June 27dinner Cape Town Report

[Dave Duarte]

27dinner is a regular fixture for the online and mobile media community in South Africa. On the 27th of each month we come together, drink, eat, share ideas, network, and get inspired. The people in attendance are some of the most innovative and influential people in the South African web and mobile media and marketing industries.

On Saturday night the 27dinner was held at Origin Coffee in De Waterkant. The Origin guys very kindly stayed open way beyond their normal hours, and offered us unlimited coffee, beer and hot-dogs.

We had two formal presentations, and a couple of open-mic sessions.

The first presentation was by Alistair Fairweather, head of Social Media at 20fourLabs, the innovation division of 24.com. Alistair gave us an insight into what the newly formed unit has been up to and what they expect to be doing in their next 100 days. It was a fascinating insight into the thinking and strategic direction of the team whose mandate is to "think big and think fast" and "create innovative products within the mobile and social media spheres" for the largest online publishing group in the country. So far, it seems that their Mobile Applications seem to be their biggest hits - especially the 24.com iPhone application and their mobile dating platform, Flirtaroo, which makes the most of the mobile medium by including location-based functions. I was also impressed with their idea to allow users on 24.com to own their comments and interactions online through a 24.com user's social network that will also allow them to record their interactions on non-24.com sites (such as blogs) - kind of like a portable ID. The original presentation by Matt Buckland is online here (btw, the zooming presentation was made using Prezi - "the zooming presentation editor")

Next up we had Chris Rolfe and Andrew Cardoza showcasing Mobilitrix. They showed, in a live demo, how easy it is to set up a USSD mobile campaign using their system. USSD is what tens of millions of people in SA use every-day to send please-call-me messages (e.g. *140*cellnumber#). It's cheaper and faster than SMS, and can be used for feedback, surveys and more. It has enormous reach due to it's very low cost and general compatibility with GSM phones.

I think most of the people in attendance were blown away by how easy it can be to set up a mobile campaign using Mobilitrix. I've been a fan and user for a while now, and I'd like to see this company growing from strength to strength as they make mobile marketing more accessible for many. Andrew and Chris keep a mobile marketing blog called "Our Mobile Revolution".

The open-mic talks raised two excellent initiatives that I'd like to encourage everyone reading this to support:

First up, Allan Kent from Saatchi & Saatchi announced the "Let them into your pants" campaign that they're running. Basically, please go and drop off your old jeans (or jeans that no longer fit you or suit you) at Saatchi's offices in Greenpoint, and they'll be distributing them to homeless and needy people in Cape Town. Just ping @allankent before you go, or ask for him at Saatchi reception. They've got a super-cool office - well worth a visit (even at the cost of a new pair of jeans!)

Then Joe Botha, a prominent geek businessman and activist, announced the Open Spectrum alliance. Joe pointed out that the spectrum that carries data such as TV, Radio, Wi-Fi and more is a public resource, and him and the chaps at Shuttleworth Foundation are engaging with key people in government to open it up (it's currently highly restricted and regulated). This will create new opportunities for many small, medium and even large businesses in SA. Go checkout the Open Spectrum alliance site, get involved if you can, or join the Facebook group to show solidarity.

You can see follow comments about the event on Twitter here.

Thanks to the sponsors for helping make this event a success: Stereotype Records, Stormhoek Wine, Glaceau Vitamin Water, Origin Coffee, and Springleap.

Keep a lookout on Huddlemind.net, Twitter or the 27dinner site for the announcement of the next event - at an all-new venue and some cool new features and sponsors.