Stand a chance to win a UNISA Bursary By entering the Caxton Creative Writing Competition, Grade 12 learners stand a chance to win a career boosting bursary in a competition brought to you by, Brandfluent SA, Alcatel One Touch and Caxton Local Newspapers.The annual writing competition seeks to reinstitute creative writing to the youth and encourage them to unleash their hidden talent.“I’m really passionate about this competition and honoured for the opportunity to present it again this year, in its second year, there is already growth.“This year we are proud to announce that a Grade 12 winner would also be the recepient of a UNISA Basic Journalism Course,” said an elated Malcolm Maifala, Caxton Creative Writing Competition Coordinator.The Competition, which runs from the first week in September calls entrants to action and enter their work before or on the last day of the competition November 1.Once the submissions are closed in October, the writers’ work will undergo a strenuous two tier adjudication process to identify the finalists.In the final, three judges, representatives from Brandfluent SA and Caxton, will read and score the writers’ work to determine a winner. The winners will be announced four weeks after the closing day of the competition.These judges are Bryony van Zyl, Managing Director Brandfluent SA; Gien Elsas, Human Resources Development Manager for the Caxton Group and Christiaan Louw, Digital Support Specialist for the Caxton Group.The competition is not a once-off activity, it creates a platform for potential writers and offers them the opportunity to undergo the Caxton Cadet Programme, of which I am a product,” Malcolm explains.The investment in these individuals has a long term ripple effect, and like Malcolm, jump-starts a successful career in media.“The competition is a sustainable and long-term change,” said Glen Elsas. “The course will really set this potential writer up for a proper career in journalism.”It offers modules like which will help you know what it takes to be a potentially award-winning journalist. We really hope to change the world, one journalist at a time!”The competition culminates with a prize-giving on the November 30 where the first prize is a One Touch Tab Evo 7 and One Touch T-Pop mobile handset, a Unisa bursary and an opportunity to enroll in the Caxton Cadet Program, should you have a desire to get practical training.To stand a chance of winning these amazing prizes keep an eye out for the competition in all Caxton South and East Rand publications, looklocal, Facebook and Twitter. Meet the judges Bryony van ZylBryony van Zyl has come on board as part of the Brandfluent South Africa team as Managing Director in August 2012. She runs a tight ship but does so with pizazz and precision. Bryony is admired by staff and peers alike and her climb up the corporate ladder has been stellar.After completing a degree in Marketing Communication at the then Rand Afrikaans University, Bryony started her voyage as an Intern, PA and Junior Account Manager for Red Rocket Design & Advertising in 2003. Long hours and constant learning gave her a break two years later with The Creative Counsel as Campaign Manager. This opportunity allowed Bryony to come into her own. As Campaign Manager, she enjoyed great success with clients such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Unilever and Reckit Benkiser.Her strength and passion was better aligned with the Creative Department and within months Bryony had proven her worth and was promoted to Creative Assistant. She continued keeping her clients happy presenting them with 360 degree BTL campaigns and solutions. Her conceptual mind and background as art student at high school, gave her the edge that blew clients away.BrandNew Advertising recognised the talent she has and offered her a position as Account Manager with them in 2007. Bryony continued to thrive despite working under extreme pressure having been faced with the challenge of working with Korean client LG, among other heavyweights such as Nissan, Auto & General and New Holland Publishing.Always up for a new challenge, Bryony changed the course of her career slightly when she became Creative head and Events Co-ordinator for Elemental Concepts in 2008. Her scope broadened to include new business as one of her Key Performance Areas, making her an integral part of the team there. But BrandNew Advertising had something different in mind and invited her back to take on the role of Senior Account Manager in November that same year.The winds of change steered her career into the next port of her professional voyage. Brandfluent SA was looking to fill a senior management position and Bryony proved herself just the candidate for the job. Her aptitude for applying attention to detail and proven track record were the credentials that made her stand out above the competition.When asked about what she attributes her success to, she said: “I wasn’t always this focussed. One day it dawned on me that I wanted to achieve more and I cleaned up my act. I’ve worked very hard and have always had a creative outlet which helped me to remain motivated” she chuckles.Chris Louw Chris Louw graduated from Rhodes University when he obtained a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2006, specialising in photography.His photographs have been published in newspapers, magazines, books, and online. He has also worked in a variety of mediums such as radio, as a journalist, talk show host, and technician; on TV as reporter, and as a freelance photographer for picture agencies.He lived and worked in South Korea for three years, where his passion for technology and the connectedness of people started.He says, “Living in a country where everyone is immensely connected changed the way I saw the media and its role in society. From buying clothes, to booking doctor’s appointments, South Koreans use the internet for most things. This gave me an idea of where we, as South Africans, will be in the coming years.”Chris Louw was part of a 4 man team which rolled out 43 looklocal websites for the Caxton group. Today looklocal does 700 000 unique visitors, and more than 2 million pageviews.He says, “Being a journalist at my core, my passion is to use the technology at my disposal, to tell the stories of people who have never had the chance to make themselves heard.”Gien ElsasGien Elsas has been into newspapers for more than 30 years, most of them as a journalist and editor.For the past six years she has been giving back the knowledge and experience she has gained by firstly heading up the Caxton Editorial Cadet School and then, for the past four years, as Human Resources Development manager in charge of all training for the Caxton Community Newspaper group.Gien was bureau chief, editor, group editor, assistant branch manager and school principal before joining head office staff. She has worked at both daily and weekly papers.Her passion now is training a whole new generation of journalists. “Journalism is not what it was in the past. We now have so many platforms to use which has meant a whole new look at how to integrate printed media with the more immediate ways we have of getting the news out there.” Ready, steady and Write for a living High school learners who live and school in Ekurhuleni and the South of Johannesburg are given an opportunity to express their creativity and enter for the Caxton Creative Writing Competition.After a successful first year in 2012, Brandfluent SA and Alcatel One Touch have come on board as sponsors for Caxton Creative Writing Competition 2013.In a world dominated by shorthand writing, texts and abbreviations, the annual writing competition seeks to reintroduce the art of creative writing to the youth and encourage them to unleash ‘their inner Zakes Mda’.“This competition is a project close to my heart because Caxton has played a vital role in kick-starting my career in the media industry, and I am happy that we have the opportunity to present it again this year,” said an excited Malcolm Maifala, Creative Writing Coordinator at Caxton Joburg South.The Competition will run from the first week in September and call entrants to action. Once the submissions are closed in October, the writers’ work will undergo a strenuous two tier adjudication process to identify the finalists.In the final, three judges, representatives from Brandfluent SA and Caxton, will read and score the writers’ work to determine a winner. These judges are; Bryony van Zyl – Director Brandfluent SA, Gien Elsas – Human Resources Development Manager for Caxton Group and Christiaan Louw – Digital Support Specialist Caxton Group.“The competition is not a once-off activity. It seeks to identify writers with potential and offer them the opportunity to undergo training in the media industry,” Maifala explains.The investment in these individuals has a long term ripple effect, and like Maifala, jump-starts a successful career in journalism. “Shaping young lives is something we at Brandfluent SA are very passionate about,” says Bryony van Zyl.The competition culminates with a prize-giving on November 30 where the first prize is a One Touch Tab Evo 7 and One Touch T-Pop cellular handset, and an opportunity for further training, if required. Runners-up will each receive a One Touch T-Pop handset.To stand a chance of winning these amazing prizes keep an eye out for the competition in the Caxton South publications, looklocal Online, facebook and twitter.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:33:10 +0000
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