Youngblood5 – 5FM digitises for Youth Day
If you get social media and networking right like Facebook has, you’ve got the most incredible data and research groups at your finger tips. Particularly the opinions of the youth who have flocked to Facebook and share their thoughts, lives, preferences, photos and opinions with the world and their friend. A Marketing exec’s dream database. According to the Uk Guardian, the number of British subscribers of Facebook has ballooned in recent months to 3.5 million registered users. A few weeks ago there were apparently only 40 000 Facebook users from South Africa, today there are nearly 90 000 and counting. Just in time for youth day, 5FM have launched an opinion-based site called Youngblood5, looking for youth-based insights and giving the youth a chance to “stand up and be counted” in cyberspace by bringing their issues to life and building a community around what worries them. We wish them luck and we’ll be interested to see if they have the same potential and growth as Facebook: Now is the time for our youth to spread the word… To share your views on everything and anything, your passions, what you like, what gets your motor running and more with like-minded peeps everywhere! In the spirit of Youth Month, 5FM is launching Youngblood – a revolutionary, interactive cyberspace portal (similar to the FaceBook and MySpace online concepts) developed for listeners to document what social, political, domestic, national, global and other issues of concern they are passionate about. Whether listeners prefer to start a blog, podcast their issue or simply just entering the website’s forum via e-mail, it’s up to each one to decide how they want their thoughts to be headlined. Youngblood 5 gives everyone the opportunity to “stand up & be counted”. Issues & concerns submitted via the website will be discussed on-air during June – leading up to Youth Day (16 June) and beyond. The campaign will culminate in an event after the end of June, where 5FM will try to obtain answers & possible solutions for the youth of SA from the “powers that be”. Go to http://www.youngblood5.co.za/ now, register and have your say! Watch this space for regular...
Hey YOU THERE! Want to work in the US?
A good friend of ours has set up an awesome company offering work opportunities on the ski slopes in the States called http://www.youthere.co.za/. “We’re a couple of guys who, through our travels abroad, fell in love with snowboarding and ski resort life style. Having the experience of 9 ski seasons between us and tired of being employees in the corporate world, we felt it was about time that we start spreading the love and began planning You There! in October 2006. We opened our doors in May 2007! We believe that there is really nothing quite like living and working in a ski resort abroad. You won’t be disappointed.” We’d like to wish them all the best – we love new small business! So Representah’s – spread the word! All of you moaning about the rat race – get out and go Skiing! Represent! Live life large in the snow covered mountains of a ski resort in the USA!You There! is a new, specialised work & travel agency dedicated to arranging jobs and all related travel for South Africans wanting to spend a ski season in the USA. If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30, have a lust for life and adventure and don’t mind rolling up your sleeves a little, then you’re eligible for the You There! USA programme. We are recruiting NOW for positions in top ski resorts across the Colorado Rockies including AspenSnowmass, Winter Park, Vail and Beaver Creek. “Seasonairs” should expect to leave in early December 2007 and work to mid-April 2008 after which they can travel in the U.S for up to 6 weeks before they return to SA or continue on to another country (unless they extend their temporary working visa). The size of You There! allows us (it’s two experienced directors, Jason and Nick,) to be personally involved in each and every one of our travellers’ recruitment and travel arrangements. You There! acts as an agent for the traveler (Seasonair), supporting and consulting with him or her every step of the way – ensuring that they get to their destination as efficiently and prepared as possible. Your programme fee secures you a job, full season multi-mountain ski lift pass, on-going visa consultation as well as flight, travel insurance and accommodation arrangements. You There! is South Africa’s ski season specialist. Go to http://www.youthere.co.za/ and apply...
Wear your Converse and party on
We’re so sick of bouncers looking at our “tekkie-covered” feet with disdain, declaring that we shall not enter unless we’re in ‘proper shoes.’ How much more comfy, fabulara and danceable can you get than Converse? Damn – isn’t that what shoes are supposed to be about? Any venue that bounces us for not wearing some ugly pointy shoes gets written off our list. Right after our mad friend tells them where to stick it. So get revenge on all those steroid dumbsters and go to the Converse party this weekend in your Converse and get in for free… Parties in Jozi and Durbs. Here’s the deal click on the flyer for more info but apparently it’s going to be “original.” Converse celebrates true Originality with a series of events held in top urban nightspots. Free entry to Converse wearers. In addition to music, vibe and entertainment; there are unique prizes to be won. Parties will be held on 15th June at Roka in Jozi and on the 14th June at The BAT Centre in...
Twitter – is this the beginning of the TMI end?
So you’re totally hooked on Facebook and keep updating your status so EVERYONE knows you had a fight with your boss. You’re still being nagged to join Bebo, your MySpace has been neglected, your Skype phone keeps ringing, Flixster keeps sending you irritating reminder emails. Now your sms beep is getting really annoying and you leave your phone on silent as much as possible, you haven’t cleaned out your inbox in a month, procrastination is becoming a scary enemy, your rss feed is unread, you haven’t visited your favourite site in ages. Sound Familiar? Still want more? Meet Twitter, the beginning of the end of TMI – too much information. The clutter of the information superhighway looms all around you. It’s really simple, Twitter asks one question only: “What are you doing” and your job is to tell everyone (well your friends and anyone else interested in your woolies take away sandwich lunch) exactly what that is. Now I know at first I was reluctant to update my Facebook status too often for fear of pushing my boring life onto all my poor Facebook friends – however, getting their updates was really comforting and somehow has brought me closer to so many people who I just don’t seem to have time to catch up with in the ‘real world.’ Now I know that A loves cooking, P is a real joker, K and I think similarly and S is as skeptical as ever… I also know that G keeps bunking work 😉 So now I don’t mind letting them know what I’m up to and I keep checking to see what they’re doing. As sick as it sounds, I feel closer to my people than ever. Which leads us to Twitter. It takes that ‘status’ updating notion and formalises it into constant status updating via your computer or cell phone. So you tell people all day exactly what you’re up to. Mhhhm… sounds a bit big brother non? Twitter is sweeping through the States and the UK much like Facebook is sweeping us up right now and people are using it for all kinds of weird reasons. We’ve just signed up so we can see if it works in SA and if it truly is the beginning of our TMI breakdown and information overkill. We’ll let you know. Wonder if we could find a better use for it like a crime-fighting initiative? Anyone else know more about it? The Wall Street journal explains in simple terms: Twitter allows members to use their computers or cellphones to distribute short messages on what they’re doing. Each message is limited to 140 characters, but there are no limits on how many messages...
Represent Recommends: Cool Concept – Tiny URL
Occasionally I receive hyperlinks that are so long I’m not sure where they end and sometimes I am too lazy to try and copy the whole thing and paste it into my browser (although 3 quick clicks should select the whole paragraph), here’s a briliant solution – TinyURL. Tiny takes those long addresses and makes them tiny. As simple as that. We let TinyURL explain: An example – Turn this URL: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?ovi=1&mqmap.x=300&mqmap.y=75&mapdata=%252bKZmeiIh6N%252bIgpXRP3bylMaN0O4z8OOUkZWYe7NRH6ldDN96YFTIUmSH3Q60zE5XVqcuc5zb%252fY5wy1MZwTnT2pu%252bNMjOjsHjvNlygTRMzqazPStrN52f1YzA0oWEWLwkHdhVHeG9sG6cMrfXNJKHY6fML4o6Nb0SeQm75ET9jAjKelrmqBCNta%252bsKC9n8jslz%252fo188N4g3BvAJYuzx8J8r%252f1fPFWkPYg%252bT9Su5KoQ9YpNSj%252bmo0h0aEK%252bofj3f6vCP into this tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/6 Which one would you rather cut and paste into your browser? That’s the power of TinyURL!...
Idols 2007 – how and where to enter
Yip – it’s another Idols and we’re looking forward to placing our bets. Let’s hope that the judges choose singers who ‘stick’ or whose stars at least rise a little rather than fading miserably into obscurity within moments of taking the crown. If I say Idols who do you think of? My first name is Zamajobe, then after a bit of thought Karen and of course Heinz… If I remember correctly, Zama was a runner up. We’re still disappointed Gift didn’t bag it last time round 🙁 A lot of people we have spoken to about Idols worry that in the face of the mind-blowing talent illustrated on American Idols we may not compete. We disagree, don’t you know music comes from Africa? We have the most amazing talent on this continent – now let’s find some more! Go and sing your hearts out! About that DSTV decoder… Here’s the info: This year it is easier than ever to enter M-Net’s glamorous singing competition and make your dreams come true! Here’s what prospective Idols have to know: No pre-registration: To make the process as easy as possible, there will be no entry forms this year. Contestants simply show up at any of the five audition venues (see below) and sing. Each contestant will be registered at the audition venue and be given a chance to audition. Age: To qualify, contestants have to be at least 16 and no older than 30 as of 22 June, 2007. That means if you turn 31 years old on 22 June, sorry – you’re too old! And if you only turn 16 on 23 June – try again next season! You will need to bring proof of age, such as an I.D. document or a birth certificate. (Sorry, driver’s license doesn’t count.) If you’re under 21, you have to be accompanied by your parent or legal guardian, who will have to sign permission forms. Or you could download the forms from http://www.mnet.co.za/ and have your guardian pre-sign it, then you can come alone. Clothing: It is typically very cold during Idols auditions (especially if you start queuing the night before!) so dress warmly. Dress as creatively as you wish, but remember that no amount of fancy-dress or revealing outfits will distract the judges’ attention from your voice! Singing: The judges want to hear you sing, so by all means bring your guitar if you want to amuse your new friends in the audition queue, but you will not be allowed to accompany yourself during the audition. Auditions: These are the audition dates and venues: Johannesburg: Standard Bank Arena, Saturday, 23 June. Cape Town: The River Club...
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