About Andy Hadfield...
An expert in the design of web strategies and online communities, Andy Hadfield is internationally recognised as a pioneer on the South African Internet.
Andy’s groundbreaking work has led to numerous accolades, including being identified as a future South African leader by Common Purpose International and Brightest Young Minds. He also represented South Africa as a Web Ambassador in SABC’s TV series, S’Camto Groundbreakers.
His IT career began early when he successfully co-launched getAlife, the largest national student portal at the time while still studying at the University of Cape Town (UCT) for a degree in Communications. The site revolutionised the way corporate South Africa interacted with youth brands and helped companies understand and unlock the potential of the internet as a viable and measurable media channel. In fact, some might say it was the first social network to hit South Africa.
He then spent 4 years as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for The Virtual Works, where his unique approach to strategic development is evident in the company’s systems, such as the pioneering niche social networking site, DesignMind, and the Web 2.0 employee engagement solution developed for Deloitte Southern Africa.
He joined FNB in 2008 to drive digital adoption in the Personal Banking segment. He has to date worked on projects such as the FNB Premier Banking FaceBook presence, SA's first corporate crowdsourcing initiative with IdeaBounty, the redesign of FNB.co.za and the Amazon-style online sales system that delivers banking products to you from the comfort of your couch (in under 10 minutes).
He can be found on almost every digital community, but catch his best musings on his Blog, Twitter or his consulting company, One Big Widget.
Andy’s groundbreaking work has led to numerous accolades, including being identified as a future South African leader by Common Purpose International and Brightest Young Minds. He also represented South Africa as a Web Ambassador in SABC’s TV series, S’Camto Groundbreakers.
His IT career began early when he successfully co-launched getAlife, the largest national student portal at the time while still studying at the University of Cape Town (UCT) for a degree in Communications. The site revolutionised the way corporate South Africa interacted with youth brands and helped companies understand and unlock the potential of the internet as a viable and measurable media channel. In fact, some might say it was the first social network to hit South Africa.
He then spent 4 years as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for The Virtual Works, where his unique approach to strategic development is evident in the company’s systems, such as the pioneering niche social networking site, DesignMind, and the Web 2.0 employee engagement solution developed for Deloitte Southern Africa.
He joined FNB in 2008 to drive digital adoption in the Personal Banking segment. He has to date worked on projects such as the FNB Premier Banking FaceBook presence, SA's first corporate crowdsourcing initiative with IdeaBounty, the redesign of FNB.co.za and the Amazon-style online sales system that delivers banking products to you from the comfort of your couch (in under 10 minutes).
He can be found on almost every digital community, but catch his best musings on his Blog, Twitter or his consulting company, One Big Widget.
hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteRead your blog many times and you talk about some pressing issues.
One I think that can be mentioned is how we as individuals can make an impact on South Africa and change pre conceived ideas?
Let me know what you think and please feel free to mail me
jade@naturalgravity.co.za
Thanks Jade... You're right, it's ALL about what individuals can do. Hit us with your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHi Andy
ReplyDeleteThought you might enjoy this blog post http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/
Corporate social media case studies..
Cheers,
Louis
Mr. Hadfield- I am working on putting together some research on how democracy activists are using the web/blogs/text messaging/web enabled cell phones to organize and challenge entrenched political structures.
ReplyDeleteI saw your interview about For Good at http://www.techleader.co.za/andyhadfield/2008/06/24/interview-forgood-a-social-movement-network-that-transcends-the-internet/
and was wondering if you had any other links to groups like them?
Thank you for your time.
Daryl Northrop
Washington DC USA
daryl.northrop@gmail.com
@Springleap - Dead on.
ReplyDelete@Andy Hadfield - TFF and keep pinging us with these blog posts, loving your work.
It's great to see how SA is tackling Business 2.0.
@HeadSpace Glad you enjoy - thanks... Subscribe to the RSS/Email or check back - I update fairly often...
ReplyDeleteAndy, our company is based in South Africa and is going global this coming year, having 3 intl companies and a number of agents outside SA, we have been reading articles and magazines from US and how jacked they are with SEO, social media, blogs, etc., ( job titles such as social media engineer" Internet Marketing engineer " the SA recruitment people laughed at us ! we are looking to hire our own "in-house IT and Internet Engineer to manage our websites, blogs, and press releases, and profile listings (links), but are really battling to find any real knowledge or talent in this area (most have been to the extent of google ad words, and even then they got it wrong).. we also work on a networked Mac server. If I do not find someone locally by Jan 5th... our CEO is hiring a co from NY... any ideas.... know anyone .. must be a mac person... know how to write.. and really really understand the google algorithms, analytics, web design relevance, etc. would greatly appreciate any ideas or referrals. Sharon
ReplyDelete@Sharon I'll pop you an email to chat further...
ReplyDelete