Editor's column

[No Comment] Au revoir, not goodbye - 1 Dec 2008
[Louise Marsland] One of the most blessed things about having a career in this industry is the people you work with. Then there is the continuous learning and the huge fun it can be. read more

[No Comment] There's light at end of recession tunnel - 24 Nov 2008
[Louise Marsland] A week or so ago at Tony Koenderman's Brainstorm seminar, brand strategist Andy Rice cautioned brands about what to do during a recession. This past week, newspapers carried more reports that mentioned that word: recession. read more

[No Comment] Behaving with 'digital dignity' - 17 Nov 2008
[Louise Marsland] Those of you who have read George Orwell's iconic masterpiece 1984, will be familiar with the rewriting of news that the main protagonist does under the watchful eye of the all seeing, manipulating ‘Big Brother'. This past week was an unusually news rich week and I want to commend one thought leader who came in for a lot of flack for sticking his neck out there when highlighting some issues in the industry. read more (1 Comment)

[No Comment] Yes, we can! - 10 Nov 2008
[Louise Marsland] Local politicians and Government communicators should take note of the way the historic American election was fought by President-elect Barack Obama, especially the part that relied on the Internet, mobile phones and social media sites to encourage the youth, in particular, to vote. And it clearly worked. read more (1 Comment)

[No Comment] Keep your sense of humour online - 3 Nov 2008
[Louise Marsland] Poor chairperson Nhlanhla Nene - he of the faulty chair and impaired dignity... and global fame. read more

[No Comment] What’s your profile online - 27 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] When I was in the United States in July 2008 at the American Society for Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) annual conference, a journalism professor said in his presentation that when interviewing candidates for its prestigious journalism course, it was considered an advantage if students had a personal URL (their own name domain), and a presence on the Internet already - whether it was through blogs, their own sites, networking sites and so on. One of the reasons for this, obviously, was that the students were entering a whole new world of communications, where technology and the internet underpins everything, and a certain ‘benchmark of knowledge' need to be assumed upfront. read more

[No Comment] Lessons of Luke - 20 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] Let's call it the first ‘Lesson of Luke'... colloquially known as ‘Puke Watson' these days. read more (2 Comments)

[No Comment] Awards season - 13 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] It's awards season in the magazine publishing industry, with the Magazine Publishers' Association of SA (MPASA) Pica Awards, for magazine publishing and editorial excellence, having being judged over the past month. The awards ceremony will be in Cape Town this year, 21 November 2008. read more

[No Comment] Cheering for 2010 - 6 Oct 2008
[Louise Marsland] The bittersweet aspect of one's job as both news editor, editor and journalist on one of the country's largest daily news service providers, is that one gets a ton of mail - thousands of emails a week. The upside is that you also get a pretty good overview of what is happening in your industry because you get to see pretty much everything, from press releases, events, comments, blogs, breaking news, thought leadership - and talk to some of the best people out there on a regular basis. read more (1 Comment)

[No Comment] Get connected - 29 Sep 2008
[Louise Marsland] Interesting to see the surge in activity on online news sites over the past week as people scrambled for news on what was unfolding on our political canvas. Local events overshadowed the global financial meltdown temporarily, but the web remains the first port of call for instant info. read more

[No Comment] Non-stop news - 22 Sep 2008
[Louise Marsland] Our 24-hour news channel, etv's eNews, came of age this weekend with its non-stop news coverage on the Presidential drama - a panacea for news junkies like myself who tend to channel surf for all news angles. Well done! Also worth mentioning was the scrolling instant SMS reaction from viewers which SABC carried right after President Thabo Mbeki's address to the nation at which he announced his resignation. read more (1 Comment)

[No Comment] What journos want - 25 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] I'm always impressed by great customer service, pathetically so, sometimes it seems, probably because we're not a very service-oriented culture at the best of times and customer service often tends to be a privilege, not a given! And I can say that with some authority, having travelled overseas a fair bit and experienced some of the best customer service in the world. So when a client actually proactively tries to address a media complaint by finding out what it is that we actually need to make our lives easier as journalists reporting from the multitude of events we attend on a monthly basis, I'm seriously impressed. read more

[No Comment] The importance of transferring knowledge and skills - 18 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] I was discussing knowledge management and capacity building in organisations the other day with colleagues in the industry. I've always felt that those of us who have racked up a couple of decades of work experience in our chosen fields should ‘give back' in transferring knowledge and skills to build capacity in organisations/industry. read more

[No Comment] Key marketers align with CMO - 11 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] The inaugural advisory board meeting of the global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council Africa will take place in Johannesburg tomorrow, bringing leading South African marketers together from most of the major banks, telecommunications providers and other key marketing companies together in one forum. Included are Happy Ntshingila (Absa); Santie Botha (MTN), Connie de Lange (DiData), Noah Greenhill (JSE), Sarah-Anne Orphanides (Standard Bank), Enzo Scarcella (Vodacom), Paul Appleton (Nando's) and Bizcommunity.com MD Robin Parker. read more

[No Comment] Biz gets some ‘mojo’ - 4 Aug 2008
[Louise Marsland] Having just returned from the United States and interacted with some of the best B2B media brands in the world, I can honestly say that our digital B2B media brands are up there with the best globally: innovative, engaging with consumers and early adopters of mobile media platforms. So I'm particularly proud to announce what we think is a world first for a B2B media brand: a partnership with Nokia to supply our Bizcommunity.com editorial team with N82 mobile phones to truly enable mobile journalism (‘mojos') across our portals, including images and video. read more

Louise Marsland

Louise Marsland is editorial director of Bizcommunity.com and editor of the Media, Marketing and Advertising Portal - Africa’s leading provider of daily media, marketing, and advertising news and information. She is also the South African joint-coordinator and founder of the Trade, Association, Business Publication International (TABPI) Editor’s Chapter. She has recently been appointed to head up the Magazine Publishers’ Association of South Africa (MPASA) Business-to-business Media Sub-committee.

A journalist with 21 years’ experience, Marsland started in daily newspapers in South Africa in the mid-1980s and has specialised in media strategy and B2B and online media in the last decade, editing and launching publications in the main in the marketing and FMCG retail market, both print and online, most notably: The Citizen (municipal reporter); The Star (municipal & local government reporter); Saturday Star (features & local government); Progressive Retailing (Editor); Retailing Africa (managing editor); Executive Business Brief (editor); Decorex Cape (editor & publisher); FMCG Files ezine (editor); Communicate ezine (Editor); and Marketing Mix (editor & business manager), including the Marketer's Guide to Africa, and the annual Media Owners' Marketing Awards (MOMA).

She recently researched the sustainability of the B2B media sector for the completion of her Masters in Commerce degree: Strategy & Organisational Dynamics, through the Leadership Centre of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently researching a book in her field and develops training programmes in the B2B media sector; and marketing communications arena in knowledge management from a media perspective. She is a sought-after speaker in her industry and in July 2008 will address the American Society of Business Publications Editors (ASBPE) at its annual conference in the US.

Louise, who has also freelanced for various industry and business media in the marketing, media, communications, advertising and FMCG space, and run media strategy through her own business, got to know the Bizcommunity.com team in 2003 when she partnered with them to successfully launch Communicate, the first electronic newsletter for communications professionals. She took over as editor of Bizcommunity.com in May 2004, taking South Africa's best loved and only daily news and information portal for the creative industries, to new heights. She continues to involve herself in various industry initiatives and forums.

Louise is driven by innovation and new challenges and is passionate about developing entrepreneurial spirit in others. Editorial excellence is an absolute and she feels very strongly about empowering and growing business, particularly in her sector, to meet Government's economic and empowerment objectives. She believes the business-to-business media sector is best poised to contribute in this regard. Contact her on: editor@bizcommunity.com.

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