sigh

It’s over…
I’m tired,
satisfied,
and sad to leave.

The Design Indaba Expo has been and gone. Read about it here and here and hear, follow the blog, or watch a video or two too.

Was it worth it? Yeah, I’d say. Once I got over the crazy hours, the stress on the floor and being sworn at by irate exhibitors, it was a good experience. I’ve realized that events management isn’t just about making flowers look good on tables, there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes. The skills needed range from people skills, organizing, conflict resolution, teamwork, creativity etc. It’s all there. Some of the things on our checklists even included 24hr armed security for the AngloGold and AngloPlat stands, as well as co-ordinating interviews for Top Billing and Nolene and her 3Talk crew. As I said, a lot going on!

The Indaba even made it onto dezeen.com here, here and here. Not surprising considering the dezeen founder is a speaker at the Indaba. My "Most Beautiful Object in SA" stand, was a hit, with votes coming from the floor, as well as from online. The entries are all here, and the winner is...

I also enjoyed having 4 days to roam around the floor, interact with the exhibitors and watch some of the fashion shows. I was inspired by the creativity and visions of the people there, especially young folks my age who had the guts to put their designs into production. Grandt Mason is one example with his neat shoes. There were many others. I think its about time I re-look at some of the sketched of lights and chairs I’ve done in my more creative moments, and begin to make them!

So, that’s about it. Would write more about the Expo, but today’s my last day here at Interactive Africa, and I need to do some reconciling of invoices and expenses etc to hand over. Unfortunately the office is rather empty – most of the folks are still busy with the Design Indaba Conference – but I’ll say goodbye to whoever I can find here.

As for me…
I have a weekend to prepare for my next chapter:
CPE.

From the front line..

This is just a quick note from the Ops room here at the CTICC where hall 1b, 2 and 3 are being transformed into a creative's dream. Today and tomorrow are build up days for the 260plus exhibitors and their stands. It's amazing to watch a vast empty hall grow into a maze of paths and booths. There are cherry-pickers (cool tall crane machines) with people hanging banners from the ceiling (18m up), carpenters galore building stands, electricians putting up plasma screens... all very exciting for a handyman wannabe like me. And... all this work to create SA's premier design expo - opening in two days time. Already looking interesting are the stands for Carrol Boyes, Mini Cooper and Men's Health Lifestyle Magazine. I'm sure there are many more coming. A month ago i didn't think we would do all the prep to actually get here, but here we are - on site, watching it all come together. Pretty cool, aint it?

design a new economy

An apt punt for the Design Indaba Expo on budget speech day. If you are in CT come along. Heck, i may even be able to get you in for free via our organisers office ;)

I've been managing "The Most Beautiful Object" competition. There are 10 really creative and beautiful objects entered. The winner is by public vote, so come and see the entrants and vote (you could win lots of Woolies vouchers).

Design Indaba’s Most Beautiful Object in South Africa (MBOISA) asks our diverse country: “What is beauty?” While some may consider it an aspect of taste and others know it on sight, beauty becomes far more profound than a visual sensation when design characteristics such as social significance, economic impact, aesthetic value, humanist intuitions, lifestyle functioning and sustainability are thrown into the mix.

What will the country’s consensus be? Will luxury, making life easier, basic human needs, entertainment or even sheer folly be triumphant in the ultimate beauty contest?

Budget time!

Tomorrow the SA finance minister (lets call him "Trev") is giving his budget speech outlining the midterm budget and econimic forecasts for the next three years. Many people will be listening to see what impact the allocations and changes will have on their bond repayments and investments. Nothing wrong with that. However, for the last few years, there has been another budget speech - the People Budget Campaign. The PBC is a coalition of the SACC, COSATU and SANGOCO (SA NGO coalition). These three groups, representing a huge swath of the SA working population, get together throughout the year and work on the PBC. I encountered some of this work while at the SACC, and found it most worthwhile. Trev and his economic gurus look at the national budget from the point of view of the government and big business, while the PBC looks at it from the point of view of the people on the street. Good idea! They were the folks who created and have been spearheading the Basic Income Grant movement here in SA, and continually call for a fiscal policy that takes job creation and welfare seriously. Our current macro economic policy, along the lines of the Washington consensus, grows the economy but does nothing for the unemployment crisis that SA faces.
(See all the new finance language I learnt at the SACC ;). See their 2007 input here)

Anyways, the People’s Budget Campaign said their thing today, in anticipation of Trev’s talk tomorrow, and they made some headlines. Hooray for the PBC. Now to hear what Trev says. He has made some mention of ‘greening the budget’ and must have a word to say on the Eskom power issue. We shall see. Who will be happier - international investors and big business, or local South Africans?

happy valentines!

Jules and I are going to miss the Valentines day rush and go for dinner and a show tonight rather than tomorrow. Apparently it gets rather hectic here in CT. V-day seems a big thing.
Our early bird plans? Dinner = Carlyle's on Derry - a site of one of our first 'dates'; and Show = Swan Lake on ice at the Artscape. I've never seen a ballet on an ice rink, so it should be good. Gotta go!

Lookin' good for Jesus

This story - Jesus' cosmetic row in Singapore - got me chuckling. How about a "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm or a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream? We all use Jesus for marketing (think church capital projects, Christmas and Easter), but for some reason the local Roman Catholic Christians thought this was taking it too far. What a crazy world we live in! Kudos to Blue Q who thought up these products, they even got the blonde, blue eyed Jesus spot on!

on my way to work today...

...i saw a zebra!

and i thought, "in what other country can you drive to work with a big city and harbour on your right, and a zebra grazing placidly at the foot of a mountain on your left?"
tell me. Where else in the world?

PS. I'm not sure if 'placid' works with zebras, but it sounds cool. Maybe if the zebra knew it was in a reserve it wouldn't be so placid.

PPS. This spectacle is not just true for Cape Town. If works in Pretoria too (less one harbour). When driving to high school and varsity, just as you get off the N1 at Eufees there is a hill in front of you that is part of a reserve. I think it's linked to the Great Stone Toaster on the Hill (Voortrekker Monument) site. If you are lucky you can also see zebras and blesbuck grazing (placidly?) on the hill.

Monday's links: designing love

Keeping in line with my new exposure to the design world via Design Indaba (just got back from a briefing at the CTICC), as well as Thursday’s Valentines day spending spree, here are today’s links:

1. Bad fonts, style over content, margins too wide? Watch out bloggers and designers, the design police may be after you with their bright red signs telling to get your game together. Design Police: "Bringing bad design to justice".

2. Tired of the sentimental, false Valentine’s poetry? Post Secret's Sunday Secrets this week are all about love. As always, the secrets are bare honesty that will make you gasp, sigh and sometimes smile. Post Secret is a great site if you haven’t seen it before. People send in anonymous secrets in on homemade postcards.

3. I’ve been stressing about transport here in CT, wondering if I should get a fixie bicycle, splash out on a scooter, or just stay with public transport. My current wheels look nice, but aren’t that practical. If dreams came true, THIS is my dream 2 wheel transport. Beautiful, aint it? Pity they don't deliver in SA.

4. Lastly, how could i forget Ultimate - Ultimate Frisbee made no.2 on Men's Health's Cool summer sports list. Check it out. No.1 (Parkour) is a sport i've also dreamed of taking up.

Enjoy. It's back to work for me.

new job

Hello. This is me. I’ve been a bit quiet because… I’m at a new job! I finished up my contract with the SACC in style last week – completing a 40 page narrative report on the Child Rights Symposium that we held in last year. I’m hoping the report will be put up on the SACC website soon, as it is a great resource document. This month sees me helping out a friend with the Design Indaba Expo here in CT, before I move on to CPE studies at Groote Schuur Hospital in March. The Design Indaba is a really high profile conference and exhibition, and I’m excited about this insight into the SA design scene. So, things will get manic here this month, I’ll see if and when I’m able to put some thoughts up here to share with you. I’ll also look for links to some of the inspiring art and design that emerges from this Expo.

Startling mantra

Ed is a friend of mine who last year gave up his post as a school principal and moved to Kenya to serve the poor in a more tangible way. He’s just updated his blog with an interesting reflection on how he has changed being there, as well as thoughts on the tribal conflict that is still gripping the country. He also quoted and reflected on some lines that Richard Rohr (his friend) uses in his book Adam’s Return. These apparently are lessons every young man must learn during initiation. I found them most startling and alternative as far as mantras go. So, meditate on this happy thoughts for a while:

YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT.
YOUR LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU.
YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL.
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.

I’m sure Richard has some meaningful explanation for them, but they seem helpful in their ‘startling-ness’ just as they are.