SoulProviders Workshop Week: Inspiring and Visionary
Lebogang Mgiba At the beginning of every work year we hold our annual #WorkShopWeek at SoulProviders. Featuring workshops presented by guests representing different industries, the second week of January was a chance for our team to be mind-blown, get inspired, plan their year and discuss topics and trends dominating the media landscape. Two of the speakers at this year’s event included Tefo Mohapi, the co-founder of iAfrikan and Bradley Kirshenbaum, owner of distinctly South African brands such as Love, Jozi and Eat Your Heart Out. As a team member, I found that there were many lessons to take from all the sessions, which only motivated us SP Ninjas to work harder and smarter to achieve our dreams. This is testament to the power of storytelling, and how it can influence and change lives. During #WorkShopWeek we were also treated to an exclusive preview of John Barker’s latest mockumentary. Barker’s film delved into the current state of politics in a humorous way, and at the end of the film, we were all given a chance to share our thoughts and discuss the film’s different narratives.. The big take-out for me was that you can achieve whatever you want as long as you work hard towards it and stay focused. In light of racist comments surfacing recently on social media, one of the key workshops found us exploring on the issues of race, identity and culture in South Africa. Thembi, the facilitator, did a superb task of starting the privilege and race conversation through various group-based activities that got the team thinking, questioning and understanding. New skills were imparted and lateral thinking was employed to get everyone to see outside the box. I asked some of my colleagues for their highlights from #WorkShopWeek: David Tshabalala “I loved Bradley’s talk, I think young designers in general aren’t exposed enough to to the entrepreneurial possibilities of their craft. Too often, schools train students to be robots who churn out work for big agencies and not enough credit is given to these individuals who may aspire to grow beyond the four walls of your Ogilvy’s.” Angelique Redmond Workshop week was inspirational and aspirational. The talks gave us a glimpse into some of the most creative and talented minds in S.A. It showed us that the people who make the difference or do something amazing are the people who don’t fit into boxes, who think outside the margins of their craft and push the line beyond what people are used to seeing. My highlight was the new mockumentary by John Barker – as an avid politico the film was exactly what every South...
Father’s Day Celebration with Knorr and J.Something
Two of South Africa’s most loved brands – Knorr’s What’s For Dinner in partnership with Pick n Pay, are teaming up to make life easier for moms and dads all over South Africa. What’s For Dinner, which has South Africa’s biggest brand page on Facebook – with a whopping 9,595,000 likes, over 700,000 from South Africa alone, and with over 1.5million views on the www.whatsfordinner.co.za – visiting these sites has become a daily routine for millions of people across the country. With simple, nutritious and inspiring recipes, What’s For Dinner is no longer a difficult question to answer – especially with the chance to enjoy an interactive cooking class with Knorr Brand Ambassador J’Something. Knorr believes that cooking delicious and nutritious meals should be within everyone’s reach, therefore, we have partnered with someone who is not a professional chef but rather a devotee of simple home-cooking like J’Something. J’s love for simple, home-cooked meals has always been an important part of his life and he is excited to share his insights with busy moms and dads across Gauteng at one of the few of these events on 25th June 2015 at the Sp8ce- Unite 8, Straight centre-The Straight Rd, Pineslops. At each event J’Something will demonstrate an array of Knorr What’s For Dinner recipes, but with his own “twist”. Recipes will be simple, seasonal and delicious – perfect for busy moms and dads that don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. Knorr What’s For Dinner recipes are based on the premise that you don’t have to be a chef to love to cook delicious and nutritious food, and the classes will take a light-hearted and entertaining approach to a range of seasonal, simple and mouth-watering recipes. As J’Something explains, “The class will be a lot of fun and no doubt really insightful to the busy mom and dads. I invite you to join me and let’s answer that age-old question of “what’s for dinner” for a special Father’s day cooking class along side Bob Mabena. Tickets will cost R200 per person and each guest will receive a Knorr goodie bag. Space is limited and bookings can be made through the SA Culinary Club info@saculinaryclub.co.za....
Office Space with creative minded people
Are you looking at renting office space for your small business? Want to work in a fun and creative environment? The conversation, the ideas, the potential! SoulProviders, a leading Joburg content-creation and marketing agency, has office space available for lease! We are renting out two sections of a semi divided area – the first section is 25m2 and the second is 18m2 in size. We would like to share our space with small businesses and hot-deskers. We’re looking for creative, PR, marketing, internet, mobile, video, design and digital businesses to join our chilled-out and fun environment at the Colony Centre on Jan Smuts Avenue in Craighall Park. The Colony offers a relaxed environment with great restaurant options for lunch or dinner – perfect for business and pleasure or when you need to put in a few extra hours for at winning proposal. It’s centrally located near Sandton CBD, Hyde Park and Rosebank. There is a yoga studio should want to get some exercise during your lunch break, a book store and clothing stores and many more! The office packages can be tailored to suite your specific requirements. Please contact Apinda should you be interested in viewing the office space info@soulproviders.co.za or call us on 011 325 5816. And please share the love – you never know who might be looking to start-up their own game-changing...
OH, to be a Sizzling Coal at SoulProviders…
Hi, my name is Lindelwa and I’m a Sizzling coal. What does that mean? It means that I’m an impressionable youth with a brain soft and absorbent like a sponge, who is working under the guidance of Bright sparks and a brilliant Firestarter. Technically this metaphor should end with me being burnt to ashes and so becomes the end of me, but we will not get technical with it. Instead, this piece of coal will ignite into a giant flame-woman setting the world alight wherever she goes. In less than 100 words, that’s what it feels like to intern here at SoulProviders. I should tell you about why I like it here and what it’s doing for my personal growth as well. The journey has been quite… enlightening. It was in jest, during the early years of Twitter when I told friends that my first job will be a paid-to-tweet situation. As my Twitter addiction grew I learned and read more, and realized that there is work in social media – real jobs, for real. We millennials have it good, with all the progressive industries coming up with innovation – I cannot begin to imagine what’s in store for Generation Z. Back to SP, my first few weeks here felt hectic. Trying to find my feet in a new environment, everyone was and still is helpful, always willing to lend a hand, and teach me something – and this made it easier to settle in and learn the ways of the Digital Ninja. It’s been like having a room full of mentors and almost 5 months later, I feel like part of the family. In the beginning I struggled to keep up, whoooo! Never has the expression “ASAP” been so literal in my life. In the space of a few weeks I had become so much better at time management and delivering quality work in record time…not to mention “multi-tasking”. As someone working in a woman-dominated environment I can confidently say that WE ARE THE MULTI-TASKING MASTERS. To juggle 8 balls and drop none of them feels great! A sort-of affirmation of my ‘Super-Womanity’. All in all, it’s been an inspiring few months and I look forward to the exciting days ahead. ...
Highlights from SoulProviders workshop week
For many people returning to work in January, the first week is spent mired in emails and admin. But not at SoulProviders! Early January is workshop week, where ordinary citizens are turned into #Social Media Ninjas! New skills are imparted and lateral thinking is employed to get everyone to see outside the box. And at the end of the week everyone walks away knowing that there is no such thing as a non-creative person… Check out what we learned last week: Nonto Khumalo To pin point one thing would be difficult because for me it was playing on new turf. I enjoyed learning about strategy and making sure we present the best possible option for the client. This was new to me because as a graphic designer my main focus was always to present the most striking visuals. Now with this new knowledge I know it’s not just about things looking good, it’s also about my work communicating to the target market and clearly getting the message across. I thoroughly enjoyed Clement’s creative session because as a creative myself, it was interesting to learn new ways of being creative and not thinking too hard about it but mainly just making sure I’m in the right frame of mind and remain inspired. Brandstorm!!!!! Presentation was the main highlight because I’ve never had to present since doing literature in high school. I didn’t realise I had the potential to get up there and sell an idea, but with such a great team I exceeded my expectations and that is purely because SoulProviders allows one the platform to grow and tap into one’s hidden talents. Nosipho Ginindza 1) The presentation by Clement that taught us that you can be more creative when you start applying lateral thinking. 2) Another highlight was Melissa’s presentation which showed where our weaknesses and strengths are with our brands. The brandstorms were awesome because they pushed us to come up with great campaigns and ideas for brands we do not work on and also seeing how we each have different ways of looking at each other’s brands. Angelique Redmond What stood out for me in workshop week was learning lateral thinking and that creativity is there – you just have to coax it out! I also loved the brandstorms – the rush of adrenalin you get from presenting and coming up with killer ideas, I felt like a social media sherpa! Lindelwa Nxumalo It was my first workshop week here at SP. My favourite session had to be the one on Creativity. The most important lesson I took from that is that curiosity/creativity are drained by...
Introducing the Power of 50
The Umuzi Team recently announced that the applications for the Power of 50 Programme 2015 intake are now open. This is a great initiative to empower young creative minds into taking part on something meaningful that can change their lives forever. The Power of 50 is a one-year tertiary programme preparing young people to become active economic participants in the creative industry. (www.umuzi.org/the-power-of-50). The successful candidates receive a monthly stipend to cover their basic expenses. They gain real work life experience by working at a creative agency, skills training by working on live client projects, masterclasses by industry experts, opportunities to network with the creative industry whist building a strong portfolio of work. Apply at www.umuzi.org/apply Aspiring ekasi creatives face a daunting gap to professional employment in the creative economy. Umuzi bridges this gap. The Power of 50 is a successful model of collaboration between Investec Bank, who make this possible by funding the programme, The Creative Circle, who facilitate the internships with leading creative agencies, Vega and Da Vinci, who help us to deliver the formal skills...
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