Andy Hadfield

Here's a copy of my latest speaking gig, this time, a dual effort with friend and reputational nemesis Craig Rodney ( Emerging Media ). Had a bunch of fun preparing and presenting this at the Heavy Chefs session in Johannesburg last night . ORM, or whatever the hell it means, is an extremely topical issue - with a lot of surrounding mystery. Enjoy the presso, get hold of me if you'd like to hear it live - and we've posted a quick summary below for reference. Online Reputation Management - 10 considerations for business View more presentations from Andy Hadfield . The presentation covers 10 basic considerations for your Online Reputation strategy, and your Online Reputation Management strategy (chat to me if that sounds interesting). Here they are, along with a cracker quote from the brains at Emerging Media. Oh, and always remember - there's an easy way to succeed in the "social conversation space" -  Don't be a wanker ! Always listen (an ORM sy

It absolutely astonished me, when in a room of 10 people, all interested in technology, I put up this funny picture... ... and only THREE people "got it". THREE PEOPLE!? I am becoming an old geek? Star Wars is a film classic, a must see and heralded an era of SciFi and technology-dreamers that not many modern films can lay claim to. The almost-kissing-your-sister scene. Yuk, but good melodrama. I'm getting old. And that worries me.

Driving social media adoption in business requires patience and an ability to explain hippy digital concepts in plain English. But mostly, it means making social tools and new media initiatives  practical in the world of that business. It's the touch-and-feel that is so absent from our digital generation. A great way to introduce business to the volume, real time nature and power of social conversation is by setting up a live Twitter stream in the office. Filter it by a couple of keywords to make sure it's relevant, and let it run. Being able to "see" something happen is a lot more powerful than being told it happens. The guys at FNB Premier Banking took this one step further. Scrolling around their office? A Twitterfall implementation where the Big 4 Banks are even colour labelled appropriately. Nice stuff. Twitterfall is an awesome tool, and you'll see it start popping up at conferences all over the place, embracing the "back channel" that eve

Disclosure: Tim Britz, the Brand Manager at Clarins who kindly gave me this interview is a personal friend, and is probably on Foursquare because of my incessant hounding. I have no current commercial ties to Clarins South Africa. Congrats on getting a Foursquare pilot going. You're probably about the 5th company in SA to reach out to this location based community (which has to have at least 100 people!) How does it feel? Feels great! Especially in a market like ours, prestige cosmetics, where the marketing channels are very traditional and, dare I say, stale (TV, print, outdoor) it is refreshing to be able to ‘dabble’ in some of the new media. Brands like Clarins are very strongly governed by international head office rules and guidelines when it comes to marketing and advertising (hence no SA Facebook page or Twitter account – yet – I’m working on it) I kid! So, what's your role at Clarins? I look after the Clarins Fragrance Group brands (Thierry Mugler, Azzaro, P

This is a copy of a new presentation/talk of mine. The inaugural performance was a GIBS a couple of weeks ago. It's very much tailored towards beginners - and focuses on free cloud tools that can actually make a difference in business. From playing around with FaceBook demographics, to investigating keyword search volume (who's actually searching for what in which area) and playing around with Google Docs - if you're mystified by the "value" in all these cloud computing free web apps, give this one a skip. As usual, I'm available to give these presentations, just click through to my digital consulting company and get in touch! Cool Tools for the Cloud Generation View more presentations from Andy Hadfield . Enjoy!

Any good blog is a mix of expertise, opinion and a little bit of personal stuff. In about 4 weeks time, life as I know it will change forever. Or I'll totally just roll with the punches. That's my melodramatic way of announcing the upcoming sproglet. SA's legspin saviour. Our flyhalf solution once Steyn goes. And the next Bezos. Little critter has a lot to live up to. Jeanette Verster has taken some great shots of the pre-pop stage. Click through for more . Me and my beautiful wife: Such awesome urban city slicker pics. Newtown is a kick ass photo venue - highly recommended. Wish me luck!

This had me in stitches. I might actually have LMAO (laughed my ass off). But fear not, the pendulum will swing and when people find out that all it takes to succeed in social media is a bit of authenticity and some big balls - the web dev guys might get their comeuppance! Just remember, we can't FORGET those passwords. Tough job this. Thanks Tim Britz for this one...