I just had a look at it and its already looking quite impressive. The videos load quickly and one can stream as effortlessly as on YouTube. You can also download video files and buy content from the site. The only lacking thing I can see is that the navigation and overall presentation needs improvement to put it on par with the likes of CNN and the BBC, as well as more local/Kenyan media sites like the Daily Nation. In addition, they really need to leverage Web2.0 technologies and web sites so as to spread the word faster through social networks, blogging, etc. Other than that, the content is great and I plan to visit it often! Hats off to Salim Amin who is the founder of Africa 24 Media for taking this bold step forward for African Media.
The Kenya ICT Board (KICTB) in conjunction with the Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC), the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), the East African ICT for Development Network (EA ICT4D) and other participating organisations are pleased to announce the Kenya Internet Governance Forum (Kenya IGF) to be held on the 14th of October, 2008 at the Jacaranda hotel in Westlands. The Kenya IGF will offer a central forum through which Internet stakeholders in Kenya can contribute to the global Internet Governance Forum.
The Kenya IGF is a follow up to the KICTANet mailing list discussions on Internet Governance, which were held in August 2008, and aimed at beginning to identify and explore national level Internet Governance issues.
The national forum aims at:
• creating awareness on IGF issues,
• instituting a consensus building process to develop a common understanding of Kenyan Internet Governance issues and
• Building policy and technical capacity in order to enable meaningful participation in global Internet policy, governance and development.
The outcome of the Kenya IGF will be collated with that from the other national IGF’s which will take place in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, to form the agenda for the East African IGF scheduled for 10th-12th November 2008, Nairobi Kenya.
Below is a summary of the programme:
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08:45 – 09:00Â Â Registration
09:00 – 09:10  Opening Remarks – Paul Kukubo, CEO, KICTB
09:10 – 09:30Â Â What is internet governance and why should we care? -Â Brian Longwe/KENIC
09:30 – 10:00  Kenyan stakeholders IG issues: KICTANet Online Discussion Report; validating issues discussed – John Walubengo/Mwende Njiraini
10:00 – 10:10Â Â Government & the IGFÂ – Charles J. K. Njoroge, Director General, CCK
10:10 – 10:30Â Â Official Launch of Kenya IGFÂ – Dr. Bitange Ndemo, PS, Ministry of Information & Communications
10:30 – 11:00Â Â Coffee Break
11:00 – 11:30  So what are Kenya’s Priority IG issues? Issue Prioritization & Consensus  – KICTANet/KENIC
11:30 – 12:00  What Policy and Technical capacity do we need to engage? Identifying Issues for Capacity Building – John Walubengo/Mwende Njiraini
12:00 – 12:30  Closing Remarks/Vote of Thanks – EAICT4D Harry Hare
12:30Â Â Lunch
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Kindly confirm your participation by sending an email to evelyne@kictanet.or.ke
This article has been extracted from the Tujuane web site.
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Entrepreneurs Discuss New Media at OWIT Event
OWIT SPEAKER SESSION
Topic: E-COMMERCE & ONLINE MARKETING- How to use your website as a marketing tool.
Speakers: Mr. Segeni Ngethe, Mama Mikes Online Shop and Mr. Moses Kemibaro, Dotsavvy Ltd
Date: Tuesday 5 August 2008
Venue: Quest Resort and Guesthouse
In their continued effort to educate and empower business women in Kenya, OWIT Nairobi this month invited two well known individuals from the ICT industry to tackle the topic of Internet Marketing and Ecommerce. The speakers were Moses Kemibaro, Dotsavvy Ltd, and Segeni Ng’ethe founder of Mamamikes.com.
Speaking during the session, Moses, who runs Dotsavvy, a digital marketing agency – pointed out how businesses should opt for utilizing internet tools such as email, the web, as well as wireless/mobile and digital TV as marketing channels. By doing this businesses are better place to reach their intended market, making the medium more effective and efficient than any other form of marketing. In his presentation, Kemibaro noted that; ‘based on recent global research the internet is the leading media of choice at work and is only second to TV at home.’
Also present was Segeni Ng’ethe, founder of Mamamikes.com, an ecommerce initiative that enables Kenyans in the diaspora to purchase and deliver items to their loved one at home via the web. Segeni shared his experience on running an e-commerce business in Kenya. After his presentation he took sometime to answer a number of questions from the audience, who mainly wanted to know how they can get their company online.
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Last week, Paul Newman, one of Hollywood’s icons and founder of Newman’s Own passed away peacefully in his home from cancer aged 83 years old. He is probably better remembered for the silver screen but by far I think his greatest legacy is Newmans Own. He founded the company in 1982 together with A.E. Hotchner. Newman’s Own is a leading (and growing) premium food company that offers more than 150 varieties of delicious all-natural food and beverage products. The inspiring and charitable mission of Newman’s Own is “Shameless exploitation in pursuit of the Common Good.” Inspiring yes? Even more impressive is that Newman’s Own Foundation donates all profits and royalties after taxes for educational and charitable purposes. Newman’s Own Foundation have given more than $250 million to thousands of charities worldwide. Now, thats a legacy! Rest in Peace Paul Newman.