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The Fabrik team were in attendance at the Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA) Broadcasting Convention & Annual General Meeting (AGM) from 29 – 31 October at Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Zambia. The largest annual gathering of media owners, managers and professionals in Southern Africa, the annual Convention aims to enable industry decision-makers and executives review innovations and find solutions to strategic and operational issues within the context of the constant evolutionary changes of the digital ecosystem. With the theme “Connecting People With Vibrant, Converged Broadcast Media”, this flagship gathering is an excellent opportunity for TV, radio, film, music, telecoms and advertising professional to activate digitisation tools to connect the peoples of Southern Africa sustainably. Information courtesy Independent Broadcasting Authority. Zambian President urges SADC to harness acting talent among young people to revamp economies. How do we generate revenue from internet radio and television which are extremely viable, yet not regulated, asks President Edgar Lungu. The Mast – October 30 2019

This morning our team had the honour of speaking at the Durban Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Coffee Connection, held at the Standard Bank offices in Kingsmead, Durban. The regular Coffee Connection, a vital initiative that empowers conversations around #DurbanMustRise sentiments, was made possible by sponsors Standard Bank Corporate & Investment Banking, CCI South Africa and Vodacom Business. Our Mindshift talk delivered that morning was well-received by a KwaZulu-Natal based audience ranging from corporate entities to emerging small-to-medium businesses, all leaders in their fields.

Create a ‘Distribution Group’  to schedule and send updates across either multiple Twitter accounts or Facebook pages simultaneously. Tired of copy/pasting the same message to the many social media pages you administer? Smashboard has always been a great tool to view & respond to incoming messages from your app, Facebook page/s and Twitter mentions, and to post or schedule your social content. Super-users of Smashboard often manage multiple social media accounts simultaneously and have the need to post the same message on many Facebook pages, or send out the same tweet via many Twitter accounts. In this update, you now have the ability to create a ‘Distribution Group’  to schedule and send updates to all your Twitter or Facebook pages simultaneously, saving you precious copy/paste time. Here’s how it works: Step 1: Link your Twitter and/or Facebook Accounts First make sure all the social accounts you’d like to include in the Distribution Group are added as Providers within Smashboard. If you haven’t done so already, here’s how: a) Select ‘Provider Manager’ from the menu at the top-right. You should see the pop-up window that looks like this: b) Link each Facebook or Twitter account by entering the name of the account, and clicking the ‘+’ button. You will then be prompted to log in to that account to complete the process (make sure you have access or Admin privileges to the account first). Step 2: Create a Distribution Group Once you’ve added all the social accounts you’d like to include in the Distribution Group, you’re ready to create your first one! a) Switch to the ‘Distribution Group’ tab, as indicated below. b) Enter the name you’d like to use to identify the Distribution Group. c) Choose which provider you would like to use (either Facebook or Twitter), and then insert the names of each linked provider in the box that titled ‘Twitter Providers’ or ‘Facebook Providers’. d) Then click ‘Create Distribution Group’. Step 3: Schedule or post your Social Content Now that you’ve set up your Distribution Group, you’re ready to post or schedule an update, which will be shared across all the accounts you’ve added. a) Select ‘Compose Message’ from the menu at the top-right, and choose the social media type you’d like to use (Facebook or Twitter). Once you’ve done so, you should see the screen below: b) Choose your desired Distribution Group, type your message, upload attachments, and post or schedule!

Originally posted on iol Business Report. DURBAN – The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its 163rd Annual Gala Dinner on the 21st of August 2019 where the chamber inaugurated a new President. Present at the event were members of the KwaZulu-Natal business community, entrepreneurs, members of local government, the MEC of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube as well as former Presidents of the Durban Chamber. The theme for the night was “From Durban, with love” and showcased Durban’s energy and vibrancy as a significant economic hub on the rise in line with the City’s vision to be the most caring and liveable city in Africa. Nigel Ward, President of the Durban Chamber Commerce and Industry said that it is a big honour and he is humbled  by the opportunity to be inaugurated as the new President. He also thanked his predecessor for his contribution. “The economic and business context in eThekwini, the province and the country as a whole, is not an easy one currently. Indeed, this is a challenging and uneasy period, with a lot of domestic and international pressures. However, it is also a period full of promise. The eThekwini business sector needs strong representation,” said Ward. He added, “This is why Durban Chamber and the Chamber Movement need to step even further into the forefront, actively engaging with stakeholders in this role and presenting a clear and concise economic message – that eThekwini is primed for business”. Long-time member and technology partner, Vodacom, was a gold sponsor for the event. The additional digital innovations launched at this year’s event are: Durban Chamber Mobile App in partnership with Fabrik, a division of the immedia ecosystem, which permits members to have exclusive access to a secure real-time communication platform. BoardPAC Management Software in partnership with Vodacom Business to streamline our operational efficiency and improve our overall governance structures, especially at the executive level. Durban Chamber Website has been upgraded to an innovative platform that ensures that our site stays up to date with the latest technology, trends and user needs. Palesa Phili, Chief Executive of the Durban Chamber Commerce and Industry said, “As a future-focused organisation, the Durban Chamber wants to put a spotlight on technology and digital innovation.  We need to highlight how leveraging disruptive technologies and innovations can play a role in driving our inclusive and sustainable economic growth objectives.”

Originally posted on iol Business Report. DURBAN – The new President of the The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be inaugurated at their 163rd Annual Gala Dinner. The new Board and Council of the Durban Chamber will also be announced at the event too. Other highlights of the evening include the launch of special members-only benefits designed to turbo-charge Durban business, as well as the Durban Chamber’s new mobile app that will connect Durban businesses to all the top business and networking opportunities. The mobile app has been developed in partnership with Fabrik, a division of the immedia ecosystem. The Durban Chamber Mobile App will be used as an exclusive communication tool that will notify members of important business-related opportunities, notices, information, documents and communications for ease of access and reference. “The Durban Chamber Mobile App is basically a communication tool that will be of great benefit to members by allowing for greater collaboration between the Durban Chamber and its members,” said Palesa Phili, Chief Executive Officer of the Durban Chamber.

Originally posted on © Radioinfo.com.au. Find out more about our Radio Days Africa 2019 experience. Radio Tomorrow with James Cridland Johannesburg, South Africa, is a place like no other to hold a radio conference, and I was privileged to be at Radiodays Africa recently on their tenth anniversary. Radio is an important part of life in Africa generally. Radio reaches people who cannot read or write; and plays the part of an educator in many parts of the continent. Here’s the excellent Steve Martin from the BBC talking about radio in Africa from 2013. It’s a good overview in how progressive African radio stations are, as well as how they think about radio in a different way to many of us. But radio in Africa is also, partially, stations like 94.7 in Johannesburg (tagline: “You love Johannesburg – we love you”), who sound as polished as the big top 40 stations you’d hear elsewhere. However, it was Bérard Duprès from the Seychelles Broadcasting Company that got me thinking a little. He began by explaining where the Seychelles were – they’re here in case you didn’t know – and spoke about the stations that the SBC run. One of the things Bérard showed was the radio station’s app. Obviously you can listen to the radio station on it, but you can also send a voice message to the station in high quality audio. The station uses a product called Fabrik, made in South Africa, which acts as a kind of private WhatsApp for the station, who are then able to edit and broadcast the messages. It’s a simple and straightforward way to get more voices on the air. They’re not alone. Radio X in the UK is using a rather less private WhatsApp – well, they’re using WhatApp itself – to get messages into the studio for Chris Moyles. And they seem to be having great fun with it, even if most of the callers want just to say the word willy and bum. For radio stations everywhere, though, services like this makes it really easy to remain real and relevant to your audience. For SBC, who run radio stations that broadcast to over a hundred different islands off the coast of East Africa, it’s a great way to hear directly from your audience. For Radio X, it’s a very good way to hear them swear at you. Getting proper, decent audience audio on the air has never been easier. If you don’t have this function in your radio app – what’s stopping you? About The Author James Cridland, the radio futurologist, is a conference speaker, writer and consultant. He runs the media information website media.info and helps organise the yearly Next Radio conference. He also publishes podnews.net, a daily briefing on podcasting and on-demand, and writes a weekly international radio trends newsletter, at james.crid.land. Contact James at james@crid.land or @jamescridland Photograph of Bérard Duprès: @RadioDaysAfrica

We addressed delegates and shared the impact of Fabrik at Radio Days Africa 2019 in Johannesburg from 3 to 5 July 2019, whilst our team demonstrated how technology can elevate radio at our stand. Our Sessions Back to the Future: Anice Hassim The rise of digital has been a quest to be of service to humans through authentic, trusted and intimate engagement, all while maintaining a human and community driven value system. Radio has been on the journey all along. Digital platforms can amplify radio’s core assets as radio learns new tools, but not new values. Anice Hassim (Lead Strategist) tells us how radio’s digital promise is rooted in its human past. Listen to the podcast. Public Broadcasting Reform: Phil Molefe, Bérard Duprès (SBC) Public broadcasting is seen as crucial to democracy but has come under increasing strain recently. At the same time, African public broadcasters in many cases struggle to move out of the shadow of the state. Join Franz Krüger (Director Wits Radio Academy and Head of Journalism), Nada Wotshela (SABC Radio GE), Bérard Duprès (Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation CEO) and Phil Molefe (Southern African Broadcasting Association) as they discuss the current state of public broadcasting in Africa and if there is any sign of reforming these services. Listen to the podcast. Connecting the Islands, and the World, Digitally: Bérard Duprès (SBC) Radio remains a powerful and instant way to communicate news, share knowledge and engage with audiences. Remaining a champion of the people is key in small communities. Bérard Duprès (Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation CEO) tells us more about the SBC and how they have embraced the digital era by modernising their radio broadcast technology whilst remaining engaged with their communities, both locally and internationally. Listen to the podcast.

This month, we’ve developed and improved features that will allow our audio broadcast clients to offer your audience a better podcasting and live-streaming experience! We've launched a new podcast widget that can be embedded on your website. This will display all the podcasts you've recorded through Echocast in one easy place for listeners to find on your site. We've improved our streaming options and we can now offer a more efficient 64kbps livestream. Your listener will experience nearly the same audio quality but spend half the data! In addition both the livestream widget and the podcast both support pre-roll advertisements!

Your audience will benefit from a better podcasting and live-streaming experience! Some of the new features include: A podcast scrubber that allows your listener to play, pause and scrub through a podcast. Improvements to the handling of audio-related interruptions e.g. pausing the playback of a podcast when a voice note message is played. The introduction of pre-roll audio advertisements which play before livestream and podcast playback. We've also completed the rollout of chat groups to all radio clients which means that your listeners will be able to engage with each other and the studio in interest groups - amongst other great new features! How are you using the Fabrik mobile apps? What would you like to see in Fabrik apps? Let us know!

We have a solution to a key strategic need for broadcast owners. The need to digitise your audience, at scale, as rapidly as possible with complete ownership of your databases and data. Behind that is the exhaust of Storytelling, Services and radio’s real-time choreography – all engaging a high-trust community. The most important ability of a media platform must be the ability to command engagement: ‘I will pause what I am doing and pay attention to YOU’. Such a platform can only be built by master craftspeople of the media trade and by master craftspeople of the digital trade collaborating in a shared quest. By a team that understands the difference between man and machine. That understands convergence. True convergence. Convergence that unleashes the superpower that only radio has: Trust. Radio has always been a high trust medium. It has always operated with a sense of community. It doesn’t have customers, it has an audience. An audience because you broadcast and they receive. The return path offers a very thin feedback loop but, thin as it is, radio has been able to build high-trust communities. What happens if you can massively increase your audience engagement feedback loop intimately to you? And do that within weeks? You would begin to build higher trust communities and, if trust is the commodity in increasingly scarce supply, it would imply that this offers you the chance to reprice this digital radio community. This is the strategic opportunity that Fabrik gives you: to begin digitising your audience while rapidly retooling your workflows within weeks, at costs that move from capex to opex and, as rapidly as you want, to revenue. Now that’s a feedback loop. Fabrik offers media owners the chance to focus on the main challenge ahead of them. How to retool your habits, workflows and operations to a serve a real time audience that is co creating and participatory with you.

It's now easier for you to send, filter and receive messages from your Smashboard engagement dashboard. Some of the new features include: An option enabling you to search for messages from a specific app member. An additional view of unsuccessfully sent messages. A URL preview when you're including links in your composed messages. The ability to see phone numbers of members when you download your chat message history to a CSV file. A weather widget appearing underneath the clock on your dashboard. And, as always, various other performance improvements and bug fixes that should make it possible for you to use Smashboard with more ease. How are you using Smashboard? What would you like to see in Smashboard? Let us know!

Phil Molefe addresses delegates at the Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA) Broadcasters’ Convention and 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 29 & 30 October 2018, in Cape Town.