It’s the Monday after and I’m wondering to what extent the digital code has been cracked during last week’s Cracking the Digital Code conference. The idea was to “demystify the internet” especially for corporate marketeers and media and communication agencies.

One way for myself to determine what I learned is to remember at least one point from each of the speakers without having to refer back to my notes. So here goes:

1. Stafford Masie, Google: great presentation, great case studies, great motivation to use Google. What did I learn: nothing new. I was of course not the target market for this conference, and the brief to all the presenters was quite clear: keep it simple ( we have ad agencies in the room….)
2. Vincent Maher, Vodacom: as much as we’re on the so-called Web2.0 point on the internet curve, Web3.0 and Web4.0 have already been defined.
3. Ingrid Rubin, longtail: take charge of your personal reputation online.
4. Russel Hanley, 24.com: “one size does not fit all”. Here Russel referred to the way companies perceive all online advertising to be just a banner. Often all rich media and gadget ads, expanding banners and interactive on-site campaign and sponsorships are all categorised as banners and this is just NOT the case.
5. Chris Rolfe, Mobilitrix: great success can be had when combining mobile with radio campaigns.
6. Arthur Goldstuck, Worldwide Worx: although a lot is being said about mobile and although its potential is clear and in no way being doubted, right now, no digital medium is as relevant and important as the internet when it comes to sales, marketing and branding.
7. Rob Stokes, Quirk: I learned about “Google bowling”: At it’s simplest it’s using anchor text to bowl over, or sabotage another website. Google Bowling is using any off site tactics to bring down your competitors rankings.
8. Tyle Reed, Younique: Tyler went on about how advertising is dead. I can see his thinking from a youth market point of view. I cannot however agree with the statement in its entirety or in such an absolute definition.

Sure, I also presented! It was on digital strategies.

What did I learn from my own presentation? It is possible to do a 45 minute presentation and keep to 10 slides!

Well as you would have noticed by now our company is currently going through some changes and new additions to the team. For the fear of being upstaged by my colleague Claire in making a début on our blog I have decided to add my voice to the mix. So I am Sandra and had the wonderful privilege of also just recently starting, in Claire’s words, at ‘the most exciting, innovative company ever!’
Last night we had our first official monthly dinner which kicked off the social calendar for the company. Even though some members of the team were adamant that their only desire is just a good old South African steak, the fairer sex in the team decided we needed a more sophisticated abode to kick-off this momentous event. Subsequently we got to enjoy the wonderful cuisine of Saigon in Riviona, and what a treat indeed! The drink of the evening seemed to be the Strawberry Daiquiris and after sharing opinions and views about various topics starting with politics, movies right through to favorite bands we soon realized that we are all very unique in our likes and dislike. Maybe just the thing that makes us gel so well together.
Without wanting to sound psychic - I would like to predict that in the very near future this ‘tail’ will only get longer…. So watch this space!
Sandra Olivier
sandra@longtail.co.za