This past week I went to the Apartheid Museum. This was my second trip and certainly one that I would recommend to EVERY South African. It has a very vivid, balanced view of the past 55 years in context of a total history of South Africa . Most of this history was not in our textbooks at school. In our presentation on Mind The Gap we state that our worldview is shaped in the first ten years of life. We don’t often get the chance to go and see visually what that was like later in life like you can here……
Continue reading ‘A Walk Down Memory lane……. that I don’t recall’
I had a conversation last night with my Irish brother in law who lives in the USA. We were chatting about the fact that my daughter will be moving to Thailand after her marriage here in SA next month. My son will be moving to London in January. His question was: Do I feel like I am experiencing empty nest syndrome or as his Irish mother calls it , EMPTY COUNTRY SYNDROME.
His Mom has seven children. Not one lives in Ireland. They are in fact on every continent spread all over the world and she spends her life travelling, greeting and waving goodbye to those who visit her. We tend to think that it is only South African parents that are expereincing this syndrome. Global travel and technology is making it so easy to move around. How will families of the future cope and what will happen to parents who have no children close by ? Will cousins get to know one another when they live all over the planet. I know that my sister and I make the effort due to distance. Will we try harder due to logistical challenges. Who will replace this group in our lives? Will friends become the new families of the future?
Maybe the new slogan for Baby Boomer parents will be : HAVE CHILDREN - WILL TRAVEL !!!!!!!!!!!
I attended a conference this past week. I had time to observe the action around me. The conference was aimed mainly at the male audience as it was a national petroleum conference.Many of the products were being marketed in a similar manner. Given away by girls in skimpy outfits. Was there a lot of attention and interest in the product? Well I did observe much attention? Will you pick up that same product when you are in store?……. Is this kind of marketing still relevant for the future?……
Continue reading ‘What do CHEWING GUM and ENGINE OIL have in common?’
Yesterday I flew down to Cape Town. I fly on a variety of airlines. It depends on time and price. These are my variables and I do all my own bookings online.
The delight about yesterday’s trip was the attitude and friendly manner of the team. We are all tired of the same sick jokes on some airlines and would rather they kept quiet or found some new lines.!!
The first thing that happened was the captain mentioned that the crew had heard about a birthday of one of the passengers and wished this person by name from us all.
The little girl sitting next to me was delighted and clapped. I noticed that all the children were given a great bag of goodies as they walked on board.
About 90 minues into the flight the captain asked us to guess the combined age of the crew and the winner would sit in the cockpit for the landing.
This was all great relationship building. We were also asked to fill in a survey to improve our future trips with this airline.
Well Done to the BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS on this crew. Combined age of all 6 members …. 155 .. average……25.83
Well done to 1 Time. Even though we left Johannesburg late you made up for it by building great relationships.
I was out at a meeting yesterday and one of my collegues remarked that I am SUCH a Baby Boomer due to the number of cards in my wallet.
Is this a baby boomer tendancy or not? I think my 25 year old son has more credit cards than I will ever own?
Most of the cards are related to cheaper movies, points at Clicks, Fanatics card and MySchool card .
What will the consumer carry in the future? Will a few points towards a flight that you can never book win over helping an underprivileged school gain some money in their bank account?
I believe Emotional Loyalty will be the main reason I pull out a card. This makes me feel good while I am spending.
It shows I care.
What do you think?
This morning Barrie and I had a coffee meeting. As Director of Resources at TomorrowToday I had to admit to him that I had never ordered a book on line…… Yet I am an avid book buyer from the stores in my area. 
He challenged me to come home and place an order with Amazon. Ok Barrie - Two hours later the deed is done. Why had I not done this before??? Especially in my role as Head of Resources. I had to admit that the Baby Boomer in me was in the way. If this is so for me, how do we teach all those Baby Boomer book buyers out there to convert to on line trading?
A second incident around this happened last week with my ten year old niece who calmly told myself and her Gran that she had ordered ten books from Amazon that day and was negotiating with her Dad as to who was going to carry this investment. Why am I scared, she is confident and my mother does not even contemplate this channel? This is a great marketing challenge for the On Line trader.
The Rainbow Nation
Most of us who are resident in South Africa are proud of the fact that we live in the Rainbow Nation. To the world we are a ‚miracle nation‛ because we went through simultaneous social, political and economic change, and surprisingly came out the better for it on the other side! But how many South Africans have actually embraced the idea of the Rainbow Nation, and to what extent do they believe in the concept? I believe that the Rainbow Nation is a surface concept for most South Africans who, when faced with a challenge, revert to the old paradigms that formed the basis of the pre-Mandela South Africa. The challenge our nation is facing is for each person to reflect a deep understanding and love for all people. How can the leaders of our nation instil this change?
Triple Bottom Line reporting has been introduced with Corporate Governance for all public companies in South Africa. The business world now needs to report on its financial health as well as the contribution it is making towards social change in an effort to uplift the disadvantaged and protect the environment. The JSE has also introduced the CSI index as a measure of how we are performing in this regard. But how are individuals faring when it comes to social change?
Continue reading ‘Triple Bottom Line in the Rainbow Nation’
For me, life has always been about challenge, passion, growth and making a difference. Working each day without experiencing these things would start to cause a slow death inside. I choose to try and live my life to the fullest, to push the limits of my potential. This means that I can’t rest too long in the comfort zone of life. I find that when the fear of staying is greater than the fear of changing, it is time to move on. This is what drove me � a ‘baby boomer’, single mom on the wrong side of 45 � to give up the comfort of a stable work environment to enter the challenging virtual world.
I undertook this challenge at the beginning of 2003 and moved from the work force as a director and co-owner of a business to the world of consulting. I was searching for opportunities where I could use my skills, have an impact, test my current knowledge and grow in new areas. The early part of my first year out of the office was driven by constant fluctuations between a fear of the unknown and the adrenalin of fresh prospects The South African Government and banking platform are not user-friendly to the small business owner. There is an enormous amount of red tape, forms to fill in and taxes to pay. One has to establish new ratings and credibility even if the same bank has dealt with you in your personal capacity for the past twenty years. At many points along this road I was tempted to give up. In the end, these setbacks only encouraged me to push beyond bureaucracy and make a go of it.
Continue reading ‘Baby Boomer in a Virtual World’
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