Business Networking Through Social Media

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In this technological era in which we live, the ability to ‘friend’ someone in business, is literally at one’s fingertips. Smart phones such as the Blackberry and Apple iPhones are making internet access remarkably easily and speedy. Many young women striving to break male stereotypes in the business world, can now network and promote their businesses and careers from their mobiles, while walking the dog or cooking dinner. “MySpace is a vital avenue for marketing my music because it has a networking feature to enter my industry, which allows me to connect with others in it,” says Jackie Kwenda, a 28 year old songwriter and vocalist for 2 bands; ‘The Proud Marys’ and ‘The Swingsetters’. In my quest to find out more about how social media sites – and as mobisites – benefit young, career orientated, black South African women in their career outlooks, I spoke to 3 driven ladies.

Masithokoze Moyo (Business-woman)

Masithokoze Moyo is in her early thirties and is a pilot and Executive Director for Alpine Aviation, a skills development specialist and the Founder of the Masithokoze Abatakale Foundation Southern Africa. Using her Apple iPhone 4, she browses online. “I am a serial networker and skills development activist who belongs to over 35 networks of professional business development platforms. Being part of social media sites was a strategic move for me because they allow me to engage with people I would otherwise not have met, who require my service or who could possess viable business leads for me. I have been assisted by many individuals throughout my career and as such, I too can offer contacts for emerging business people. Through social media sites I have expanded my existing contact base and now have access to a variety of service providers should I need them. Building mutually supportive relationships is key for the growth of any business and social media technologies are helping us along.”

 

Election Races

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“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.” Lyndon B. Johnson quotes (American 36th US President (1963-69). 1908–1973)

Elections are the lynch pin of any democracy. They are the ultimate form and exercise of people power (other than smart mobs and protesting, burning tires and toy-toying, that is). If elections don’t work, democracy doesn’t work. The choice made in the voting booth will determine the course of a community, city or country for years (case in point, the 34 agonising years of apartheid, endured by fallen heroes, and which left thousands walking around psychologically scarred, even today). Is there anything more dangerous to a democracy than an ill informed decision in the voting booth?

Politicians since time in memorial have tried every trick in the book to influence that decision. In a perfect democratic society the choice is a rational well thought and reasoned one. When the party espouses policies and values that further and match the preferences of an individual then it only makes sense that that person will vote for that. What happens when that decision is not rational, when something other than logic ranks in the decision making process.

In a rainbow nation that is all embracing and cosmopolitan nothing scares a politician more than a voter who will not vote based on the issues, but on irrelevant issues such as voting for Jacob Zuma because one hates Helen Zille’s South African flag skirt and DA branded sneaker’s which don’t scream ‘STYLE!’, or even worse, voting based on race. What would it mean if people were actually voting according to race? http://m.news24.com/news24/MyNews24/YourStory/Race-and-politics-20110404 The African National Congress – ANC – would be on a permanent holiday and the Democratic Alliance – DA – in a constant panic attack, with Helen losing sleep at night. I write this with the hope that this isn’t the case in our contemporary, open-minded, progressive, South Africa.

 

‘Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Cheapest of Them All?

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So I’m going to generalise for my own amusement and to basically bring across a fact about the manner in which different races behave regarding ‘bill’ etiquette. Does bill etiquette depend on your cultural background or is it purely a question of race? I believe it’s a combination of both, but I leave room to be corrected should you disagree. The scenario: dinner amongst a group of male friends. The bill arrives and this is how the different races respond:

Blacks: The well-dressed black gentlemen, wearing square front snake skin shoes and suede jackets and displaying the keys to their environmentally unfriendly and ridiculously expensive Range Rover Sport editions,  Mercedes C-Class Avant-Garde or some such, on the table. Each of them, having enjoyed a night of bragging about supposed financial achievements and painting themselves in an uber successful light. The bomb, the bill, arrives and quietens down the laughter. Each one in turn takes the bill, grabs one of the complimentary cheap mints and complains that they should have been Endear Mints. That done, suddenly, throats are being cleared and an urge to relieve oneself in the lavatory becomes overwhelming. And how about sending oneself a fake phone call and rushing out saying “Sorry gents, gotta take this.” The table is left bare, save for one or two nervous individuals who sharing a look, know they are going to have to be the white people for the evening. After the longest pees in the history of urinating are complete, they all return and ramble about non-bill related issues. When one gets the courage to ask the others for their contributions, there are murmurs of “Er, Sipho,Tumi,  chomees,  I’m sorry, I think I left my wallet in the car. Just get this for me now and I’ll cover you up front.” Check this awesome example that somewhat relates to this topic: