The generosity of those hosts is inspiring!

CouchSurfing is a big site, but it is starting to have some serious safety issues. So you may also want to mention that there are several other hospitality exchange sites like hospitalityclub.org and www.tripping.com.

Thanks for writing such an interesting article. It makes me want to open my doors and have a huge slumber party for travelers!Posted on 16 Mar 2010 22:20

I have seen some frightening adverts that have been placed in the media warning advertisers that rights holders hold the sole rights to the mundial and threatning to sue u to ur underwear if u so much as infringe their broadcast rights by a centimetre.
I personally had thought it would be a good ambush marketing opportunity.but I'm giving all that second thoughts now.
Its better to err on the side of cautionPosted on 16 Mar 2010 20:03

I have seen some frightening adverts that have been placed in the media warning advertisers that rights holders hold the sole rights to the mundial and threatning to sue u to ur underwear if u so much as infringe their broadcast rights by a centimetre.
I personally had thought it would be a good ambush marketing opportunity.but I'm giving all that second thoughts now.
Its better to err on the side of cautionPosted on 16 Mar 2010 20:03

I really would like to try this our too. Can you send me one or as many as are available?Posted on 16 Mar 2010 19:25

Thank you for always remembering me. I was honoured to be at your tribute when you moved to WPP. Long may your legacy live. May fondest memories of you be with Margarita, Kelly and Victoria.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 18:49

All I read is "design competitions" and that was enough to stop reading.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 18:29

To all who participated - Thank you ! I hope to see double the entries for the new competition.

Malissa Barnard
Gauteng Marketing ConsultantPosted on 16 Mar 2010 16:25

I once proposed doing an e-newsletter for a govt agencies and they said they will need to put it to tender and they duly did that and someone else won and they produced 1 letter and nothing more.

The point is that when you present a proposal to GOVT they can just take it. tweak it and it becames difficult to claim because its not exactly what you presented. Or even worse ask that it be put to tender.

Its not just govt, but private sector companies do it all the time. Magazine ideas being stolen its terrible.

I just dont do that sort of a thing anymore I keep it to myself and worry about other things.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 16:11

Just like the sausage dog for Tastic, who are you targeting with this commercial? Are babies the key target market for Speko rice? I suspect not. While it will flag Moms, is it really telling us anything about Speko? Is it a really great baby food? I am not sure what the ad is trying to do.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 15:31

Chris, business clients and customers, NGO's and even other agencies have used these appalling tactics for years now.

Gwen is right - you need to cover your butt's with any and all means possible when presenting intellectual property.

A non-disclosure agreement signed by all parties, before presenting the goods, can further protect the intellectual property rights of all. And from a legal point of view, can give you leverage should you wish to challenge such a scenario.

If agencies, business or any other individual is presenting such valuable glimpses of future reality, one would think by now that your exact scenario has been anticipated & prepared for by these same people. If they have not, then unfortunately, things could get out of hand, and you only have yourself to blame.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 14:35

Adorable, attention grabbing. Confusing and poor branding. Nice ad but won't get decent recall ... Also, no link between message and product.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 14:34

Beautifully produced ad that loses its message in the production. No real product message, local relevance missed to at least some degree. Funny, but linkage will be terrible.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 14:31

For years DSTV has openly shown programs depicting extreme violence. Movies like SAW, Hostel and Silence of the lambs all depict extreme violence. Along with this regularly there are shows that use psychotic behaviour as entertainment, like Dexter, where the serial killer is the hero.
And these are not on extra channels, they are available to everyone who has DSTV.

Surely this is worse than showing people having sex on TV. If i believed that TV affected my kids so strongly, then I would definitely be more worried about brutal violence than sex. The porn channel was also going to be a separate pay channel if I'm not mistaken. So if you don't want it, don't get it. Censorship takes away your right to not watchPosted on 16 Mar 2010 14:07

Which is precisely why I have a copyright clause that states - “Freelancers Writing Services CC retains the copyright to the contents of this presentation, together with its concepts, strategic input, promotional ideas, public relations and media proposals. It may not be used or be transferred to a third party in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of Freelancers Writing Services CC.” At least this way, it is made very clear that copyright is being broken (and you may all use the wording for your contracts, I am happy to share). As for the idea that the would-be provider will “certainly be ostracised and blacklisted to the point of never getting any more government business," it is already clear the he or she is not getting it anyway. It’s a bit like complaining about clients who don’t pay but can’t be reminded for fear they be ‘offended’ - they are not clients, they are bad debt.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 13:42

BMW, go and make an ad for a change, we don't want to see your product AVs.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 13:40

The FPB goes on about protecting children from porn. What about protecting all of those that are exploited and affected by the porn industry? Porn is wrong, not just because children may be exposed to it.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 13:27

Religion is used as a tool by man to incite war.
The weak and immoral use religion as a means for their own ends.
As for your comment about religious channels - are you really serious in associating them with porn channels. Get real!Posted on 16 Mar 2010 13:21

fact linda sbiya rocksPosted on 16 Mar 2010 13:16

I am still mourning the death of Style a few years back, and now my other favourite mag has been killed off. I don't believe that Femina was not viable - it's the only intelligent magazine for the most affluent and influential sector of the female market. What could the other factors be? Media 24 not spending enough on marketing / sales? Not believing in their product? Not trying to sell it if they wanted to be relieved of it? Whatever... it's sad. What do we read now? Women & Home is for brainless grannies, Fair Lady is a boring rehash and the others are for girlies!Posted on 16 Mar 2010 13:13

I had a government department's designated person on a huge project solicit a "financial contribution" from one of our project managers. I wrote him a personal letter saying that I considered us friends and I was disappointed. But this probably only worked because we err on the side of caution as far as ethics are concerned, and perform in terms of delivery, not gifting.Posted on 16 Mar 2010 12:39