Watch this space!

The other day someone mentioned that every person these days who studied Public Relations start their own PR consultancy. This probably is true, it feels like every second PR students feels that they one day will have their own consultancy.I also would like to work for myself one day, who would not, especially when you want to start with a family. It would be nice to have more flexible hours, especially in the days we are living in. We hardly get time for ourselves anymore, when we add the hours that we sit in traffic, even less. That is probably the main reason I want to start my own thing, apart from the excitement, the money and all that other extras. But I would like to be able to cut out that morning and afternoon traffic. That does not mean that I would not work during those times, I would just do it at home and go into the office a little bit later.The most important thing when starting a business is motivation, working hard and obviously a creative idea. I am definitely not just going to start another PR consultancy. Luckily for us, the PR course we are taking opens so many doors for us. We do not have to stick only to PR. So watch this space, this girl is going places...

Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa is known as one of America’s best musicians, composers, and satirists, one who is not afraid to speak his mind. Following are some of his famous quotes:

• Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid
• A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it's not open
• Why do you necessarily have to be wrong just because a few million people think you are?
• Politics is the entertainment branch of industry
• Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST
• The creation and destruction of harmonic and 'statistical' tensions is essential to the maintenance of compositional drama. Any composition (or improvisation) which remains consonant and 'regular' throughout is, for me, equivalent to watching a movie with only 'good guys' in it, or eating cottage cheese
• Stupidity is the basic building block of the universe
• Tobacco is my favourite vegetable
• You drank beer, you played golf, you watched football - WE EVOLVED!
• Interviewer: "So Frank, you have long hair. Does that make you a woman?" FZ: "You have a wooden leg. Does that make you a table?"

Virtual World our future?

Last night, on Carte Blanche, they showed the latest “Virtual” trend. The site’s name is second life and basically that is exactly what it is. It is your chance to create a second life for yourself, where you can be whatever you always wanted to be. They even had a stay at home mom, who opened a strip club on the web.

According to the creators of second life: “Second life was launched in 2003 and has since grown to become the virtual world leader—owning 90 percent of the market—with a profitable, stable, and growing business. Eighteen million people have registered in Second Life from over 150 countries and this virtual world work solution has already been chosen by hundreds of enterprises, governments, and educational institutions. In 2006, it has grown to include more than 250 organizations from around the world that offer strategy, design, building, and marketing services to organizations interested in creating a customized virtual work environment. We recently launched the Gold Program that is the first of its kind in the industry. The program designated 31 firms that consistently have high levels of client satisfaction, a proven track record for developing successful projects in Second Life, and a demonstrated expertise working with real world companies.” (secondlife.com: 2009) http://work.secondlife.com/whyslwork/whatis/

What is the really creepy part is that this is adults, working people, who “play” around on this site, and as mentioned they speak of this as being the being the future of business, where you do not need to literally get on a plane for a meeting, but meet each other on second life.

Does this mean that in the near future people are going to sit in their homes, living a virtual life, spending and making money this way? Comfortable, but scary if you think about this. The internet is taking over our lives. Instead of using every spare moment to play around on the internet, I think people should go outside, smell the fresh air for a change, go on a hiking trip and get back to basics. This will make for a healthier, more stress free future for all. But then again, that is just my opinion.

What motivates me?

Excellence calls for character . . . integrity . . . fairness . . . honesty . . . a determination to do what's right. Price Pritchett

This quote summarise what motivates me in one sentence. I want to strive for these characteristics in everything I do. I want everything I do to be of excellent quality but at the same time I want to achieve it the right way. That is just the way I was brought up. I believe it is important to always show character in everything you do and not just to copy what other do.
I also want to be known for my integrity, fairness, honesty and determination to do what is right. Unfortunately so many times in life, we will come into contact with someone who clearly does not show these characteristics, but get further than us. This can dash ones hopes, but as my best friend always says: The wheel turns and at least your conscience is clear.

Personal Autonomy - How far does it extend?

Personal Autonomy defined means “self-directing freedom and especially moral dependence.” Other words for it is: free will and self determination Medical webends.com)

Basically what this means, is that Personal Autonomy is how one makes decision when it comes to how they should live their lives, according to each individual’s moral context.

This will be different for each and every person, depending on how you were brought up, what religion you are and your personal frame of reference.

I for example, was brought up a Christian, so with everything I do in life; I strive to do what is right in the eye of God. All my decisions are based on this and what is right and wrong according to the Bible. This is just my way of making decisions, but each person will be different according to what they see to be right and wrong. Thus, the extend to each person’s personal autonomy, will differ.

"Bunch of animals" This is just one of the comments on the CPUT strikes. What is yours?

The strikes at CPUT are really getting worst each year. This is my fourth year now at CPUT – Cape Town campus, so I had the “luxury” of experiencing these strikes first hand. This year, was the worst. It ended in me, not having class for a whole week, because it was too dangerous to go to class.

This is not the way things are done. If you want to strike about something do it in an ordered, legal way. These people are the future of our country, and they way they behaved gave me a fright for the future. They raided the canteen, steeling food and breaking down. The canteen is privately owned, it does not even have anything to do with CPUT. They broke windows, disrupted class, assaulted students, and mugged others. This is unacceptable. What excuse do they have for this? It has nothing to do with getting your point across, it is plainly barbaric.

There are ways certain things are done, and the CPUT strikes are not the right way. It is getting way out of hand. These students need to rethink what they did and realise that it is not the civilised way of doing things. They would have gained more respect if they protested in a legal and ordered way. Instead they threw a tantrum like a two-year old and lost a lot of respect from other students on the campus. I was disgusted when I saw photos on the internet of how these students were behaving. I understand why they were unhappy and wanted to strike, I am just saying there are better ways of doing things. It is the way I was brought up.

The social network addiction

The other day I went on Facebook to find that most of my working friends online, chatting away. The same thing happened when I visited Twitter. This got me thinking...is this addiction affecting our work?

I don’t think one can truly focus on your work if you are constantly chatting or updating your status or Tweeting. First of all, when chatting you will need to keep the window open, which mean you will constantly interrupt yourself with what you are doing to check if you got a knew message and to reply. Same with twitter, you will constantly read what others are tweeting and update yours. In the first place I can’t see why you have to Tweet every 10 minutes. Seriously, there are more important things to do. This will only affect your work performance and end up in you not doing the best you can do. Even worst is how rude people can be, while you are in a meeting with them, they will Tweet or be on Facebook. This is very unprofessional!

Also, It is not a clever idea to invite all your colleagues and superiors as friends on both Facebook and Twitter and whatever other social network. There are boundaries, these people are not your friends and they might just loose respect for you when they see what you do in your free time. You should separate your work environment from your home environment. A woman found this out the hard way. She updated her Facebook status, stating how boring her work is and how much she hates her job. Her boss commented, in that case, if she felt that way she did not bother coming in again.

Facebook and Twitter have indeed become an addiction. Just the other day I heard on the radio how a women electrocuted herself while she was taking a bath, just because she had to Tweet and her laptop fell into the bathtub.

People need to break away from social networks a bit. There is a time and place for everything. Focus on what you need to do at work and put everything into that. There will always be time for “Facebooking” and Tweeting when you get home or during your lunch break.

10 most unexpected consequences of being online

1. Finding out your new boyfriend is already married/in a relationship on Facebook
2. Finding love
3. Being dumped
4. Downloading a virus onto your computer
5. Entering faceNook instead of FaceBook and finding a pornsite
6. Finding out one of your friends are following your every move on facebook – STAKLER!
7. Realising how many people are online during working hours
8. Finding your dream house or job
9. Winning a million dollar in an online poker game you just happened to come across
10. Becoming a famous model/actor because someone saw your photo and saw potential

Everyday is a good day

A day is what you make of it. If you decide that your day is going to suck because of something you have to do, then most probably that is going to be the case, but if you decide that you are lucky to be alive each day and that you are going to make the most of the day, no matter what you need to do, then everyday can be a good day. Although we do not have power over what is send over our paths, we have the power to control the decisions we make.

The best part of each day is that it can be a new beginning. You can start each day with a fresh perspective over things and starting making those necessary changes. Mostly, it is those “bad days” that teach us those valuable lessons which ultimately changes our lives. So even “bad days” can actually be seen as good.

So before you start your morning with a sigh, thinking of all the things you need to do and places you need to be, start thinking positively. You hold the power in your hands of whether you are going to be happy or not. If you take the day on with a smile and with an open mind, welcoming the opportunities, then everyday will be a good day.

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot

An important lesson I have learned in life is that we need to talk less and practice more. I am kind of a dreamer and that tends to me always having a lot of plans, but only speaking about is will not get it done. I have disappointed myself numerous times with this kind of attitude, letting myself done. We need to start acting on those plans, even if it is a bit extreme. Otherwise life is going to pass us by and we are going to be disappointed when we are old and grey and realise that we did not reach our dreams and goals because we were all talk and no action. Even if you only start with a small action, it is a start to reaching self-fulfilment.

Work wise this is very important. When you are all talk, always having brilliant ideas at meetings to impress your boss and others, but you never act on those ideas or always leave the hard work to someone else, you will definitely lose the respect from your co-workers. This will end up with you not reaching your goals careers wise. People will not promote you if this is the kind of person you are and the characteristics you possess.

So rather practice a little and talk less, or event stop talking about what you want to do and just do it. This way you will reach your personal and work goals and earn respect not only from others, but from yourself as well. Then you will sit back one day when you’re old, with a huge smile on your face, knowing that you achieved everything you possibly could.

It is a poor idea to lie to yourself...

“Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.” Demosthenes

Dishonesty is one of the worst characteristics a person may possess, and we tend not to socialise with people who we know to be liars, yet we constantly lie to ourselves. Usually we do this when we know that what we are doing is wrong and we try to justify it. That way we do not feel so bad about what we did or what we are doing. As the quote above states, it is really easy to lie to ourselves. We believe something to be true if it is what we want to be true.

To me, personally, I think the worst thing one can do is lie to oneself. We need to be honest and face the things we have done or are doing. That is the only way we can stop doing it and fix what we have done already. By continuing to lie to ourselves, we will only make things worse, and hurt ourselves and probably others even more.

We are the only people that really know ourselves, so while we might be able to hide things from others and fool other people; we can never do so with ourselves. Deep down we know when we lie to ourselves and we know what we need to do to fix things. The first step to be taken is to admit that you are lying to yourself. In the end, honesty is the best policy...

No all who wander are lost

Some people choose to wander, that not meaning that they are lost. Dreamers choose to take the other road, see what is out there. It is boring to take the road everyone else takes and the one that will get you there soonest. Sometimes it is necessary to stray a bit and take the other road. Wonder around a bit, see what else is out there; open yourself up to new things and new experiences. I for one more often choose to wander around a bit before I reach a destination and although that have gotten me into trouble many times, I do not regret it. I have always managed to find the right road again, learnt a valuable lesson, been on a journey, experienced new things I never would have if I did not take the chance. At the end I never found myself to be lost, maybe for a minute but never for long. We need to wander, that is what makes the little things in life worth it and only then we find that something extra we are looking for, that thing that makes life fun and worth living.

How do you step from the top of a 100-foot pole?

My first answer to this would be – you don’t. But if you find yourself on top of a 100-foot pole and you have no choice, you have to get down; well I would say that you would definitely need help. This is impossible to do on your own and so many people think that they can do everything themselves and that leads to their downfall. We so badly want the world and the people around us to see us as strong and able to stand on our own two feet, not needing anyone, but the truth is we cannot always only rely on ourselves. Humans were not created to be alone. We need to put our trust in others and ask for help when we need it. That is the only way we will “survive” in all aspects of our lives, that being in our love-life, work environment or just in everyday life. So if we find ourselves on top of a 100-foot pole and we need to get down, we should not be afraid to call for help and take the hand that is given to us. It is ok to sometimes need someone else and put your trust in someone else.

We are what we do

We are what we do...this is so true. If only more people would realise this. Every little thing we do say something about us, and shows to the people around us who and what we are. It shows whether we have character, integrity or if we can be trusted or not etc. The saying: actions speak louder than words are so true.

Some people always say the right thing, but by observing them you realise it is all talk and no action. It is an act they have perfected over many years. Even the smallest thing we think nobody even notices can change the way they see us.

I am not saying we should put an act on just to get people to like us, but we should always keep in mind that how we act says a lot about the person we are and that our words will not change the world. Only our actions will. We should also not do things so others will like us, but do them for ourselves even if nobody notices. Only then you will find true happiness.

We are afraid of the wrong things

Fear...what is it? How can one define fear??

My biggest fear, apart from small spaces, is the unknown... I am afraid of what the future holds and that which I have no control over, but I should not think of it that way. If I am afraid of what the future holds I will never take any risks and thus lose out on a lot in life.

We should not let fear hold us back; we should not live life safe. If mistakes are made, learn from them and move on to the next challenge.

In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt: “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

If we live our lives by this quote, we will accomplish so much more. Rather than being afraid of change and the unknown we should be afraid of the chances we do not take and what we have missed out on because of our fear. Fear should not hold us back but rather we should look it in the face and challenge ourselves to overcome it. Only then will we live to our full potential.

The colour of the wind

What a weird topic...The first colour that popped into my head when I thought about this was actually blue...probably because wind is associated with coldness and the word breeze - which sounds cold. But as I thought further about this I came to the conclusion that it should be all the colours of the rainbow.

Reason why I am saying that is that the wind blows by everything, it blows over the whole world; the sea, the forest, houses, mountains, flowers, trees. Therefore it only makes sense that it takes a bit of each of those elements - thus being full of colours.

It probably also has to do with the way I am feeling at a specific moment...like the first time I heard the topic I was actually feeling a bit blue - hence the colour. At the moment I am feeling more happy and excited - thus the wind at the moment seems to be all the colours of the rainbow.

I end this blog with a song out of Pocahontas believe it or not. I think it fits in perfectly with this week’s topic.

All the colours of the wind
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But if you know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew

Chorus:
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind
Can you paint with all the colours of the wind
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest

Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brother
The heron and the otter and my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

Repeat 'Chorus'

How high does the sycamore grow
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountain
We need to paint with all the colours of the wind
All you own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colours of the wind

Vanessa Williams

Watch this space...

The other day someone mentioned that every person these days who studied Public Relations start their own PR consultancy. This probably is true, it feels like every second PR students feels that they one day will have their own consultancy.

I also would like to work for myself one day, who would not, especially when you want to start with a family. It would be nice to have more flexible hours, especially in the days we are living in. We hardly get time for ourselves anymore, when we add the hours that we sit in traffic, even less. That is probably the main reason I want to start my own thing, apart from the excitement, the money and all that other extras. But I would like to be able to cut out that morning and afternoon traffic. That does not mean that I would not work during those times, I would just do it at home and go into the office a little bit later.

The most important thing when starting a business is motivation, working hard and obviously a creative idea. I am definitely not just going to start another PR consultancy. Luckily for us, the PR course we are taking opens so many doors for us. We do not have to stick only to PR. So watch this space, this girl is going places...

If I were the boss...

If I were the boss...

- I would create a fun environment where employees are not afraid to share ideas
- I would have and encourage a sense of humour
- I would give everyone something on Valentine’s Day as well as on their Birthdays to make them feel special and show that I care
- I would not pick sides
- I would not have favourites
- I would listen to what everyone has to say and try and be available at all times if anyone needs my help
- I would allow Facebook
- I would never just shot down ideas without explaining why, or belittle someone
- I would value honesty, integrity, creativity, and employees who go that extra mile
- I would have no time for dishonesty, laziness or employees going behind my back
- I would leave my problems and bad moods at home
- I would respect my employees
- I would expect employees to respect me
- I would realise that employees are people too, and make mistakes, but will expect of them to be honest about it and try their best to fix it

On a lighter note
- I would sleep late every once in a while
- I would take a Monday off once in a while
- I would not go to work on my Birthday
- I would take lunch more than an hour and not feel guilty
- I would come in a bit later and work a bit later (my own hours)
- I would take "goodie bags" for all my friends after events
- I would take leave when I feel like it

Topics to blog about

1. South African bands suck?

2. If I won the Lotto...

3. Were do I see myself in 5years

4. Who will I vote for and why?

5. Why do so few guys study Public Relations?Does that mean women are better PR's?

Respond to Designer PR

While reading Ms Pike's blog on designer PR, I really started thinking about it. It is true, PR really is going places. When I look back, a good 10 years ago, my sister really wanted to study PR. She was told that basically it is a "glorified secretary", a term I have come to hate since the "older", clearly uninformed generation still think is what I am studying to become. But what they don't know is that although there is a lot of admin, PR is so much more and such an exciting field to be in.

With technology developing at such a rapid pace PR is becoming more and more exciting. As Ms Pike mentioned PR is all about conversation and building and maintaining relationships through communication and that Advertising is taking a back seat to PR these days. This means it is our time to shine and there are so many ways in which we can do this.

I am really excited about entering this industry next year and start making use of all the opportunities, although there is still so much that I need to learn. I mean, I did not even know about Twitter. As a PR these days you need to be aware and on top of all the new social and technological trends in order to make a success of your carreer.

South African bands suck?

" want ons is Proudly South African

luister Koos Kombuis

op 'n ou draadloos

in 'n sinkdakhuis.

Amanzi van die dorp

en Sasko Sam

leer ek die kinders bedel

in 'n traffic jam"

Melktert Kommisie



The lyrics of this Melktert Kommisie song is so purely South African that it is something each and every South African citizen can relate to on a day to day basis. Not only is it a catchy song, but it represents what we, as South Africans are and our way of life; this being the reason why I dissagree with the statement that South African bands suck.



When it comes to the South African music industry it is fair to call me Proudly South African. The reason why I am so supportive is because I really feel South African bands and music is something special. They sing about things we know of and where the rest of the world is trying to fit in, to me it feels as if South African musicians are trying to be different, to be daring, which makes them much more interesting to me. Bands such as F-off Polisiekar, although I am not a big fan of all of their lyrics, I love their sound. It is something completely different from what we hear everyday. But it is not only them, Parlotones, Freshly Ground, Melktertkommisie, Prime Circle, Arno Carstens, Louise Carver and many more also stands out.



These bands don't just stand out in South Africa, but abroad as well, which means they must be doing something right. Just look at the success Seether have made overseas. Whilst I am saying this I should also mention that I am not a fan of ALL South African music. A lot of South Africans, especially in the Afrikaans nation, tend to produce CD's just for the hell of it. It is people like these who make a mockery of the South African music industry. Just because you are able to keep a tune does not mean you are good enough or have that something special to make you a great singer. If more people would realise this, I think the South African music industry would be taken much more seriously and more people would realise that South African bands are great and does indeed not suck!