Maverick Indonesia

Move on

2007-04-02T08:17:00.000+07:00

Dear readers, we've moved our blog to here. Please come visit us.

Kongko-kongko* with Andi Sinulingga

2007-03-28T09:03:00.000+07:00

Last Friday (23/03) we were honored to have Andi Sinulingga of Komite Nasional Pemuda Indonesia (KNPI) coming to Maverick for another sharing session. Having been an activist as a student in Universitas Jaya Baya and member of Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (HMI) Andi is very experienced in Indonesian Political world. But what impress us so is the fact that he is very much equipped and understands the history of our country.

As for the Mavericks, well we know very little on KNPI. Fortunately Andi is a very lively speaker, or spokesperson to be exact. He explains that KNPI was established in the Soeharto regime as a breeding ground for future Indonesian leaders. KNPI was the umbrella under which many of the country’s youth organizations comes together. Initially KNPI was funded by government, but not anymore.

After the reformation era, KNPI has become independent, both in its visions and funding. KNPI now must work harder and more creative to generate funding to support their activities. This would mean that the organization would be a strong competition for organizations alike in promoting better program for the community. What a strong competition indeed. J

Talking with Andi on the young generations would truly reflect his passion and hope for the future generation. His book entitled “Hope for the Young Generation?” that he generously presented to us, also a proof of his concerns.

Well, it was a very motivating conversation. A two-hour-sharing-session would never be enough when you are kongko-kongko* with Andi.

* hanging out

Advertising, is it part of CSR practice?

2007-03-27T18:42:00.000+07:00

There is an interesting article today on CSR, it was published in Republika “CSR, di balik kepentingan promosi” (“CSR, behind the promotional needs”)

I was expecting to read one example of corporate promotional activities that are packaged in CSR program, but what was explored in the article is mainly about PT Sido Muncul TV ad “Orang Pintar Sayang Keluarga” version.

The TV ad with new tagline is claimed as one of their CSR project to ensure the better quality of young generation through the the good quality of families who live in harmony. The new TV ad features Ari Lasso (one of the country’s top musician) and his family to convey the message of the importance of making a harmonious family. They simply chose Ari Lasso to be the icon because they want to change the celebrities image that is closely connected divorces. Is it that necessary for Sido Muncul to work on their image?

Well, for me this is some kind of ga’ nyambung, it has got nothing to do between their new social marketing campaign and CSR project I suppose.

CSR should go beyond incorporating your social message to your new adv version.

Click Of The Week: Stania's Blog: This is not my life story

2007-03-23T18:08:00.000+07:00

We're already know that radio journalism is quite differ from print media journalism. That's including the person behind it. But when it comes to blogging, it's hard to differentiate between those two.
Take a look for this blog for an instance. In a glance, maybe you would think that she is a journalist for print media, by the way she writes. But actually, she's a radio journalist for Kantor Berita Radio 68-H.
I would say that her writings or posting are somewhat intellectual yet playful. She can really underline or stressed out her point of view yet expressed carefully and successfully ; that it doesn't sound offending. Stania seems to always want to make sure whoever gets to read her blog can easily grasp the real message she wants to deliver. Something that all print media journalist are trying to do everyday, aren't they?
As she describe on her blog's title, the blog is not about her life story; it's HER story.
So mainly, her posting are based on what she experiences, feels and sees which she turns into stories. Errrr maybe Stania itself can explain it more clearly...
Her writings are very expressive that even halfway reading her postings, we can tell how she is not afraid to speak her mind. That's part of the reason why we chose her blog to be the click of the week for this week. An addition to that, this is the first radio journalist's blog selected by Maverick.
Why don't you take look at her posting: Tentang Remeh Temeh dan Omong Kosong and tell us what you think?
Congratulation Stania!

Maverick's Outing

2007-03-21T19:17:00.000+07:00

For me, the new girl in the team, the first time I was asked to join along when Nia called me, I was already thrilled!!! Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome & including me in the outing trip which left a tremendous memorable experience and memorie...
For some, this may seem funny, I'VE NEVER BEEN TO Jogja & Semarang...so the outing has also given me a new insight travel of 'Inside Indonesia'.....
So much great activities and sharing that we the mavericks’ had during the outing, Goosh where should I start....
Losari coffee plantation resort and Spa, a beautiful resort, with warm old antique Javanese ambience that when I got there, I think everybody was just amazed by how magnificent the scenery and the fresh air that we were going to enjoy for the next 2 days!!! Spacious rooms and not to mention the king size beds (even the extra beds were huge!!!) for us to indulge our holiday!!! Well, not to forget, thank you for Ong & Mbak Lita, for their generosity...
Scenery and tress were just so fantastically beautiful, that when I sat down and enjoy it, you will also realize the greatness of this world...
By the way, at night Losari was dark as it could get! And everybody's got to attentively focused when they're walking, as we just didn't want to fall, I guess...hehehehe
Nia did mention about Mas Rudy's graduation, yeees, it was really a funny one, because in the surprise graduation party that we arranged (discreetly) for him, we formed two lines, that Mas Rudy had to walk through before reaching the rector and Professor ( which is Ong & Mbak Lita, as it's MAVERICK's University) :) and everybody were tickling Mas Rudy, well, he doesn't take tickling very well...and he was laughing the whole way ( and his laughter made all of us laughing).
Second day, it was trip to Jogja (the seat in the bus was aching) but the whole fun of the trip made it worthwhile...Hot sunny day, but still everyone's was enjoying their time...
There's so much (like really a lot) of stuff to see & it was kind of a headache, because I just don't know what to get....hehehehe (ended up buying 2 pairs of sandals).
Then, we had dinner at Bale Raos, in the Sultan's compound (apparently it's the king's favorite food), it's kinda too sweet, but still delicious... at the end of dinner, I shared my lovely voice ( I wish to believe so) with the 'Mata Genit Band' (the band was great, except for the name I guess!) hahahaha,
Well, the great thing also, that everybody's just mingling and some did share some personal stories so in a way, it made everyone closer as friends and colleagues.
My most truly greatest one, is THE HAMAM SPA...did a 75 min massage which was costly, but it's worth every cent of my credit card that I got to pay later :(...
For that 75 min, I felt I was entering THE HEAVEN OF RELAXATION.. it was awesome!!
I love massages, and been around tried some SPA, but gotta share it with you, THERE'S NOT ONE YET THAT FELT like THE HAMAM!!! (I'm sure Mbak Lita, couldn't agree more with me, as she did have a massage too). Well, I missed the steam train tour though, but hey...you gotta choose 1 or the other sometimes huh....(I didn't regret choosing the massage...)
Had a good laugh, memorable and truly a wonderful experience that I shared in this outing...
Once again, Thank you for including me and making me feel a pat of the family at the orange house in such a short period...

Maverick Of The Year 2006

2007-03-20T18:32:00.000+07:00

Starting this year, Maverick begins a tradition of recognizing excellence among the already very able team at Maverick. It was tough decision to single out just one associate for special recognition since each one of the Mavericks is special in their own way.

But tough it was, a decision had to be made and the inaugural Maverick of The Year 2006 award was announced at our Annual Outing at the Losari Coffee Plantation in central Java last week-end. It went to Hanny Kusumawati.

She stands out because she managed to meet the challenges thrown at her fearlessly and handled them with self-confidence, creativity and a good cheer. She demonstrated that she was not only a good worker but also a good team member and a team leader. She joined Maverick in September 2005, and within less than a year she was taking on the role of a team leader for two of Maverick biggest accounts, Sampoerna and Coca-Cola. She did this with aplomb and to the delight of the clients.

In Maverick's selection process where everyone had a say in recommending the Maverick of the Year to the Partners, it was also evident that Hanny's talents and accomplishments were also appreciated by her peers.

Bravo, Hanny!

A Change of Seasons

2007-03-15T07:46:00.000+07:00

The Maverick family along with our neighbors, friends, clients, family members and journalist colleagues decided to make a difference on Monday 12 March 2007. We invited the Indonesian Red Cross blood donor van to come and take our blood. Invitations to our friends and colleagues were enthusiastically responded to, and blood was taken for those in need.

Why a ‘Change of Seasons’? Because this is the first time the company as a whole can participate in a collective effort of social aid, although Maverick had previously helped the Mitra Netra NGO further their cause for the sight impaired. This time, everyone in the office can participate, even including our personal friends and families.

As us enthusiastic, albeit rather scared, donors were led one by one to our cots, amidst the doubts, the fear of needles, and the endless jeers of our well meaning peers, the realization that our blood will mean a lot in disaster ridden Indonesia meant that all who donated their blood did so with a clear conscience and a pure intention, although that sexy nurse taking our blood helped a lot in this department - for the guys anyway.

All in all, 51 people came and donated their blood. Thanks guys! Keep it up!! We have received positive feedback and due to that, we have decided today to make this an annual event here at Maverick’s office. So I hope that next year’s turnout will be even better. J

Photos:

PMI arrived at Maverick’s office at 9am sharp!

Employees from Jerry Aurum Graphic Design are busy filling out the front and back of the PMI document.

Before giving blood, everyone was checked what blood type they are and if they were allowed to donate.

Drivers who hang out at the warung close to the office and even TNT courier staff have spontaneously donated their blood. Good on your guys!

Every donor received their new donor card and a little thank you gift from Maverick and of course food to get back on their feet after giving so much blood.

A tribute to Morgan Mellish

2007-03-14T20:42:00.000+07:00

It’s a week after the accident of the Garuda GA200 which caused 21 passengers lost their life. One of them was Morgan Mellish, an Australian journalist for the Australian Financial Review, the winner of the Walkley Award 2006.

As a journalist, he was persistent in getting information from news sources, besides his laid-back and relaxed characters. As an expatriate who lived in Indonesia, he loved to try different kind of local food here. He even told his maid to cook local food three times per week. As a friend, he was a good fellow to the others.

Morgan had reached his dream: to be a foreign correspondence. He told me that he really loved it here. He tried to go away from the city in the weekend, to surf, to climb mountains, or anything. An adventurous guy, indeed. He definitely knew how to live a life and embrace every moment of it.

Today is supposedly his 37th birthday. He left us just one week before his special day.
What a great loss for all of us in the communications industry to lose a talented young journalist like him.

Happy birthday, Morgan. You’ll be missed by all of us here.

New and Old Faces in Maverick

2007-03-14T17:12:00.000+07:00

Maverick this week welcomed a new face and also the return of an old face to our team of eclectic characters and talents.

The new face is Nancy Natalia. She holds a BA degree in Media and Cultural Studies from Central Queensland University, Sydney, and also an Advanced Diploma in Mass Communications from Staffordshire University, Singapore. Nancy spent three years working in Sydney as a sales rep for a shoe product, before returning home and joining Metro TV as a Production Assistant and Reporter.

“I have always been interested in PR & would like to get a more in-depth, hands on experience of what the world of PR is all about," said Nancy. "I believe that Maverick would be a good place to work in, because from what I hear from others prior to joining Maverick is a place that encourages its employees to grow better, professionally and personally.”

Also returning to the fold after a three-month sabbatical is Crivenica “Riri” Alam who moves on from her role of Associate at the consultancy side to head Gauge, Maverick's online media tracking and PR measurement service.

“The past three months have been very enjoyable and full of activities. Most of the time, I was traveling and spending quality time with my loved ones," said Riri. "I think Maverick is cool place for giving me the flexibility to take this sabbatical where I could refresh myself. And now, I am back fully recharged and looking forward to new challenges and fun with the Maverick and Gauge crews.”

Warm welcome to both of you. We believe the ride becomes more enjoyable with you on board.

Lunch with Indria Samego

2007-03-14T09:40:00.000+07:00

Pak Indria Samego, Indonesia's well-known political observer, loves yoghurt.

The first thing he did when he stood up to order some food at Marche Movenpick was to walk to the beverage section asking for yoghurt. He wasn’t lucky though. They restaurant was temporarily ran out of yoghurt.

We met up with Pak Indria yesterday. He will serve as the final judge for political subtopic in this year’s Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna. Friendly and humorous was the first impression that crossed our mind as he entered the room. Pak Indria said that he felt honored to become AAS 2007’s final judge, and we talked a bit about last year’s AAS and journalism in Indonesia.

Pak Indria specifically mentioned about high-solidarity amongst Indonesian journalists based on his experience: “For instance, I gave my cellphone number to one journalist, and the next thing I knew, other journalists will have my number as well!” he laughed.

After our lunch arrived, we started to talk about many things, including the controversial businesses’ contribution to the community we once posted in Maverick’s blog. Pak Indria told us that we can’t blame people for being skeptical when controversial businesses are trying to give back to the community. “Philantrophy is needed and it is good for the community,” said Pak Indria. “I think it’s better for them to give back rather than taking the profit for their own good and do nothing for the community.”

The part I like the most was when he talked about the tendency of today’s generation. “They have millions of rupiahs to spend on a concert ticket, but they don’t have that same amount of money to produce something. This nation can’t stop consuming things, but we don’t have the will to actually produce something. We have to change our mentality if we’d like to step ahead.”

Everyone, are you ready for a change? :)

Nokia Got It Right!

2007-03-12T10:14:00.000+07:00

This is how Nokia translates the term of customer satisfaction and shifting it into customer loyalty:

About a week ago, I had this problem with my Nokia N73. The message 'memory low, delete some data' kept blinking on the screen, though I had deleted all data I stored in my phone memory. Based on my past experiences, answers to almost all questions can be found in the net. So I went googling instead, and found out that there were lots of Nokia users in all part of the world are actually having the same problem. Unfortunately, there were no solutions to this problem yet.

Since I needed my phone badly, in despair, I contacted Mr. Hasan Aula, General Manager of Nokia Indonesia, and told him about the problem I was having. I also gave him links to several posts and discussions on the net mentioning this memory-low issue.

The response was immediate.

Pak Agus from Nokia called me up not long after. He apologized for what had happened to my N73 and said that Nokia would pick up my phone the next morning and had it fixed. Pak Agus also told me how thankful he was for having being informed about this problem. He said the links I inserted in my email was very useful.

To add up to that, he was kind enough to ask me whether I have another cell phone to use while mine was being fixed! So, the problem solved, they fixed my phone, and I think I have become a more loyal user of Nokia!

I was impressed with this response. It is important for a company to give immediate response to their customer’s complaints, and handle it professionally. Nokia have shown they’re level as one of the leading cell phone manufacturer in the world by providing this excellent service. And it will be a whole lot better if Nokia could sign up to these Nokia users’ communities in the Net and respond to complaints and questions posted there.

Most of the times, when you get access to ‘higher-level’ officials in a company, it is more certain that you’ll get a faster response. I think it happens in most companies.

The problem now is to make sure that when your customer have complaints, they knew where or to whom they could complain to, and the person who receives their complaints could make immediate decisions and take necessary actions.

Came to think about it, I think companies will perform much better if their ‘higher-level’ officials become the ones who receive complaints—probably by launching a blog? Therefore customers will be able to interact directly with the board of directors, even CEOs!

Since the power is shifting now …

http://www.about-nokia.com/blog/media/1/20060425-nokia-n73.jpg

Click Of The Week: Iman D Nugroho

2007-03-09T15:18:00.000+07:00

My friend was right, when I take a look at this blog, I thought it’s a news portal. Only, it’s packaged with more “artistic” touch.The blog belongs to a young journalist named Iman D Nugroho.
This 30 years old man is currently working as a reporter at The Jakarta Post, a free lance cameraman and a contributor for Reader’s Digest.
By the color of his blog, you can actually tell this man who loves to listen to alternative music is a dynamic and vibrant young man.
Iman gives a serious attention to his blog, he consider it as a big project of being a professional freelance journalists. What he posts in his website is basically and mostly his writings which have been posted in the newspaper or magazine he is attached to.
What makes it so interesting is his passion in photography, completes his blog to be an artistic “diary”. Series of self explanatory images which somewhat tell us a glimpse of his journey and experience.
What interests me the more is actually the name of his blog, A Journey of East Java Indonesia. If you browse through, you can see most of his writings are about current stories happening within the East Java region.

What should controversial businesses do?

2007-03-09T13:38:00.000+07:00

It is always a dilemma for being involved in a controversial businesses. When it seems like everyone is against you and everything you do is always wrong.

An article in Asia Times, entitled Smokes Get In Your Eyes in Indonesia, written by Duncan Graham, mentioned tobacco company as quoted below:

“... Indonesia’s tobacco company don’t like being portrayed as purveyors of poisons and killers of citizens. So they have tried to boost their image through socially responsible campaigns ... Another ploy is to fund educational institutions and scholarships ... (they) has also started to seduce journalists with media awards equal in most cases to six months’ salary for the average reporter ...”

The question that crossed my mind instantly was: ‘What about the mining company who allocate significant amount of money to help preserved the environment?’ or ‘Are fast-food restaurants should be banned from supporting national children’s health program?’

I think as what other ‘responsible’ companies do, these controversial businesses also want to give back to the community, but people are always skeptical towards their efforts. This is where a clear guidance on what companies can and cannot do in terms of doing social activities is needed.

The government should also be consistent and clear on what controversial industries are allowed or not allowed to do, especially when it comes to promotion and marketing activities. Therefore, they can go on operating their business activities without having to worry about possible disruption.

What do you think? Any suggestions, everyone?

Salute to Dewa...!

2007-03-05T10:36:00.000+07:00

Last Friday, when I got home a bit late, I spotted a pretty familiar face on TV; it's on Om Farhan’s show, to be exact.

That day, Om Farhan did not invite celebrities or other prominent figures to his show. As opposed to that, he exposed those faces that are usually hidden behind their huge camera: ANTV reporters. I didn’t watch the show since the very beginning, but as I arrived, I saw Dewa’s face on screen.

I met Dewa ocassionally in several events. He is a big and tall guy with friendly smile who always stands out in the crowd. As a reporter in ANTV, Dewa sometimes come over to Maverick client’s public activities—mainly entertainment and urban activities. And sometimes sport. Thus, I was a bit surprised to see Dewa in Om Farhan that night, since Om Farhan was discussing about dedication in journalism, the risks and dangers awaited the journalists, and some ‘breath-taking’ moments that happened while they’re performing their job.

I gasped when I heard the story that actually Dewa was once being beaten by Brimob officials in Kotaraja, Papua, while reporting the succession of Kasat Brimobda Papua. This incident has also been reported in Seri Papua Aktual no. 5 published by Sekretariat Keadilan & Perdamaian Keuskupan Jayapura in June 2006 (p.16). I texted Dewa that night, and gave him a salute. Dewa replied humbly to that: ”Wow, I’m so ashamed. Hehehe. I don’t know that people will watch tonight’s show...”

I believe that there are lots of other ‘Dewa’ out there. Dedicated journalists who are just trying to perform their duty, and received unlikely treatment from opposing parties—a treatment that violate human rights; a treatment that could risk the journalists’ life. It reminds me of Kompas Cyber Media’s senior editor’s comment, Mas Cahyo Sasongko, on last year’s World Press Freedom Day. “Yang pasti, wartawan Indonesia itu many threats, less protection. Ada 3 unsur pelindung sekaligus ancaman: owner, state and society. Kita bermain di 3 unsur ini.”

However, we hope that threats experienced by Indonesian journalists won’t reduce their spirit to speak up and tell the truth to the whole wide world. Because we need transparency. Because we need to know the truth about what’s happening out there. And oftentimes, in this country, you’ve got to pay a very expensive price just for telling the truth.

What a shame.

Budi Putra is no longer in Tempo

2007-03-02T15:04:00.000+07:00

Budi Putra, a journalist of Tempo, has no longer worked in the publication. He decided to become an independent writer, specializes in issues on technology for printed and online media abroad.

"I learned a lot during my five years in Tempo", he says. "Now is the time for me to move ahead and realize two of my passions, which are to be an independent writer and a full time blogger".

A full time blogger? "Yes, why not? We need someone who is brave enough to declare him/herself as a full-time blogger", he says. Blog is a new communication tool and sooner or later will become more powerful. "I want to encourage Indonesians to take part in the development of this new tool".

"Apart from that, now I have more time to enjoy life. FYI, now I'm in Bandung, enjoying a lovely afternoon with my family", he says. Oowwwhh.. that's so nice. I envy you, mas Budi! :)

Although now he's no longer with Tempo, he will still be a contributor for Tempo's blog. He's also actively blogging at CNET Asia, Asia Tech, 3GWeek, The Gadget, Blog Jurnalisme and Indonesia Tech.

Good luck, Mas Budi. All the best for you yaaah!! :) And please, since now you have more free time, come and visit us at the orange house! ;)

Click Of The Week: Taufik Almubarak

2007-03-02T08:51:00.000+07:00

A friend recommends Nia to check this blog, he insist that Nia will like the postings. Not to mention that this blog is quite different. This blog belongs to a young Aceh journalist who is currently running a tabloid called SUWA: Taufik Almubarak.
SUWA was established in November last year and focused in politics.
Taufik hopes that SUWA will be an alternative reading for the public in Aceh. Although the tabloid is rather new, writing has been Taufik passion for a long time. He used to have a column in bulletin@boleh.com, he also written articles for Sinar Harapan and Serambi Indonesia.
Nia thinks that his opinion and writing styles are very different from other articles about politic in general. "The story flows as if you're reading a novel, even it's all politics but very catchy and not too heavy. It's more of a story telling which makes me want to know more and more."
Another plus point for his writing is, as an Acehnesse he gives a different insight of what is going on in Aceh. "My favorite posting is: Subuh Berdarah (Bloody Morning). After I read it, I kept on saying, "My God... is this really happening in our country? What kind of childhood are these kids having? How will they live to tell these things? And such an emotional experience they have to go through at such tender age."

Coffee, Tea ... and Interview!

2007-03-01T09:20:00.000+07:00

As a PR consultancy, one of the services given by Maverick to its clients is Media Handling Skills—a one-day training on the characteristic on Indonesian media, how to deal with media, how to communicate your messages and get it across, and on top of that: a simulation of one-on-one interview to sharpen several interview techniques. This is exactly what we’ve done for our NGO friends since 2006. Based on references from clients and other NGOs, we invite several NGOs every 1-2 months, to have a free training on the above subject.

Yesterday, we were honored to have Mas Hamid and Mbak Yuni from PIRAC, Mas Aziz from Telapak, and Mas Yudhis from Yayasan Tunas Cendekia in our media handling training for NGOs. As media’s point-of-contact in their organizations, during the training we also had several interview simulations to furthermore boost their confidence and skills in interacting with journalist friends. Turned out, this interview simulation becomes one of the most exciting (or excruciating?) session that day.

Pak Hamid from PIRAC was laughing out loud as he saw his tape on screen, because he found out that he kept on playing with his hands on his lap, and that his chair was swiveling frantically. “I didn’t realize that I actually did that!” he said, giggling. And Mas Yudhis from Tunas Cendekia bursted out laughing in the middle of an interview session, when the question got a bit tough. ”Wow, if this thing happened in an actual interview, probably they will scream: commercials!!!”

After those simulations, we had a lively chat over coffee, tea, and snacks, where the three NGOs started to share their experience in dealing with the media; and asked some questions about the characteristic of the media and its journalists. Since I was conducting this training with Rommy, an ex-journalist himself, the chat became even more interesting! :)

We do hope that yesterday's training could be of use for our NGO friends in their future contacts with media and journalists. And if you happened to know some NGOs that needed help in their communication and PR skills, please do not hesitate to contact us. We’ll be happy to invite you to our Orange House and have another media handling session over coffee and delicious snacks.

Selling the country

2007-02-26T16:14:00.001+07:00

On Friday, 23 February 2007, we got Muhammad Al Aula for sharing session. He is a young diplomat from Indonesian Department of Foreign Affair. The two-hour discussion was so hot and lively, that we forgot there was another event to attend to.

We discussed many things, especially his experience as a diplomat. He shared with us what are the responsibilities of a diplomat. But in this session he gave more emphasis on public diplomacy -- communicating Indonesian foreign policy toward the Indonesian citizens first.

When we hear about that, we just thought how complicated the role of diplomats. They must make complicated decisions, and still they have to balance the national interest with public opinions established by the press.

It is quiet interesting to know how the department of foreign affair is doing their job. One of which interest me is how they approach prominent and influential leaders through a “breakfast meeting” to create awareness, change perception, and drive action. Well, to this part, it sounds pretty much like a PR practitioner -- in a sense that we also like to treat certain people for lunch or diner of course. :)

I think it is a good step to communicate to the public about Indonesian foreign policy. As the Indonesian society is patriarchic, people would believe respected individual leader, rather than the mass media for instance. :(

Aula also share that Department of Foreign Affair has been reforming itself for many years. Unfortunately they don’t socialize very well which make people’s perception the department stand still.

From the discussion, we can also learn that they haven’t really pushed the envelop, as they have so much potential, partly because the short numbers of diplomats. I hope in the future Department of Foreign Affair is more proactive to communicate what they have done, and why they make such measures.

But most important is what Aula calls the second track diplomacy. Any Indonesian can be the ambassador of the country, through interactions with people from other countries. Thus, every Indonesian must understand the nation’s foreign policy, so we can achieve the goal together.

Sounds like a great idea, isn’t it?

*written by Tuhu

FEMALOGRAPHY: a photo exhibition by Jerry Aurum

2007-02-23T10:31:00.000+07:00

Jerry Aurum, a young and talented Indonesian photographer, finally holds his photo exhibition in Indonesia. Themed “Femalography”, this photo exhibition will be held in Senayan City from February 23rd – March 11th, 2007.

Jerry held his first international photo exhibition in September 2006 in Singapore. On the same day, he also launched the “Femalography” book. The book was chosen as “The 2nd Best Recommended Book” by Borders Bookstore, Singapore. What an achievement!

In yesterday’s press conference, Jerry said that in his artworks he positioned women as the subjects, not as objects. When asked, “How do you choose your models? It seems that all of your models are beautiful young celebrities in Indonesia”.

Jerry said, “That’s not true. Actually, in the Femalography book and photo exhibition there are more ordinary women than the famous ones. For me, the most important thing in choosing a model is that the model has to be able to express herself. So, it doesn’t matter whether she’s famous or not. She also doesn’t have to be skinny or has a perfect body image”.

For the past 5 years, Jerry has been preparing the Femalography project. More than 100 people from different background contributed in the project. Rachel Maryam, Aline, Dian Sastro, Dinna Olivia, Endhita, Adella Aletta, VJ Cathy, Indah Kalalo were voluntarily posing for Jerry. If it’s not because of his talents, for sure these celebrities won’t participate in Femalography.

“There are not many Indonesian photographers publish a book. So, in Indonesia, we don’t have that much literature or reference in photography. So, it’s very good that Jerry decided to publish a book of his artworks. His artworks are impressive”, said Andi Dewanto, a journalist of Tempo magazine.

For those who love photography, you can drop by at the Exhibition Space, Senayan City to enjoy 40 photographs by Jerry Aurum. The Femalography book is now available at Kinokuniya and Aksara bookstores.

Visit: www.jerryaurum.com

KONTAN: the Newspaper

2007-02-22T18:51:00.000+07:00

On KONTAN 27 September 2006 10th anniversary, Editor in Chief Yopie Hidayat told Maverick that Kontan will publish a newspaper under the same name on February 2007. Guess what?! They are definitely on schedule.

The first issue of KONTAN newspaper will be published on Monday, 26th February 2007. I heard the news directly from one of the 30 new reporters they have hired for the daily.

As for the tabloid, they are moving the publication from Wednesdays to Sundays. So, for you KONTAN tabloid readers out there, who mostly living in Medan, Jakarta, or Surabaya, hope the newspaper will satisfy you as it is the tabloid.

'BRAVO' for children!

2007-02-21T16:50:00.000+07:00

Penerbit Erlangga is well-known as publisher of text books. Since elementary school through high school, I saw the word "Penerbit Erlangga" printed in most of the text books I used. However, I just heard the news that Erlangga has published children’s magazine entitled BRAVO.

BRAVO is a magazine targeted for children age 8-12, and “aimed to equip children in pursuing their dreams” as stated by Uti, a contributor of this magazine. BRAVO is now available in news stalls in Jabodetabek area.

Bravo, BRAVO!

Para Group’s next move

2007-02-20T09:59:00.000+07:00

I’ve heard a rumor that Para Group (Chairul Tanjung) is eyeing Indosiar and SCTV to further expand his media ownership in this country. The source said that Indosiar and SCTV would soon be transformed into Trans 8 and Trans 9 respectively.

Early this month, Tanjung was also reported to probe a deal with Dahlan Iskan on Jawa Pos group shares purchase (Tempo Interaktif, Feb 7)

Well if that is so, the media tycoon is about to spread his wings even wider then.

TOFI: pride of the nation

2007-02-19T17:27:00.000+07:00

Last Friday in Maverick sharing session, we were delighted to the company of two lovely young ladies, Lidya and Nouva, as the PR of the Indonesian Physics Olympiads Team (TOFI).

First, let’s get one thing straight because as it might be a name of a team, TOFI is also an NGO. The NGO is pioneered by Yohanes Surya, Agus Ananda, Roy Sembel and Joko Saputro thirteen years ago. But the most important of all, this NGO has realized the importance of PR in delivering their mission to make physics as a fun and easy subject.

Well most of us, by now, may have already known that our beloved country has oftentimes triumphs the International Physics Olympics (IPhO). Yes, thanks to some of our mass media concerns and TOFI’s PR team, of course. But have any one of us known how these gifted teens managed participate in such Olympics in the first place?

For a start, every year TOFI together with the National Education Ministry is searching for the national best physics students through a series of competitions. The first test is in the regency level where students have to compete to be the provincial winners. These winners of the provincial selections then compete for a place to represent their Provinces in the National Science Olympics (OSN). OSN nests national champions who will compete for the best eight and become members of TOFI. Ultimately, these best eight will compete in the Asian Physics Olympics (APhO) and the International Physics Olympics.

If you think this is the end, you’re wrong. As TOFI members, these high school students will undertake training carried out in TOFI Center in BSD City, Tangerang for months – which everyone enjoys very much. :)

PC Magazine Indonesia's last edition

2007-02-16T14:05:00.000+07:00

PC Magazine Indonesia, a leading computer magazine that has been published since 2004, starting next month will be no longer available in the market. Svida Alisjahbana, Vice President Femina Group on the official announcement written in February edition explains that due to the shifted trend of reading source, Femina Group has to terminate the publishing. Here is her explanation:

“Perkembangan yang pesat dalam beberapa tahun terakhir telah mengubah Teknologi Informasi dari suatu bidang khusus menjadi gaya hidup yang diterima oleh semua golongan masyarakat… Melalui analisa dan pertimbangan mendalam, kami berpendapat sudah bukan masanya lagi untuk menyajikan perkembangan Teknologi Informasi dalam suatu majalah khusus. Dengan sangat menyesal kami sampaikan bahwa PC Magazine Indonesia edisi Februari 2007 merupakan edisi terakhir kami.”

Curious to know what is really happened behind it, I called up our journo friend in PC Magazine Indonesia. He admitted that Indonesian readers begin to rely on online media as their source to know “what’s on” in IT industry, and it’s interesting that online media has been considered as a reliable source.

When I asked him about the decreased number of PC Magazine Indonesia’s readers as the side effect of this trend, he said the number of reader remains stable, and even though the decrease would happen, it wouldn’t be a reason for Femina Group to stop publishes PC Magazine Indonesia.

Looking to other publication run by Femina Group that has their specific theme, such as Femina, FIT, Cita Cinta, Gadis, AyahBunda, Men’s Health, Reader’s Digest, Dewi, Pesona, Seventeen, and Parenting, is it mean that Femina Group want to combine IT information to these media? or Femina Group plans to publish another computer magazine online?

We’ll wait and see…or maybe Femina Group would answer these questions?

Busway? No waaayyy...

2007-02-15T14:40:00.000+07:00

It supposed to be a nice comfortable public transportation that Pemprov Jakarta has promised and also be the answer for the city’s public transportations sad quality problem – but what turned out was really bad service quality provided by TransJakarta management. There were only limited busway units that should go running in service for thousand people. Republika wrote that only 10 new units are provided to serve four new corridors. The remaining units will be put into service in the following months. If that is the case, why can’t they just wait to operate ‘til the whole units are completed? hhmmm...

I experienced it myself last night in Busway Corridor 4 (Dukuh Atas). There were hundred of people flocked in the shelter bus with very minimum of air supplies for sure! When the bus came, the situation was getting even horrible; everyone tried ‘hardly’ getting in the bus by pushing one another.

Couldn’t stay longer in the situation like this, I called up my husband to pick me up instead.

On the way back home, we argued on who should be blamed for this and what sort of things can actually be done to resolve it. From my side, I think people here are not ready yet to adopt better facilities that require high level of discipline. Discipline in queuing is the most vital one and that’s precisely what our people lack of. How possible it is to enjoy a nice, comfy busway ride without even bothering to line up. Ckckckckc...people!

Am also wondering whether local govt had expressed their apology for this very unfortunate condition, which I think, is a must. At least let people know that you guys are also very much concerned and assuring them for immediate improvement at the soonest.

Click Of The Week: Andreas Harsono

2007-02-15T12:49:00.000+07:00

For this Click Of The Week, Tuhu has already make up his mind and choose Andreas Harsono's blog. In his blog, we also able to read about his story as a newly wed. Tuhu said that
Andreas Harsono’s blog is very interesting, because it depicts his personal day to day life stories as a journalist, book author, a new husband, and a caring father.
In his life as a journalist we can find writings on his passion to support the many struggling minorities in Indonesia. In his blog he tells stories on his travels around Indonesia from Sabang all the way to Merauke, and his exposure of the many different ethnic minorities’ and their struggles.
We can read these stories and his findings in the articles published in his blog, or the anthology book that he plans to publish soon.
In the blog Andreas also shares his personal life stories. You can find stories on love life, new wife, family and his relationship with his son. He tells the public all types of details of what is happening in his life.
"I think it’s sweet, because he is giving a glimpse of his life. His writings in the blog show his “humanistic” point of view, instead of “journalistic” jibber jabber. He conveys to us his dreams, his daily life, and his opinions about his country in a truthful, unedited, compelling and simple writings," said Tuhu.

Newstainment?

2007-02-12T10:51:00.000+07:00

A few days ago, I had lunch with a friend of mine. He used to work as a program director for several well-known radio stations in Jakarta, before finally pursue his passion in music industry and join a digital music distribution company.

Anyway, on the way back to the office, he mentioned that lately, he and his wife watched late-night news program on a daily basis to find out up-to-date information on the Jakarta’s flood. Turned out, he got so annoyed by the performance of late-night news presenters in several private TV stations in Indonesia.

In his opinion, these news presenters were acting and dressing more like infotainment presenters: they move back and forth on stage, then sit down, and stand up again while delivering the news, they wear informal dress with too much accessories, they put on these curly wigs with bright color (the model worn in sinetrons), and the intonation of their speech sounds so ‘infotainment’*--while according to his experience, there are certain tones and intonations that should be used by news presenters.

“News presenters are supposed to be firm, right? You’ll never find such news presenter perform that way in Al-Jazeera, BBC, DW-TV, just name it! Where are those days when a woman like Desi Anwar stood firmly in front of the camera and deliver professional TV journalism?” he murmured.

After I watched the late-night news program, I kind of understand why he and his wife got so annoyed—why, his wife is a mass communication lecturer, and she knows exactly how a news presenter should dress up!

Ideally, a “news anchor” or “news presenter” is someone who appears on screen in professional dress (a suit, a blazer), delivering the news in certain intonation with a firm gesture (and I heard there are special trainings for becoming news presenters!). But, I don’t know if these ‘infotainment-style' tendency has becoming a new trend in Indonesian late-night news program... does it mark the birth of 'newstainment' of some sort?

Probably because the news program was aired late at night, the TV stations thought that colorful wigs, constant movements, and fancy dress would be tremendously eye-catching; it prevents you from falling asleep while watching the news. Or the stations are just lacking of night-shift news presenters?

Hmm, are there certain patterns to follow in news anchoring? Anyone can shed some lights here?
..................................

*I have nothing against infotainment presenters. Really. They’re supposed to wear fancy dress and accessories. So, no offense! :)

note: image was taken from Corbis, with keyword tv program

On blog code of ethics

2007-02-12T07:38:00.000+07:00

An interesting topic above was discussed last Friday during sharing session with our special guests – Mas ‘Ndoro Kakung’ Wicaksono and Mas Budi Putra from Tempo. Big thanks for these Indonesian leading bloggers for dropping by.

It was really a perfect time for us to have them around since we were really curious on their opinions about blog code of ethics. This was related to one of the Mavericks’ ‘unpleasant’ experience with her recent blog posting about a complaint to an organization.

Through a lively session Mas Budi shared his comment that blog must have certain rule to follow. The fact that blog has become accessible anytime anywhere and by everyone - then the content must be based on the facts that bloggers have experienced. Meaning, not any single of bluffs is allowed!

Important to note that blog is one of the new media for everyone to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings on any issues they are interested in. Thus, bloggers have the absolute rights to voice their opinions and have feedbacks/comments from their links.

A good example brought up was Sun Microsystem case. One of their customers posted his disappointment on the product through blog. Soon after, the CEO of the company replied him by admitting the company’s lack of service and therefore he apologized for the unfortunate condition. He emphasized in a polite way that nothing on this earth are perfect and that would include one of their failed products. Also, he ensured that the same thing wouldn’t happen again in the future.

Yeap, The CEO had successfully made a respective image towards the company! This example reflected the blog power as one of the effective medium for corporate to stay close with customers and be updated on what’s going on with them.

Indonesian Broadcasting Comission: a new Formation

2007-02-09T19:45:00.000+07:00

The broadcasting industry is one of the fast-growing industry in Indonesia. Believe it or not, presently there are more than 50 TV stations, national and local, and hundreds of radio stations through out the nation. Although oftentimes the public expresses concerns over the quality of programs being offered, mostly by national TV stations, the industry is persistently growing, with few mergers here an there.

As an influential industry, one that can create public awareness, drive perceptions, and propose actions, the broadcasting industry, as many other industries, needs a set of rules. Here comes the Broadcasting Law No. 32/2002 and thus the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), responsible to make, implement, and sanction regulations to the broadcasting industry, TV and radio stations.

Some might say that in the last three years, the Commission has done little, even failed, to change the industry to favor the general public interests -- that is for stations to provide other than violence, pornography, and supernatural programs. While advocators feel that the public should have faith in the Commission -- as it is not its fault that other government institution is trying hard to take away its authority.

Well, last Monday to Thursday, the Communication Commission of the House of Representatives has conducted fit and proper tests on 36 candidates for the new members of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission. The result is a new 9-member-formation announced yesterday.

Congratulations to M. Izzul Muslimin, Fetty Fajriati, S. Sinansari ecip, Bimo Nugroho Sekundatmo, Selamun Yoanes Bosko, M. Riyanto, Sasa Djuarsa Sendjaja, Amar Ahmad and Yazirwan Uyun as the new members, and be prepared as difficult tasks awaiting.

Notice that the new formation consist of names from the industry, which was never been a part of the previous members’. Hopefully with industry representatives, the Commission is now equipped with experienced know-how and, at the same time, gained industry’s support.

For me, if it’s damn hard to drive the industry into the right direction, why not prepare the public for the journey. Media literacy has always been an effective way to equipped the public that the control is actually in their hand. Let the public choose what to see and listen, and what’s not.

Maverick Click Of The Week: Duncan Graham

2007-02-07T13:26:00.000+07:00

Some journalist, used their blog as a news-shelf, a place where they can put all their articles that have already published.
One of them is Duncan Graham, a foreign freelance journalist who lived in Surabaya.
In his blog you can see almost all his article about Indonesia. His articles are quite vary and very interesting. Mersa, who chose his blog for this Maverick click of the week, said:

I picked Mr. Duncan Graham’s blog, (indonesianow.blogspot.com) because I feel his blog has an interesting point of view, the view of a foreigner that has adapted with the East Javanese lifestyle. He seems to me to be a lofo (local foreigner hehehehhehe………), a person who understands the East Javanese people, culture and habits but is somehow always trying to rationalize it with his western upbringing. Which we all know some times doesn’t fit well with one another.
But all in all I think that state of confusion gives him a broader sense of thinking because it makes him think outside the box. He isn’t confined to one pattern of thought. In a sense he is a ‘bi-cultural’ man and it shows in his writings which are rational, indiscriminate, truthful and most of all an unapologetic. All of that I believe is reflected in one of his writings which he posted in his blog titled “A Jelly Bean Journalist in Surabaya” (http://indonesianow.blogspot.com/2006/11/jellybean-journalist-in-surabaya.html).
Sometimes perspectives from a far can give you a clearer view of an object but to get the details you must see it up close. I think because Mr Graham is a lofo, he has the rare talent to see Indonesia from the macro and micro point of view. And due to that and the other reasons above I am picking indonesianow.blogspot.com as the click of the week. Overall I want to say that after reading your blog I am a new D to the U to the N to the C to the A to the N to the G to the R to the A to the H to the A to the M fan, keep up the good work my Friend……………….. I mean Mr Duncan (hauhauahuahua).
Happy reading!

Mainstream Media Enters the Blogosphere

2007-02-06T18:23:00.000+07:00

We have sung our praise for Tempo for entering the blogosphere through its Blog Tempo Interaktif recently.

Not only that The Jakarta Post will most likely follow suit, as written by Unspun, I’ve also been told that Bisnis Indonesia is also considering launching a blog. They’re still in the preliminary stage of determining the concept though. Just a thought… Something like what The Age has done is pretty neat.

Anyway, can’t wait to see how it all pans out!

Welcome to flood

2007-02-06T08:47:00.000+07:00

Once again, our five-annually guest came to Jakarta: Flood. And it still amazed me what water can do to disrupt people in Jakarta.

I remember in 2002, when there’s also a heavy flood in Jakarta, many of my colleagues must take about three or five hours to get to the office. Usually they only take about half hour or at least one and half hours to get to the office.

This time, concern about the traffic in the street (I’m kind of a bad temper in the street….), I push my self to go to the office earlier. And it means that I have to take a bath before 05:00 p.m.

Flooding disaster this year, make me more amazed what water can do. And maybe it goes the same way with the government, they too amazed to the flood situation and they almost do nothing. (well, at least to some people…err…or to majority?)

I mean, this flooding disaster came every years, and it became worse every five years, and why government seem don’t have any plan about this? I remember that in the past two years, government always busy mumbling, even yelling, about busway project.

It doesn’t mean that busway project is not important, it is important. But do they realize about rainy season five-year cycle? Do they realize that they have to choose the priority for public?

That one thing, the other thing is:

I saw Bang Yos at the talkshow in Metro TV few days ago, sometimes in weekend if I’m not mistaken, he interviewed about flood disaster in Jakarta. One question from Metro TV announcer’s that still banging in my head is: “What government anticipation about flooding disaster this year?”

And Bang Yos answered: “Well, we distributed survival-boat more quickly, and develop more posko banjir, and distributed other survival-logistic faster….”

…..

I thought ‘anticipation’ is some kind actions BEFORE something happen, not DURING the situation.

Well Bang Yos, maybe you need our juicy and fruitful Media Training Session.

note: photo was taken from corbis with keyword: flood in Jakarta.

Maverick Click Of The Week: Satrio Arismunandar

2007-02-01T18:35:00.000+07:00

How do you like to see what’s behind the journalist mind? Please read Satrio Arismunandar blog’s. His blog was chosen by Adwi. Why Adwi did choose the blog? Here’s his explanation:

Here’s someone I think very experienced, considering that he has work both in print and broadcast media. And one thing worth noted is that a skilled PR practitioner he is -- although oftentimes denying this fact. We are not, however, going comment on Satrio Arismunandar the person. The main focus here is Satrio Arismunandar (http://satrioarismunandar6.blogspot.com/) the blog. “For the Eagles and True Traveler,” is the tagline, as well as the purpose of this blog, I suppose. The blog itself is fairly simple: it has no side bars which most bloggers out there competing to stamp on their blogs. From the lay out, readers might thought this is a dull one. The straightforward writers focus on the content. Here readers can find many sorts of writings from poems, short stories, articles, to tips and tricks. To quote the writer, “a creation without the any benefits, is a waste….”

I was a former journalist, and sometimes journalist cannot express what they feel and think about some case that they find on the field. They can’t just write about it and submitted their article to editor’s for tomorrow edition. There is some media policy that kind of chained the journalist creativity, especially in reporting some critical issues.

Anyway Satrio Arismunandar has found a way to express his thought and feeling: bloging.
Good job Mr. Arismunandar, it's always nice to 'see' you around mailing list.

Will CSR (in Indonesia) loose its spirit?

2007-02-01T16:56:00.000+07:00

Investor daily today, published an article on the government plan to issue the regulation on CSR practices.

The source in the article said that only 2% companies in Indonesia apply CSR. This reflected the low awareness of CSR practice among business players and the fact that CSR is not the matter they even consider about.

From my side, CSR is no longer responsibility when the government is involved in regulating it. Agree with Faisal Basri who was quoted in the article, he said, “With the government’s regulation, CSR would then loose its spirit”

Looking at the above small percentage, I believe the more important thing that government should do is a thorough examination on how to boost the number of CSR practitioners (companies) in Indonesia, without creating the sense of ordering people to do so.

The key word is ‘the awareness’, how to raise awareness is not as simply as issuing stiff regulation. Continuous and keen commitment from government to encourage companies could be translated into series of communications program or campaign.

The essence of CSR is the commitment from the companies to create better living in the society by putting your continues effort in it. CSR is no longer taken as the company’s cost but it is the investment for the future of the company itself.

Thus, I personally believe CSR is not the task that people can order you to do.

I can imagine many companies would only practicing CSR just for the sake of fulfilling their obligation to the government, that’s it! No sincere commitment from the companies to bring the betterment for the community they operate in.

If that happens, better use other terms then. How about Corporate Good ‘Responsibilities’?

(image was taken from corbis, with keyword: social responsibility)

Malaysia Tourism Board, Disappointing

2007-01-31T18:59:00.000+07:00

Malaysia Tourism Board invited over 190 journalists from all over the world to witness the opening of Floral Festival 2007, which was part of the Visit Malaysia 2007 program.

From Indonesia, 17 journalists from 10 media – 7 printed media, 3 tv stations -- followed the 5 days trip in Malaysia (Jan 25th to 30th). I got a chance to represent SCTV to go there together with Anca Leksmana (producer) and Bambang Triyono (cameraman). Being invited by the Malaysia Tourism Board, I had a high expectation that it would be a fun and easy trip, in the sense of we would get easy access to explore interesting places in the country.
However, it surprised me that in most of the places written on the itinerary, we couldn’t shoot anything! Actually, when we just arrived at the hotel, the first thing I asked to the Senior Tourism Officer of Malaysia Tourism Board was a simple letter stating that they invited SCTV to come to promote the country for Visit Malaysia 2007, in case we needed it. But, to write such letter, the officer said that they needed two weeks time! Geezz.. Why does it take so long to write a simple letter? I understand bureaucracy might be complicated, but couldn’t they make it simpler to ease the work of the journalists?

So, we were there for 6 days, had an itinerary on hands that looks fabulous from outside but useless. For example, there was a shopping tour program for 5 hours in 2 shopping malls and IKEA. But then, in these malls, it was forbidden to shoot anything. As journalists who work for a TV station, what’s the point going there if we couldn’t record anything? We came to Malaysia to work, not for holidays. We are not tourists.

Another small example, we were scheduled to have lunch at a revolving restaurant at KL Tower. We also couldn’t shoot there and the manager even had no idea that a TV station from Indonesia would come. Being in KL Tower, the 4th tallest tower in the world, it would be such a waste if we couldn’t shoot some scenes from the top of the tower. So, we contacted the PR of KL Tower by ourselves. I got her number from a French journalist who works in KL. We got a good response from her as she realized that it would be a good exposure for KL Tower. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and it was such a short notice. She could only assign a customer service to take us to see the facilities that they have and shoot there. If we contacted her earlier (on the workdays), then she could have arrange a tour to the top of the tower, which is not a public area. Wouldn’t it be amazing?

She wanted the Tourism Board to contact her to confirm that it was true SCTV came on behalf of their invitation. So, we asked the representative of the board to call her. Apparently, she already contacted the Tourism Board in KL herself. And this caused a little bit of a crisis in the board (Malaysia and Indonesia offices). The representative of the board from Indonesia who brought us there, called us up saying that her boss was angry at her and now she looked so stupid and unprofessional in doing her job. So, she warned us not to contact any parties directly in the future. Oh great! Being journalists on a TV station, our job is to get a good picture and produce a good show. If the board didn’t do their homework in arranging permit to shoot in any places, then as journalists, it was our instinct to contact the party directly. Especially, when we could get direct access to the party (journos always know how to get direct access, right? ;))

Being a PR myself, I couldn’t believe how the Malaysia Tourism Board didn’t understand what the media needed. A TV station doesn’t need to go to IKEA and eat at a fancy restaurant if they couldn’t get any story (and picture) out of it. Plus, there are so many nice places in Malaysia that actually we could explore for 5 days, apart from staying in Kuala Lumpur only! Too bad the board didn’t allow us to go outside KL (only to Genting Highlands and Putrajaya). They should’ve created a program highlighting the best spots in the country and most importantly, arranged a permit in each of the places so that we could shoot there freely.

Plus, we got a tour guide that had no experience in guiding the media. She made our days even harder as she always forbids us to shoot here and there, even in Petaling Street (China Town)! Ckckck.. (but we tried to convince her that it was ok to shoot there and if anything bad happens , we wouldn’t blame her. Oyeah, we also managed to drag her to take us to Batu Caves Temple after the Genting Highlands trip. Batu Caves wasn't included in the itinerary, but we had to go there, otherwise we wouldn't have enough images/stories for the show due to all the limitations)

So, 5 days in KL, we felt frustrated. Frustated by the board and… by the tour guide! Hopefully, next year the board does their homework well and knows the needs of each type of the media. If not, it would be such a waste to invite many journos from all over the world if they couldn’t maximize their work during their stay there.

Now you know how frustated we were when filming the show. This is a behind the screen story ;). The "Melancong Yuk" Malaysia episodes will be aired on Saturday, 3 February and Sunday, 4 February at 6.30am in SCTV.
It will be 2 different episodes, full of hard work and lots of candid shots. So, make sure you watch both of them! ;)

An Ernest Talk About the Music Recording Industry

2007-01-30T16:04:00.000+07:00

Last Friday, we had Ernest Prakasa, Radio Promo Executive of SonyBMG - Indonesia for our sharing session.

For most of the Mavericks, the subject was very interesting because we haven't had much knowledge about the industry itself from the perspective of the companies. However, for some it was more personal. Yasha is also a manager for a musician, while Mersa, apparently had once submitted a demo to SonyBMG and never heard any news about it from them! At least Mersa's career in PR looks more promising than that...

So the Mavs learned that music demo tapes and CDs that people submit gets dumped in a storage room of the Artist and Repertoire department. I can imagine that while it seems that its just a messy room with thousands of dusty CDs and CVs, it's also a room of broken hopes, of the thousands who wish to one day become popstars or rockstars.

We also found out from Ernest the general idea on what they really do for the artist. He said that SonyBMG handle the marketing and promotion of the album and its songs, while buliding the image of the artist is the responsibility of the artist management. The label can only give advice about the image building, he said. Previously we thought that image building is part of the label's responsibilities.

I think SonyBMG as a big company do not think that PR as an important part for the company. We discussed a lot about how they handle the information published to media. Ernest say they cannot do much in managing information about their artist. For example, they cannot do much when in a press conference for an album launching, the media only interested in the personal life of the celebrities, not in the album launching itself.

I think as a company, it is time for them to start caring about it. They must give the media information that has value for both sides, and not simply do a one way pitch.

Another interesting story about this sharing session is that some associate were really eager to know how they can be signed for an album with SonyBMG. Hmmm, sounds like some of the associates have secret ambition to be celebrities. So when's Indonesian Idol gonna start the audition round for Jakarta?

The Brand-Free News

2007-01-30T13:58:00.000+07:00

It was around 3:30 am in a newsroom of this TV station I used to work for. I had the graveyard shift and was really trying hard to look completely awake and alert that night, especially at the top of the hour as all eyes in front of their television were on me.

I found an interesting news on APTN about how a customer found a finger inside a bowl of chili at a Wendy’s chain in Las Vegas, if I’m not mistaken. I ecstatically told the producer about it, saying that this is news that would get people’s eyes open at that time of the day. So there I was translating this story for my script, getting the video edited to be aired for the next Headline.

This was supposed to be my highlight of the day. Yet when I was on air, my script had changed. There was no more “chili”, no more “Wendy’s”. My damn script was edited!

After the show, I went to ask my team what happened to my script, and apparently one of the producers did not want to include brands in the news, although it was shown on the footage. It was said that such a thing would mean advertising (good or bad) for the brands.

I went to one of the UN offices the other day and they shared with me all of these programs that need funding. Other than the US-AID, AUS-AID, and other funding organizations, corporate sponsorships are badly needed. I also had been in the position where I had some great ideas for an event, yet I had insufficient funds to realize the concept, and needed sponsorship from product or corporations. The products and corporations, ultimately, need public exposure by such cooperation. Fair enough.

Recently I spoke with an old friend who now works for a newspaper that belongs to a major publication group. He said that this media group is very strict, if not too anal, about news coverage that involve brands. He said that invitation faxes that bear sponsors logo would easily get thrown in the trash bin. I’m really sad to hear that.

Why are brands censored by the media? I believe that the audience needs to know the details of the news, for reference, for inspiration, as a warning, or anything. Should the brand or company do bad things, of course it should be made public. Yet when they do good things to society, why not give them credit for it?

I know for sure that editors do get the heat from the sales department for “promoting” brands/services in their content. Hell, I was once guilty for that when I was in the advertising sales dept of a youth radio. But what happens when editorial team gets a cut of the sales? A TV station is already doing that, and when I offered them a famous and respectable guest for a show, I was asked to talk to the Sales department. I mean… come on…

Another case is when I spoke to a local TV about providing a guest speaker from Maverick to talk about Crisis management on current issues on their program. The exec producer immediately told me that he couldn’t have the company’s name credited on the Title (under the name of the person), and that it could only be a “Pengamat Komunikasi” or “Praktisi Komunikasi”. So I replied “Don’t you think your audience would want to know who they’re watching, what this person does, what company is he/she from?”

There are so many people out there who are dubbed experts and not many people are actually aware of what their real occupation and field of expertise. Ong Hock Chuan calls it Expertitis in his unspun blog.

So, if you’re in the media and you’re still censoring out these brands… Relax. News is news and the people have the right to know. What do you think?

The Power of Mailing List

2007-01-29T16:05:00.000+07:00

Everybody now talking about blog and blogging, even some companies have blogs to communicate with their stakeholders. But many people forget about the mailing lists which can create quite an impact to brands or corporate image.

I remember some cases that has happened in Indonesia such as Mizone and Top One Oil. I had been receiving lots of e-mails from my many mailing lists about how Mizone used some preservative in their products long long ago before the issue became a national issue.

The same case happens with Top One Oil. As the many versions of the commercial were airing on TV with all of its celebrity endorsers, I had been receiving many negative e-mails about the product. But I personally thought that the company responded really late to the issue. It seemed that they only did so AFTER it became a big issue in society.

And why do companies respond late to this kind of issues generated and distributed through the mailing lists? I think there are two possibilities: The BOD or the Communications Department of these companies don't think that it would grow into a big issue, or they cannot simply oversee all mailing lists, since there are millions of maling lists on the net.

This can be dangerous as the issues could get a snowball effect. Forwarding the emails is just a click of a button, and these emails spread like a virus. Some of the 'viruses' can mean death to these companies.

A Night Out

2007-01-23T09:07:00.000+07:00

Everyone was excited. Bets were being made and the whole atmosphere in the Maverick’s office last Friday was bubbly because we were going Go Karting. That’s right! 20 Associates were ready to get onto those mini cars and show what they got. Everything seemed to go as planned. We all met at the Speedy Karting at Hanggar Teras in Pancoran. Amiauw the Operation Manager was so kind to give us tips and tricks about how to succeed in the sport. Everyone was listening attentively and you could tell that some were ready to jump into these little cars and drive off.

You can see from the photo that they were in the mood to go racing. Team #1 consisted of Ong, Herry, Rini and Rommy. Every team was meant to go for 6 rounds but when Team 1 was out there racing along and the rest of us cheering them, it suddenly started to rain. I could not believe it. It had to rain that Friday at that particular time when we wanted to have a night out. Errr…..
The winner of that short race was our good old Rommy who had the skills and the body weight to keep him close to ground ;) second came Herry and then followed by Rini and who would have thought that Ong came in last. Maybe he was just being modest. Who knows.

Since we could not continue with the racing we had to quickly think of a Plan B. Clearly the Pizza that I ordered was not enough for 20 people (I know I know…I’m sorry guys) so Ong decided that we will have a feast at Bebek Bali which is located at Taman Ria Senayan. After a long wait, the food finally arrived and it was yummy. By then we forgot that the rain ruined our night out and instead enjoyed the cozy atmosphere with all of us at one table. We chatted, laughed, ate lots and took silly photo. I hope all of you enjoyed yourself and lets see what we decide to do for next night’s outing! Until then!

Yet Another Lifestyle Magazine in Town: 69++

2007-01-19T15:35:00.000+07:00

I just read this new magazine called 69++, a free magazine that was launched last night. My colleague Indri went to the launch last night. On the cover, it states that it is a lifestyle and shopping magazine. I personally think that 69++ is quite a cool brand for a lifestyle magazine, but then I changed my mind when I saw the cover of the magazine. I don't wanna judge a magazine by its cover, but I'd have to say that this magazine looks very serious.

When I saw the cover of magazine, it really reminded me of the cover of “Jurnal Perempuan” magazine. "Jurnal Perempuan", if you didn't already know it, is a magazine containing articles on women's rights. And when I started reading the pages, I concluded that the content of the magazine is not that of a lifestyle magazine.

Most of the issues in the articles of this magazine are too serious for lifestyle magazine. I thought I was the target market of this magazine, since the rate card bookmark inserted in the middle page state that this magazine is for 25-45 years old, urban dwellers, established, and dynamic. But how come I don't feel like the content of the magazine is for me?

The other thing I noticed from this magazine is that it has a Tempo magazine style of writing. I was informed that the editor in chief was a Tempo journalist, but I also recognized the style as I know that Tempo is one of the pioneers in Indonesian media to use the literary writing style.

I hope that the next edition of this magazine will contain more lifestyle information. And someone please do something about the layout. For a lifestyle magazine, it surely needs that STYLE element. I know that first editions are always tough, but if a magazine want to survive, it really must adapt with the customers expectation. This one fell short of mine.

The Highlander: Not for eternity

2007-01-19T08:49:00.000+07:00

Have you ever been to The Highlander pub at the Grand Kemang Hotel?
I’m not a regular customer myself. I went there once to enquire prices for a private party. And since then, they included my email in their promotion mailing list. No probs… at least until yesterday, when I unexpectedly received this rather ‘abnormal’ message…

--------------------
To whom it might concerned

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I wrote you this e-mail in regards to letting all the highlander costumers know that all of you being fraud by The highlander scottish pub and restaurant.

Recently they just put the beer price up, without further notice from the restaurant management. The steak measurement is way bellow standards, they serve only 80 gr of steak instead of 200 gr, they put a lot of vegetable instead of meat inside their pies.

They put 21% of service but they are only paying the hotel management 17,5%, they never pay tax, they paid all of their staff under goverment standards of payment, they didn't provide the staff with medical insurance, they let one of their kitchen staff died becasuse of the air circulation in the kitchen area is bad, the gas in the kitchen always leaking, etc

PLEASE IF YOU TOLARATE THIS IT MEANS YOU ARE SUPPORTING LOOSE CRIMINALS,...STOP COMING TO THE HIGHLANDER, AND SHOW THAT YOU CARE
--------------------

The person who sent this email to me (and to 45 other recipients) is definitely disgruntled. Anybody out there knows what had happened to this Scottish-themed pub?

Counterfeit medicines: another health hurdle

2007-01-16T19:19:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I went to an Anti-Counterfeiting Workshop for Pharmaceutical Products held by the US ASEAN Business Council. Guess what? I found out that in 1995, 60.000 people in Nigeria were inoculated with fake meningitis vaccine. The most extreme was that in 2001, when 192.000 patients in China died after taking counterfeit drugs.

Would you believe this?! It bound on me that this counterfeit drug is a serious matter. Consuming counterfeit drugs would result in sick people end up sicker, wider epidemic spread and prevention failure (in case of fake vaccines), numerous unwanted effects, and in extreme cases, death

Too bad we do not have the exact numbers as counterfeit drugs are not always identified or reported, unless there are casualties involved. But are we gonna wait ‘till someone dies?

Apparently, the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) has taken steps to put an end to the problem. BPOM has made a number approach to tackle this 'obat palsu' matter. They are trying to break the supply chain, conduct national joint operation and investigation (with law enforcement agencies), carry out comprehensive investigation and mopping up what is already in circulation, strengthen the infrastructure, and break the demand chain (increase public awareness).

However, in my opinion, BPOM shouldn’t be the only one taking on the responsibilities (as stated otherwise in Detik.com, 15 January 2007, "Obat Palsu Beredar Luas, Pemerintah Yang Tanggung Jawab"). The legal drug manufacturing companies, wholesalers and retailers, as well as health professionals should also make efforts to put an end to drugs counterfeiting.

The International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group (IPMG), for example, has put up a national award for anti counterfeiting journalism. The award is a form of appreciation from the industry for journalists’ efforts in providing beneficial information and increasing public awareness on counterfeit drugs.

Well, the simplest and safest way to combat this problem is to buy medicines in legal, registered pharmacy.

Larger than Ekskul

2007-01-10T14:40:00.000+07:00

The whole FFI fiasco is getting more interesting as the mainstream media have been picking it up, not just the infotainment shows. Yesterday morning I took time to watch the Bayu show on Liputan6 Pagi SCTV where Mira Lesmana as a representative of the Masyarakat Film Indonesia (MFI) duked it out with Remy Silado, jury of the FFI. Tonight, let’s watch it again in SCTV’s Topik Minggu Ini.

At a glance, this might seem like a battle between the young filmmakers against their seniors. The seniors, in this case, happened to be represented by those who were members of the FFI jury, which had created the controversy when they picked the film Ekskul as Best Picture in the recent FFI awards show.

Last Wednesday the MFI held a press conference in which members and past winners of the Piala Citra returned their trophies in protest of the victory of the film “Ekskul” an Indika Films production. They claimed that the movie, besides other factors, have illegally used original score (that’s usually the orchestra music in a movie) from movies such as Gladiator and Munich (by composer John Williams and Hans Zimmer).

The battle between the young filmmakers (according to many media, although Mira Lesmana is actually 40) vs the veterans, reached another level when critically acclaimed veteran actor/director/producer Deddy Mizwar also joined the “movement” and returned his Citra trophy. Suddenly it’s not so much of a young vs old battle.

This morning, I saw a “creative” infotainment program comparing film clips of the movies “Ekskul” and “Munich” containing the same part of the musical score, to prove that the local production did use the music of the latter. Of course, no production company or composer was credited during the public viewing (usually done by placing a credit title at the bottom of the screen, such as “Munich - Courtesy of Universal Pictures”). I also wonder if international music publishing companies (with local reps here) will do more of this and start legal battles with the media who illegally use their copyrighted products.

So I recently spoke to a member of the MFI, who really was trying to straighten out the news, that this whole movement is NOT about the protest to get Shanker BS of Indika Entertainment return the Best Picture Citra trophy, but rather to reform the local regulation on films, filmmaking, censorships, etc. so that Indonesia ultimately can advance culturally through the film medium.

I guess the general public will never really understand what exactly is going on in that industry unless the media starts touching more on the real issues rather than just the most controversial aspects of it. The MFI has received much attention by having Indonesia’s top young actors and actresses on their side and giving up their trophies, but so far, the public attention has not been on the broader issues that they want to bring up to the surface. The Mavs are just really curious on the communication strategy of the MFI to reach their objective.

Let’s just see how this circus turns out.

Maverick Click of the Week: Not just an ordinary Tea

2007-01-10T12:39:00.000+07:00

When we drive up to Puncak, West Java, we get to see signs on the side of the road selling Teh Benalu. This has nothing to do with this week’s Click of the Week, unless you’re just like me who really dug the word plays in the Da Vinci Code. Yes, based on Hanny’s recommendation, this week’s pick is the blog of Jalu of Tabloid Soccer. This blog is entitled “Kang Jalu tea… “ (get it?)

If you’re Indonesian, then you’ll know right away that Kang Jalu is Sundanese and there is no such thing as the Kang Jalu brand tea.

Enough with that Yasha-ism joke, we picked his blog because although it has not been run for years, the entries are really fresh (and not soccer related). By reading his posts, we can feel his excitement about blogging as his newfound passion. However, he’s still got questions on how his blog could be known by others in the blogosphere, as reflected in this posting:

Namun, hingga sekarang, saya masih bingung, bagaimana cara mempublish kepada orang-orang, terutama teman dan rekan, bahwa saya sudah punya blog ini? Memberi tahu URL nya mungkin cara termudah, tapi bukan itu solusinya. Sebab, sebagian besar teman dan rekan saya itu, bukanlah pribadi yang doyan membuka blog, apalagi kalau teman cowok. Jelas malas lah membuka blog saya ini...

Perhaps one of the ways is to regularly write postings and updating it. Another way is by blogwalking and expanding your blog network. Or tirelessly let your friends know that you have a blog, and perhaps one day get your blog picked as the Click of the Week ;>

Betawi Albino

2007-01-07T14:27:00.000+07:00

It is certainly not easy for me at times to live in Jakarta. When people look at me they see the young female bule and probably think that I have no idea about Indonesia's culture and politics. But once I open my mouth they don't seem to be able to close theirs.
People here are so shocked when they find out that I can understand and speak the language that it is annoying when you are in the middle of telling them something, while they are still in shock hearing me speak bahasa gaul. Someone asked me once where my family is and I would start with "bokap gw ....". I can't just continue as they are obviously not listening anymore but rather go: "ya ampun, kok bahasa indonesia lo bagus bangat sih!" I don't want to come across as arrogant or anything like that, but I have heard that so many times now that it is getting on my nerves. It might be weird at the start when you meet me, but will you people please get over it.

I personally believe that any bule in Indonesia who is living here for more than a year should be able and willing to speak some Indonesian. We are in someone else’s country, so we should respect that and learn their language. The majority of bules don't even make an effort, and it has become a norm. It really bothers me that the majority of expatriates think that it is not worth while to appreciate the Indonesian culture.
From a business perspective, I think it is crucial.
I have met a lot of bule businessmen in Jakarta and Balikpapan who get a great salary simply because they are Caucasian. I start chatting with them and they just go on and on bitching about the locals. I find this straight out offensive and I can’t believe they have the audacity to even say such things when they should be in actual fact thankful for getting paid so much money compared to their Indonesian counterpart.

Maybe this sounds all a bit aggressive from my side, but I have witnessed this so many times, that I think it is time to share my observations and thoughts with you on this topic.

(I have lived in Jakarta now for 5 years and have to thank anak2 IKJ for teaching me while nongkrong at TIM for a couple of years. That's where i learned my bahasa gaul. The Indonesian language has become a part of me and I’m proud of it!)

PR Consultant Turns TV Host

2007-01-05T09:39:00.000+07:00

Apparently, being a TV presenter isn’t as easy as I thought. Four days of shooting in Sukabumi – Pelabuhan Ratu – Ujung Genteng were so colorful and full of unexpected things. Being appointed as the new presenter for "Melancong Yuk!", a traveling program in SCTV, I had to walk for miles in a slippery and stony path; swam in an icy water under a waterfall and waited there until the cameraman finished taking different angles of the waterfall (damn it was freezing cold!); woke up at 5.30am and be ready to take some shots or continue our journey (note: wake up early isn’t my thing at all!); sat quietly at the back of a military truck in the middle of a stormy night “only” to find giant turtles that were laying their eggs; almost carried away by the current when I had to learn surfing; and many more…

Apart from that, speaking in front of the camera itself is another interesting subject. For this program, I asked SCTV that I wanted to write my own script. But then, writing and speaking are two different things. “Cut!”, “Retake!”, “Action!” were the most frequent words came from the program director every time I slipped my tongue or lost my words (yeah, it happened many times! Hehehe…). Plus, while thinking on what to say, one had to be aware of the body language, intonation and facial expressions (oh, having experienced all these things, now I have a different opinion toward movie stars!)

Nevertheless, I had lots of fun and learned a lot from those four-days trip. It was definitely a whole new experience for me. And I guess, the whole crew (Gunawan as the Executive Producer, Iwan Gunawan as the program director, Bondan as the cameraman, Vino as the audioman and Mas Ahong as the driver who took us everywhere) also enjoyed the fun, especially when seeing me falling down into a giant turtle’s hole when it was just finished laying its eggs!!! Hahaha… Fortunately, the giant turtle already covered its eggs with earth, so there were safe ☺. But it was me who left in shocked! And instead of helping, everyone just couldn’t stop laughing. Gosh… I bet it was funny as hell.

On top of that, I felt so grateful that Maverick gave the flexibility that enabled me to take this opportunity offered by SCTV. Many thanks to both Maverick’s partners, Ong and Mbak Lita. Their permission reflects that as a company, Maverick encourages its consultants to grow, not only as a PR practitioner, but also as an individual.

Also thanks to SCTV for choosing me as the new presenter for “Melancong Yuk!” :).

My first gig will be aired next Sunday, 7 January 2007 at 6.30am on SCTV. Don’t miss it yaaahh!!! You can also see it at .

Note:
“Melancong Yuk”! airs every Saturday and Sunday at 6.30am on SCTV.
I will take turn with a male presenter, Ferly Junandar, to present various interesting places that are perfect for holidays ;)

New Faces in Maverick

2007-01-03T16:42:00.000+07:00

Maverick welcomes three new associates today, its first day of operation in 2007. They are Tuhu Nugraha, Dorte Luedecke and Mersa Siswowaluyo.

Tuhu is a graduate of Padjadjaran University majoring in International Relations, and continued his Master’s degree on Management at Gadjah Mada University. As a student Tuhu was active as a coordinator of various student activities and won several prizes in debates and speech contests. He is also the Chairman of Smart Corner Club MM GMU, a live weekly radio talkshow discussing a variety of business topics.

Born in Germany, Dorte got her BA degree in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne, Australia after completing her IB diploma in Jakarta. In Australia, she interned at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and worked on a TV pilot program. Fascinated by Indonesia’s culture, politics and media, she returned to Jakarta in April 2006 to see what it’s like to work here. Since then she has worked as an Event Consultant in corporate and government events such as the Balikpapan Expo ’06 and the Indonesia Infrastructure 2006 – Conference and Exhibition.

Mersa is a familiar face in Maverick, as he’s been working in the media tracking division, before joining the consultancy side. Mersa holds a BA degree in Economics from Western Michigan University and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Business Law at Universitas Padjadjaran. Before joining Maverick he had a wide range of employment experiences, that range from being a resident assistant, a luxury car salesman, and a freelance marketing consultant for several domestic mining companies.

The three of them are eager and excited to start their career in Maverick. Or as Dorte put it, “Maverick is well known in the PR circle and it made me curious to find out what it is that makes Maverick, Maverick,” Mersa, who’s been around Maverick for four months may have the answer. He said, “I felt Maverick was a good choice for me to be part of, mainly due to their no non-sense approach towards business and their result oriented culture that get things done when and where it is needed.“

Well guys, we are as excited as you are to roll out the new year with kick ass work. And for that, we have assembled an eclectic and complementary mix of talents like you are. More importantly, we put our heart and soul in doing our job, and that what makes Maverick, Maverick.

Maverick blog in "Top Ten Blogger Indonesia 2006"

2007-01-03T08:51:00.000+07:00

Today's our first day back to the office and Ong suddenly informed me that Fatih Syuhud has listed our blog in the Top Ten Blogger Indonesia in 2006.

What an honor, and this is quite a New Year's present for us all. Thanks Fatih!

This is what Fatih wrote:

My friend, Ong Hock Chuan, is the founder of the blog, calls it the Corporate Blog. It's written collaboratively by all guys in Maverick, a media and PR consultant. I wonder how Ong still has time to blog in between his must-be hectic activities. A good example for any other Indonesian entrepreneurs to learn to get rid of the "I am very busy" culture.

Actually Ong has been more active in his unspun blog than the Maverick blog, but he has been overseeing it as well.

Anyway, Maverick bloggers will be conducting a major activity this month, so make sure that you keep checking in.

Again, happy new year!

Season's Greetings

2006-12-23T10:44:00.000+07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tzLJKaM_8k

Maverick's Click of the Week #6 : Budi Boga

2006-12-20T09:19:00.000+07:00

One of the things that the outside world does not know about Mavericks is that WE LIKE TO EAT. So when we ask our friends in the media out to lunch, it’s also because we love to indulge ourselves in different culinary experiences. Therefore, for this week’s Maverick Click of the Week, we pick the blog of Budi Sutomo (the name sounds like one of the forefathers of Indonesia, doesn’t it?) entitled Gizi & Kuliner by Budi. I personally prefer to call the blog as Budi Boga. It seems catchier that way.

The Budi Boga blog was nominated by Shilla of Maverick, who definitely loves to eat, especially spicy foods. In fact, I think her consumption ratio per meal is about 2:3 (2 for chili sauce or past to 3 for the actual meal). This is her reason for picking Budi Sutomo’s blog as Maverick Click of the Week:

I pick http://budiboga.blogspot.com. You ask why? Because we share the same passion: food and culinary! =)
Budi is currently an editor of the diet and nutrition column in Dokter Kita magazine. He had also written 15 recipe books. His books were published by the Gramedia Group.
He also had been the culinary editor of Kartini.

Since it was first launched on April 2006, the blog has over 58 thousand hits! Some of his postings were also published in magazines and tabloids.

Not only that Budi posted his recipes, he also posted interesting writings on diet and nutrition.
Better still, he wrote his travel experiences and accompanied his postings with photos of mouth watering food... Yumm...

I reckon he could be the next Jamie Oliver!

Budi had actually asked us on our blog to be invited to one of the press events that we help organize. So far we haven’t found the right one for him, but for now we have found that his blog is worthy for our Click of the Week. Perhaps Budi would like to come by our office as a guest for our Sharing Session on one Friday, and share with us his knowledge on some tasty nutritious foods. Please bring some food when you do come ya, Mas Budi.. ha ha

Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna 2006: The Winners!!!

2006-12-18T09:45:00.000+07:00

Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna 2006 officially announced its first winners in an awarding night conducted in Grand Ballroom of Sheraton Hotel, Surabaya (Dec 15).

After Effendi Ghazali as AAS Board of Judges' representative presented AAS judges report, Butet Kertaradjasa performed two episodes of monologue about journalism that made all viewers laugh out loud.

But the creme-de-la-creme of the night was, of course, the winners announcement!

Indonesian jazz legend Bubi Chen and senior music journalist Bens Leo, hightened the tension as they climbed on stage to present the nominees for art & music performance category. And the winners are:

Hardnews: Adi Marsiela from Suara Pembaruan
Feature: Bambang Sulistyo from Gatra
Photo: Yudhi Sukmawijaya from Jurnal Nasional

The trophy was handed to all winners by Angky Camaro, Managing Director PT HM Sampoerna Tbk.

Award presenters for the sport category were Drs. Moh. Syadeli, 6 time consecutive Gold medalist in PON in wrestling, and Sumohadi Marsis, a senior sport journalist who are still active in KONI Pusat. The winners are:

Hardnews: Bastian Alkaf from Mata Banua - Banjarmasin
Feature: Adi Prinantyo from Kompas
Photo: Sugeng Deas from Jawa Pos

The trophy was given to all winners by Vice Mayor of Surabaya, Arif Affandi. Unfortunately, Adi Prinantyo from Kompas couldn't come and receive the trophy himself, since he's still on duty in Qatar.

For economy/business category, the nominees were presented by Drs.ec.Sujoko Efferin, M.Com.MA.PhD, Dean of Economic Faculty from Surabaya University, together with Raksaka Mahi, Expert Staff of Ministry of Treasury. And the winners are:

Hardnews: Rana Akbari Fitriawan from Tempo News Room
Feature: Heri Susanto from Majalah Tempo

However, the duo made a shocking announcement by telling the audience that there was no winner for photo category in economy/business. "Don't be dissapointed, hopefully we'll see the winner in this category next year," said Harsya Soebandriyo, the Master of Ceremony for that night.

The trophy for winners in this category was handed in by Andrew White, Director of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk.

The nominees for social category were presented by Bagong Suyanto, a sociologist from Airlangga University, and Abdisuryaningati, the Director of YAPPIKA. The winners are:

Hardnews: Adi Marsiela from Suara Pembaruan
Feature: Irawan Santoso from Forum
Photo: Raditya Helabumi from Kompas, East Java bureau

Adi Marsiela who had received a trophy for art & music performance category was shocked when his name got mentioned once more. He climbed the stage, with his hands covered up his face, and his eyes got teary as he received the trophy from President Director of PT HM Sampoerna Tbk., Martin G. King.

Nopiyanti from Nusa Bali, who was nominated for 4 categories in AAS 2006, did not receive a trophy that night. But she was already happy for becoming the most-nominated journalist in AAS 2006. "Aha, next year, I will submit 30-40 articles ... I will spend these upcoming months to write and write, and write," she said jokingly to Ipik Tanoyo from Bali Post.

Everyone who heard her laugh out loud.

***

After the show, all winners and the rest of the finalists celebrate their accomplishment. Bambang from Gatra and his folks left the hotel and went out clubbing--trying to find the hottest club in Surabaya. "You know, the club I went to last night? The music was weird," Bambang said the next morning with sleepy eyes.

While in Kawi Lounge at Sheraton's Hotel mezzanine floor, you could find Effendi Ghazali, Sumohadi Marsis, Angky Camaro, Butet Kertaradjasa, and Arif Affandi, having a small reunion over cups of coffee, while watching salsa band performance.

The clubbing effect made Hasiholaan from Antara and some of his friends got up late that morning, and missed the tour to Pasar Genteng. "Rommy (from Maverick) has rang us up on 7 am., and we did pick up the receiver, but I didn't know what happened next. Probably I fell asleep again right after that ... until Rommy called us back on 10. "

During the trip to House of Sampoerna, all finalists gave away their contact numbers and email address. "We have to keep in touch, AAS 2006 batch I," said Arif Kuswardono from Tempo.

***

Two guys. Journalists from two different media. Know nothing about each other, but then they found out that they’re actually neighbours!

This ‘heart-warming’ reunion (hehehe) happened between Josephus Primus from KCM and Arie M.P. Tamba from Jurnal Nasional in Juanda Airport, Gate 8—where all finalists of AAS 2006 were waiting for their GA flight back to Jakarta. This episode was just one of many touchy episodes happened during 3 days of AAS Awarding Night program.

***

Sure, we have to keep in touch! Just wait for the launch of AAS mailing list, ok ;p and see you there!!!

Maverick's Click of the Week #5 : Budi Putra's The Gadget

2006-12-14T16:05:00.000+07:00

The blogosphere is surely a communication medium that needs to be taken seriously, and certainly has been growing in such an amazing rate. This is also happening in Indonesia, and several Indonesian blogging icons have emerged since. One of them is Budi Putra, a senior IT editor of Koran Tempo and Tempo Interaktif, who has been one of the faces of Indonesia's blogging community. Budi Putra, a journalist who has written several books on IT, has also been interviewed by other media such the WSJ.

I am personally delighted with this development as the local blogging community has a figure to speak on behalf of them (from the IT perspective, for starters, as we know that blogging is about the endless variety of content that can be posted in it). And I guess we can't expect Roy Suryo to be talking in the media about all aspects of the IT world.

However, Budi Putra's thegadgetnet blog was nominated for our Click of the Week by Maverick's Irma who has extensively and regularly browsed the site. Here's what she said about Budi Putra's recent entry, about him being interview by WSJ and the BBC:

In this blog, BP simply writes about his experience of being interviewed by two foreign media : Wall Street Journal & BBC London. As we all know that one of the main task of a journalist’s duty is to interview those who has the source of news which definitely contain news value. But what’s different with this blog, BP shares his experience of how he feels to get interviewed.

I chose his blog because it is not just about IT and gadgets which BP mostly blogs about, but just a short story about one of his interesting experiences.

I think this story is both motivating for other journalists out there and they would consider BP as a good role model of an IT/Telecom journalist.

Congratulations, Mr Budi Putra!

Bisnis Indonesia's "new" Tabloid

2006-12-14T14:37:00.000+07:00

The Mavericks would like to congratulate Bisnis Indonesia as it celebrates its 21st anniversary today. Some of us actually went to Wisma Bisnis Indonesia there earlier today during lunchtime to congratulate them. 21 years is quite a long time and the newspaper has come a long way to become one of the most prominent business publication in Indonesia.

In today's edition, Bisnis published two pages of "Special Report" on the current “Media Business Trend”. Although overall it has that self "Congratulation Ad" feel, it is still very informative. It also has comments from Trade Minister Mari E. Pangestu, who probably gets quoted by Bisnis at least every other day.

On its 21st anniversary edition, Bisnis Indonesia is also announcing that its Sunday edition "Bisnis Minggu" will start coming out in a new format: a Tabloid.

Bisnis Minggu will be printed in fancier paper, will have more pictures, more features on business opportunities, tips, investment, automotive, etc. With all this, hopefully they will also earn more in advertising revenue.

Like other print media, Bisnis Indonesia has also tried publishing spin-off tabloid or papers of its main paper. The Trendigital tabloid is still on the shelves, but its sister publication Bisnis Uang only lived for a short period of time. Let’s hope for the best for this Sunday tabloid.

If you didn't already know, The Jakarta Post is also preparing its "Weekender" monthly magazine that's coming out in January 2007. This monthly magazine is also out to grab the ad money from the "lifestyle" products and services that have been "reluctant" to place ads in the daily paper edition. In a couple of months, TJP will decide whether this monthly supplement magazine could actually become a weekly edition.

So, we'll see how two newspapers will compete in the Sunday issue battle. The Jakarta Post currently has a circulation of under 40,000 while Bisnis Indonesia is over 80,000. Let's see how the math works out for the ad buyers.

Here's a peek of "Bisnis Minggu - Business Lifestyle" Tabloid. A journalist held a copy of its very first edition for Maverick's Shilla. This copy will be available for public on Friday 15 December 2006, but M. Sarwani (the editor of Bisnis Minggu) has given Mavericks several copies of it today.

What’s going on in the biggest newspaper in the country?

2006-12-12T17:22:00.000+07:00

“Thank God I am no longer working for Kompas….”

It is a shocking phrase that I heard from a journalist friend who just resigned from Kompas a few months ago. She was telling me the story about how the biggest and most influential newspaper in Indonesia has poorly treated its own journalist Bambang Wisodo. So I asked her “Why did you say that?”

Here’s what she told me:

Bambang Wisodo is not a junior reporter in Kompas. Before being sacked, he was last assigned with the humaniora desk. Over the last eight years, Bambang, who is one of the AJI (aliansi Jurnalis Independen) founders, was actively fighting to win back the 20% shares belonging to the employees in Kompas. As a result of being too outspoken, according to my source, the boss in Kompas was always trying to find reason to get Bambang assigned outside Jakarta. Aware that it was all politics to shut him up, Bambang would always refuse to be posted outside Jakarta. At one point, he was suspended for his refusal. One day during the suspension period, Bambang came to Kompas, but he was stopped by the security guard before entering the premises. Bambang insisted to enter because, despite that he was under suspension, he is still an employee of Kompas. Then the Pemred came out and handed him the PHK letter. Not only that, according to the story, Bambang was then dragged out of the premises by the security guards.

“Actually many employees of Kompas are now worried about their future. They ask a lot from their employees, while they don’t treat us fairly..” the girl said ending her story and leaving me in shock.

I still cannot believe that I’m hearing such a story about the most credible publication in the country. Where all those values that they always promote “menyuarakan amanat hati nurani rakyat?” because of this incident, many are questioning whether the values such as democracy, transparency, and fighting for human rights that always being voiced by Kompas are actually genuine.

One thing for sure, the almost impeccable image that it has built through the decades is now in danger.

But then again this is all just coming from one side. The great thing about blogs is that the accused can argue their case right here in this forum.

So, we're waiting to hear what Kompas has to say about this, or perhaps a fellow Kompas journalist who knows a different twist of this story?

For The Love of... 'epret-epret'

2006-12-12T10:37:00.000+07:00

I had a great time last Friday. Who would have thought sharing session with Samuel Mulia would be more than just fun, full of giggles and laughter, and most of all.. so insightful!

Samuel finally stepped into the orange house just before 5.00 p.m. last Friday. He was introduced to everybody and rushed to the meeting room to begin the sharing session.

I came in late. So I missed the beginning part of the discussion. All I realized was the room filled with laughter the moment I entered and Samuel was explaining about working for some events with few brands and the nity gritty part which he defines as… ‘yang epret-epret itu lho’ in his very own distinct style.

Samuel shared his valuable experience from the time he headed A+ Magazine, SOAP magazine, to his current occupation as the Special Project Editor with The Jakarta Post, not for the paper, but for its upcoming monthly magazine insert that will be known as the "Weekender". Nowadays Samuel is known nationwide through his PARODI column in the Sunday edition of KOMPAS. Sam is very proud with his achievements throughout his many years of career, from his years in the core team of DEWI magazine, and also when he sold the cover page of A+ magazine to a sponsor, which was the first time such thing was done in Indonesia. Not long after that, other followed.

Being a very straight forward person, Sammy is not embarrassed to admit whatever business he’s doing is 70% based on the money aspect. That’s what drives him to bring, give the best idea and end result with whomever it is he’s working with. According to Sammy, the tendency of what we called as a ‘corporate culture’ which most of the time, gets in the way. Not to mention bureaucracy, idealism and individual differences, prevents us from giving what is needed, and which may be the best or most appropriate result for our end users. In the end, they are the ones who will help us to achieve that success. Sammy also shared how to see things from many different perspectives, get out of the box, yet, be considerate. Move ahead one step at a time. When the right time has come, you’ll get to see what else the world has to offer you.

His piece of advise for us PR practitioners, to always understand what the media needs, not only what we need or expect them to do for us. Pay attention to those little precious detail, then you will gain the most out of it. Be approachable to the media, give a bit of personal touch, and make them feel like they are needed, because you really do need them!

Sammy’s love for fashion and lifestyle has brought him to the level where he is now. He can see things from angles which any other person can’t. He shared with us that changing a mindset of a person may cost you a lifetime, what more a nation to think or do as what we perceive as the best or the right thing.

The wisest thing to do is be a pioneer! Lead the way, be successful, and eventually you’ll find yourself having people to follow you.

As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t entirely in the room during the session; however the small part of the whole story as what I just shared has contributed quite a big portion into my perspective. Hope it contributes something to you too!

AAS 2006: Hardnews and Feature Category Finalists - Salute!

2006-12-08T14:53:00.000+07:00

Finally, without further ado, the Finalists for AAS 2006 HARDNEWS and FEATURE CATEGORY are:

Social Hardnews Subcategory:
1. Yuniar (Bapak Pergi Ibu Marasai Pula - Singgalang)
2. Nopianti (Krama Bali Di Tanggerang Donor Darah - Nusa Bali)
3. Adi Marsiela (Butuh Dana Sekolah, Dimas Nekat Menembus Paspampres - Suara Pembaruan)

Arts and Music Hardnews Subcategory
1. Arianto SP (Hari ini Soundrenaline 2006 Serukan Kedamaian - Metro Banjar)
2. Adi Marsiela (Konser Amal Untuk Pangandaran - Suara Pembaruan)
3. Tasman Banto (Lagu Pamungkas Ratu Di Monumen Mandala - Tribun Timur)

Sports Hardnews Subcategory
1. Dodi Syah Putra (Cari Modal di Main Kandang - Padang Ekspress)
2. Bastian Alkaf (Gelar Kedua Banjarbaru - Mata Banua)
3. Nopianti (Daudy Menang, Yenny Sedih - Nusa Bali)

Economics and Business Hardnews Subcategory
1. Josephus Primus (Memberdayakan Pengusaha Topeng Monyet – Kompas Cyber Media)
2. Nopianti (Ketika Pasar Seni Sukowato Diboyong Ke Mall Pasar Raya Grande Jakarta - Nusa Bali)
3. Rana Akbari Fitriawan (Bandung Ekspor Alat Pengolah Sampah -Tempo News Room)

Social Feature Subcategory
1. Arif Adi Kuswardono (Berlindung Pada Bapak Tersangka – Tempo)
2. Metta Dharmasaputra (Hikayat Heni, Gadis Tionghoa – Tempo)
3. Irawan Santoso (Misteri Suap Probosutedjo – Forum)

Arts and Music Feature Subcategory
1. Ipik Tanoyo (Soundrenaline: Menuju Konser ala Woodstock - Bali Post)
2. Arie MP Tamba (Biografi Yang Memperkaya Teks Fiksi - Jurnal Nasional)
3. Bambang Sulistyo (Wayang, Di Balik Bayang-Bayang Perubahan - Gatra)

Sports Feature Subcategory
1. Adi Prinantyo (Liga Indonesia Untuk Siapa? - Kompas)
2. Yudhi Febiana Oktaviadhi (Mari Pahami Rahasia Sepak Bola - Bola)
3. Nopianti (Banting stir jadi kontraktor - Nusa Bali)

Economics and Business Feature Subcategory
1. Iwan Ungsi (Dilema Negara Kaya Miskin Visi - Jawa Pos)
2. Irwan Andri Atmanto (Menjadi Tamu Di Negeri Sendiri - Gatra)
3. Heri Susanto (Berpacu Mendorong Kereta Mogok - Tempo)

The above-mentioned journalists, together with the previous photojournalists, will be invited to AAS Awarding Night in Surabaya on December 15, 2006, where winners of all categories will be announced.

SALUTE!

Maverick's Click of the Week #4: A Platonic World

2006-12-06T08:08:00.000+07:00

The Maverick Click of the Week has come to its 4th week and it’s really cool that we’ve received great responses from everyone.

And this week, Mavericks pick the blog of Agung Harsya, a journalist from FourFourTwo magazine, entitled “A Platonic World”.

The blog was nominated by Maverick’s Awie who had this to say about the blog:

From “A Platonic World,” we can see a plain perspective in looking at life, at the world. “Entahlah... Makin dipikirkan, makin terasa seperti belenggu,” write the platonic man on his 26th birthday.

Easy reading comes with a soft lay out. In the midst of tight deadlines, I say, most of everyone of us can venture to the Platonic World and read a bit. It wouldn’t weary your eyes, hopefully it would brighten up your vision.

I personally would like to see more pictures in Platonic World, but I do completely agree with Awie that the blog is a nice and easy read. His last posting is a review of the film “Looking for Comedy in Muslim World”, which I thought would have been nice if there were a picture of the film’s poster on it (without violating any copyrights, that is).

Yet his other postings are mostly on life and how lives it as the “Platonic Man”. And of course they’re quite abstract to actually put a relevant image on it, so Agung Harsya pictures them with his words.

Cheers, Agung Harsya…

AAS 2006: Photo Category Finalists - Congrats!

2006-12-05T19:04:00.000+07:00

The moment you've been waiting for: Finalists for AAS 2006 photojournalist category has been decided. It was not an easy decision for the judges as most entries are of high quality. There were no questions in terms of photography techniques. Most interestingly is the message behind the pictures. As they say, pictures speaks louder than words.

Here are the names of photojournalists that will compete in AAS 2006's Awarding Night in Surabaya! Congratulations for all finalists!

From sport subcategory, the AAS 2006 photo finalists are:
1. Afriadi Akmal from Behind The Screen magazine (Tired)
2. Sugeng from Jawa Pos (Suporter Apes)
3. Danu Kusworo from Kompas (Nonton Balap Sepeda)

From social subcategory, the AAS 2006 photo finalists are:
1. Crack Palinggi from Reuters (Kebakaran Hutan)
2. Raditya Helabumi from Kompas biro Jatim (Selamatkan Warga)
3. Lasti Kurnia from Kompas (Dunia Sekolah Anak Bajo)

From economy/business subcategory, the AAS 2006 photo finalists are:
1. Lucky Pransiska from Kompas (Antisipasi Kebutuhan LPG)
2. Hasiholan from Batak Post (Pengangguran Meningkat)

From art & music performance subcategory, the AAS 2006 photo finalists are:
1. Yudhi Sukmawijaya from Jurnal Nasional (Tarian Jalanan)
2. Boy Harjanto from Indo Pos (Dalang Suket)

For economy/business and art&music performance subcategory, the board of judges decided to select 2 finalists only. "Other photos are also of high quality, but the two chosen are so outstanding that it was really difficult to choose the third one,” Effendi Gazali and Oscar Motuloh shared the same opinion.

However, the photos in sport subcategory received two-thumbs up from the judges. "The finalists’ pictures portray the current condition of Indonesian sport—and this is what photojournalism is all about,” photography expert Oscar Motuloh said enthusiastically.

The above-mentioned finalists will be invited to AAS Awarding Night in Surabaya on December 15, 2006, where winners of all categories will be announced.

However, seeing these pictures below, would you like to make your lucky guess on who will the winners be?

Maverick Welcomes Nia

2006-12-04T19:43:00.000+07:00

Maverick welcomes Nia K. Sadjarwo who joins Maverick as Associate from December 1st. On top of her knowledge in mass communications, Nia brings strong administration and execution skills to Maverick.

Previously, Nia worked as an event organizer at ESMOD Jakarta and GPR Coordinator as well as Academic Manager of Post Graduate Programs at the London School of Public Relations. She also holds a BA degree in mass communications from the London School of Public Relations.

“I’ve always wanted to be a PR person,” said Nia. “Maverick is the right place for me, as I know this is the place where I can learn, broaden my knowledge and experience in PR, and challenge myself," she added

Well Nia, we are happy to have you aboard. In Maverick, it is not only about learning and broadening your knowledge, but more importantly, having fun while doing it.

The Walkley Awards

2006-12-01T15:37:00.000+07:00

The Walkley Awards are the Australia's most prestigious journalist accolade. The Walkleys were established in 1956. Starting from five categories, today Walkleys has grown to more than 30 award categories involving printed media, radio and television.
Last night, the Walkleys announced the 2006 Walkley Awards winners in Melbourne. We'd like to congratulate our journalist friend, who has been living in Indonesia for the past 10 months for winning one of the Walkley Awards. Morgan Mellish, an Indonesia Correspondent for the Australian Financial Review won the Walkey Awards for the Business Journalism category. His article, titled "The Robert Gerard Tax Scandal", was nominated in two categories, which were Print News Report and Business Journalism. He told Maverick that he needed couple of months to investigate the scandal and wrote such a detailed article on the issue. Well, it looks like all the hard work actually pays off! Well done, Morgan! We should celebrate it when we see you in the next JFCC event! :)

check The Walkley's website: http://www.walkleys.com//

A Not Surprise Birthday Party for Ira Koesno

2006-12-01T14:07:00.000+07:00

What happened if a surprise birthday party turned out to be a not surprise birthday party at all?

Well, I guess, the birthday girl should just pretend to be surprised to satisfy the guests.

This scene happened in Ira Koesno’s birthday party last night. Some of her friends organized the supposed-to-be-a-surprise-birthday-party at Romeo Café, Automall. Numbers of people were there, including IKComm’s clients, journalists, communications practitioners, etc. They were all waiting for the birthday lady, hoping to see her expressions when she entered the venue.

But then, when she got in to the place, she didn’t look surprise at all! Apparently, she said, “Someone sent me sms asking about this party! Hahaha…”.
Ooowwhhh.. who’s that clumsy guy?? But then, Ira said, “However, I’m still surprised as I didn’t expect that there would be so many people attending this party. Thank you so much everyone..”.

After she blew all the candles on her birthday cake (there were thirty something candles.. am not gonna write it here, Ira, don’t worry! Hehe..), the organizer presented a video showing some pictures of Ira when she was a little girl until she became a famous TV presenter then started her own company together with two of her best friends.

It was a fun party. There were some fun games and lots of doorprizes. Even I got two presents from winning a doorprize and “being forced” to participate in a “dangdut” dancing game! Hahaha..

Well, happy birthday, Ira Koesno! All the best for you and keep shining, girl!

Ps: You have one year to practice on your act: pretend to be surprised in case there will be another surprise birthday party for you next year! :D

Lativi got smacked down!

2006-11-30T13:56:00.000+07:00

So, who's to blame on this “Smackdown” issue?

Well, most of us would blame Lativi, while the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) blames the Department of Communication and Informatics (Depkominfo).

It is easier for us to point fingers at Lativi. They are the one who were airing the program. They were the one who ignored KPI’s letter to move the time slot. It suits them good if they had suffer losses from this incident….

One simple way to smack Lativi is by signing an online petition. Some clausal, however, are not feasible while others need to be updated.

The first clausal states that Lativi must stop broadcasting such program. Well, for this matter, KPI have already given Lativi an administrative sanction. The sanction states that Lativi to stop broadcasting the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and all its extensions (Smackdown, Afterburn, Raw, Bottomline, Heat, Experience, and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)), as well as their on air promos. So, the first clausal has been responded well.

The second is urging KPI and Depkominfo to reevaluate the Broadcasting Law, especially on the law enforcement. This is a bit too much. The amendments of the Broadcasting Law is the parliament’s authority. It should be carried out by the House of Representatives 1st Commission, together with the government and industry. This is no small matter. There are too much political interests and economic stakes involved there. The Broadcasting Law itself is okay (nothing’s perfect). The problem lays with a series of Government Decree (PP) on Broadcasting, in this case No. 52 on Private Broadcasting Institution. The decree has transferred KPI’s authorities stated in the Broadcasting Law to Depkominfo, and thus taken away KPI’s authority in sanctioning TV stations. (Here's one reason why KPI loves Depkominfo so much.)

Next, urging the public to stop watching Lativi until there is a concrete act by the TV to stop broadcasting Smack Down. Is this another way of saying (and recommending) to watch our other TV stations? Anyway, I believe that Lativi is wise enough to stop the program by now. Petition granted.

In addition, number four, the last but not least, to urge all TV stations to reduce parents burden and responsibilities in teaching children by eliminating non-educative programs. Hm…. A while ago, while were discussing about media literacy, some friends argued that teenagers need to learn media literacy subject at school. I said NO, parents are in desperate need for media literacy!

Thus, I have one concrete, realistic recommendation should someone want to make another online petition: “Urging KPI, Depkominfo, and TV stations – together (for the best) or individually (at least) – to provide free Media Literacy courses.”

So, who's to blame on this “Smackdown” issue?

Let’s just stop pointing fingers… ;)

Maverick Click of the Week #3: Hera Diani's yap yap yap yap

2006-11-30T07:36:00.000+07:00

This week's Maverick Click of the Week is the blog of Hera Diani of the Jakarta Post entitled "Yap yap yap yap yap..."
I've known Hera for a while, she's also been with TJP as long as I've known her and I have been her online buddy on another blogging network called Multiply. However, for our Click of the Week, Hera was nominated by Maverick's ALit who wrote this about her:

I enjoy her easy writings for any topics of her life; from Malaysian movie director, journalist role model, her point of view foreign journos, and of course her first few days in Honolulu. The rest of her postings are pretty simple with nice story package that makes the readers enjoy in reading it.
The blog design and lay out is quite simple with several pics for certain postings.

Hera's piece on violence against women activist was on the front page of TJP last Tuesday. Meanwhile her latest posting was on "Being a Muslim.. sort of" which tells a story about her choice in "faith".

Hera recently took the Jefferson Fellowship scholarship program in Honolulu, Tokyo, and some other countries, and you can also check out her blog for pictures of her journey.

Here's a picture of her in a karaoke joint. From the look, it looks like it was taken in Japan... But who knows, it coulda been taken somewhere in Kota.. ha ha

Congratulations, Hera!

AAS 2006: The Judging Process Begins!

2006-11-28T09:46:00.000+07:00

The Orange House turned into a photo gallery yesterday. The terrace and the meeting room was filled with 308 photos sent by our journalists friends to compete in Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna 2006.

On that rainy Monday afternoon, the initial judging process for AAS photo category took place. Deddy Nur Hidayat as a communication expert, Yosep Adi Prasetyo (Stanley) from Institut Studi Arus Informasi (ISAI), and Firman Ichsan—a well-known photographer, came over to The Orange House to give their vote.

Photos submitted were divided into 4 subcategories: Art & Musical Performance, Sports, Economy/Business, and Social. From each subcategories, Deddy, Stanley, and Firman have to select 9 photos that will become AAS photo semifinalists.

Once 9 photos from each subcategory were chosen, the final judges (roster include THE Rosihan Anwar, communication expert Effendi Ghazaly, photography expert Oscar Motuloh, and Director of Corporate Communications from PT HM Sampoerna Tbk. Niken Rachmad), will decide the top 3 finalists.

The semifinal judging process for photo category lasted for almost 3.5 hours.
First, Deddy, Stanley, and Firman gave their vote for 9 photos in each subcategory. If a photo gets 3 votes, the photo is automatically nominated as semifinalists. The debate started when several photos got only 2 votes, or even 1 vote. Each judges explained the reason of selecting a specific photo and defend it, while listening inputs from other judges from different backgrounds as well.

In the end, the photos chosen must be able to provide constructive critique, capture the ‘mood’ of the event, and posses well photography technique.

On its 1st year, 641 entries have been received by AAS’ comittee, consisting hardnews, feature, and photo category. More updates on AAS finalists in 2006 will be posted here, so just wait for the breaking news! :)

Maverick's Sekred Gathering 2006

2006-11-27T18:48:00.000+07:00

Every year Maverick conducts a SekRed Gathering in a way to express our gratitude for the support of Sekretaris Redaksi of our media friends. They play an important role in media, as they are they're the first people in media that we talk to when we invite reporters to cover our events.

This is Maverick's 2^nd year of in conducting a SekRed Gathering. Last year, the event was done during the month of Ramadhan. This year, we offer something different and we decided to present a casual talk show. Alexander Sriewijono, a prominent psychologist who has his own slot in O-Channel and Cosmopolitan radio and magazine, led the talk show and spoke about “Energizing your working life” as the topic. Over 30 Sekretaris Redaksi attended the gathering that was held in Batula Resto in Blok M area. They were so excited and some of them said that Maverick is the only PR consultancy that cares for them.

That night, after talk show followed by dinner and chat, the gathering was closed by series of games. Congratz to Dewi from Nova who won a shiny new iPod nano!! (She also had stunned the audience by her stage act as an Astronaut changing a tire)

So.. thank you all for coming.. See you all next year!

Indri - Ketua Panitia Maverick's SekRed

Big Congrats to first five lucky winners: Idul Fitri E-card

2006-11-22T09:39:00.000+07:00

The Mavericks send our most genuine congratulations to our first five Idul Fitri e-card winners who were the first five to send the correct answers. We sent out these special e-cards to our clients and friends right before the Lebaran holiday, but these are not just ordinary e-cards. There’s a not-so-hidden photo quiz that many actually missed.

Anyway, the e-card shows a series of pictures telling a short story of “the little ketupat” who wants to go mudik. Yet in the pictures, there are images of certain products or logos of our clients (the hard work of our unofficial in-house graphic designer Hanny). Recipients of the e-cards are expected to identify 9 of Maverick’s clients on the card and submit the answer via email.

And…. To our surprise, 74 people sent in their answers!

Besides their answer, many of them also made comments about our cute e-card:

Meta – Sampoerna = Maverick emang paling OK deh kalau urusan bikin gimmick2 creative begini.P.S.Kalau bener (sok tau yaa..hehe), mohon parcel dibagikan kepada yang lebih membutuhkan

Priyo S = Bagus sekali itu cara Maverick membuat kejutan.Bisa ditiru itu.Thanks ya!

Rully – Republika = Iseng ikutan ah..Habis lucu banget e-cardnya.Ini nih klien maverick.

Dian – UBS = This is really fun and creative.

Yuniarti Tanjung – Femina = Ah, ada ada aja. Tapi lucu juga.

Illiana – Citibank = Saya terima email ini baru jam 5 sore sih.Mungkin server CBN agak lelet.Jadi kemungkinan besar saya tidak termasuk 5 pengirim pertama.But it’s okay. Saya coba jawab,anyway : Tolong kalau misalnya saya menjadi salah satu pemenang, passport holder dan mug Citibank nya tidak usah dimasukkan ke dalam parcelJ

Radityo Djadjoeri – Mediacare = Thanks ya ucapan lebarannya.Wuah kreatif bangedd..:)

Elvera N Makki – Unilever = Hahaha..this is fun!

Mita – Microsoft = Thanks e-card’nya! Cute ya si ketupat kecil itu.

Chris – Intisari = Aduh Maverick, habis minta maaf langsung bikin tebakan, nanti yang nggak dapat merasa kecewa lho:)

It seems that everybody at Maverick had a nice giggle to see the responses from our Idul Fitri E-card.

Anyway, the five lucky winners are:

1) Gatot R from Angkasa Magazine
2) Erni Sintasari from Bisnis Indonesia
3) Andryanto Wijaya from Astragraphia
4) Adi Hartawan from Indika FM
5) Dhyoti Rororasmi Basuki from Frisian Flag

The winners will then receive a gift parcel containing products and merchandises representing Maverick’s clients.

For myself, I am delighted to take part in this project with Shilla in arranging the gift parcels until delivered safely to the winners. Hey it was pretty hectic but it was fun! (Thank you also to Mbak Jusmaini who gave a helping hand in the finishing touch of the gift parcels before they were sent out.) Creating such unique ways to maintain good relationship with our clients is one of Maverick’s main role of client service which is the ‘heart’ of Maverick itself.

Once again, a big congrats to the winners!

Coming soon will be the X’mas E-card right? :) Ketupat will turn into X’mas trees, opor ayam into santa claus…and the list goes on…J

Umm…so any funny, cute, adorable, tickling, smart ideas guys? You name it ‘coz it is 1 month to go from now….

Maverick's Click of the Week #2: blogombal

2006-11-21T16:40:00.000+07:00

For the 2nd Maverick Click of the Week, we have chosen the personal blog of Antyo Rentjoko a.k.a. Paman Tyo and his blogombal.

If you didn't know him already, Paman Tyo is the Chief Editor for Majalah Komputer Aktif, but he doesn't actively blog about computers. Instead, he blogs about interesting everyday topics.

His latest entry is on sign boards that normally decorate the front yard of government offices entitled "Papan Nama: Harus Ada atau Seadanya?." This is his comment on it:

Jangan seperti kantor kelurahan zaman dulu dengan jejeran papan nama menutupi tampang gedung. Ada merek kelurahan, ada Dharma Wanita, ada PKK, ada AMPI, ada LKMD, ada Klompencapir dan entah apa lagi.

Yah, ibarat satu gedung dengan banyak tenants, begitulah. Tapi cobalah masuk ke kantor kelurahan macam itu dan carilah pengurus setiap organisasi, minimal tenaga sekretariat. Belum tentu ada yang mangkal — kecuali saat kunjungan pejabat.

blogombal.org was nominated by Maverick's Rommy. Besides the aforementioned points, Rommy likes that fact that Paman Tyo post lots of images, most of them are pictures that he personally takes or images that he creates using various image manipulation software. Rommy also likes the layout and the links blogombal has on the page.

Congratulations Paman Tyo!

Atmajaya Yogyakarta Students' Visit: "OOOWWWHHH ... "

2006-11-15T08:37:00.000+07:00

A sweet and cute “OOOWWWHHH …. “ resonated in the great halls of Maverick’s Orange House yesterday afternoon, as more than 20 communications students from Atmajaya University, Jogjakarta, came over to visit Maverick as a part of their study trip program.

We were so happy to have Atmajaya students in our office (being around young people made us all feel a bit younger ;p), taking them for a short-tour around the Orange House and take a peek on what it is like to be a Maverick.

During a small talk in our meeting room, the students asked lots of questions about PR practice enthusiastically—mainly about Maverick’s specialty in crisis and issues management. Seeing how attentively they were to what is being presented by Maverick’s partners (Ong and Mbak Lita) and watching how impatient they were for becoming PR practitioners … was just overwhelming! ☺

Not to mention that Atmajaya students have a very cheerful and effervescent personality that made us all feel refreshed after being totally equipped last week. During Maverick’s office tour, without hesitation they came over to the associates’ desk, asking for name cards, and starting a conversation about PR practice in many different areas… and whenever we said something ‘touchy’ or ‘sweet’, all of a sudden they would go “OOOWWWHHH” –just like a choir, with affectionate expression upon their face. Cute, hehehe ...

Before we parted, Atmajaya students gave us a beautiful gift—a wooden statue of 2 individuals communicating with a ‘phone’ made from two empty cans connected by a string. The first thing Mbak Lita did when she arrived at the office this morning was to display the statue in our meeting room ☺ (We do hope that they love the Maverick's Snake&Ladder mousepad we gave them as well).

After the last photo-shoot with all Maverick’s associates at the terrace, and the students hopped in to their bus, we stood in the doorway, watching sadly as their bus drove off, and we went: “OOOWWWHHHH …. “ :(

Maverick TV: Behind the Scenes

2006-11-14T18:45:00.000+07:00

Looking at the photos above you must be thinking, “What are the Mavs up to NOW?”

Well, here’s a brief explanation… One of the services Maverick provides to its clients is Media Handling Skills Training. The workshop combines our knowledge of the local media as well as different elements that go into a successful interview.

The images shown above are ‘behind the scenes’ photos taken from our Media Handling Skills video production last Saturday. We managed to turn our office into a news room. We even called it the Maverick TV news room!

Yasha was the news anchor and Ri was the interviewee (a Corporate Affairs Head of PT XYZ that has planned to lay off its 500 workers). They were fantastic, even the production crew was impressed.

Playing news anchor was Yasha’s cup of tea, really… =)
Ri put on an exceptional performance, especially the part when she had to act bitchy. She was sooo natural! =p

This video will be used to equip the workshop participants with the necessary communications skills in dealing with the media, which includes voice modulation, framing of arguments and the psychology of human behavior.

With the assistance of Sakti Parantean and his team from fictionary, the final cut should be ready by early next week.

The Mavericks, I’ll let you know when we’re going to have the premier screening, ok! =)

Maverick's Click of the Week #1: Ngomongin Apa Aja

2006-11-14T10:18:00.000+07:00

This week, we are officially launching the Maverick Click of the Week for those cool and informative journalist blogs.

The Clicks of the Week are nominated by the people at Maverick and picked by the Maverick blog committee. We believe that these blogs are worth highlighting and that you guys should also click and check em out.

For the first Click of The Week, we present you the blog of Sri Nanang Setiyono entitled: Ngomongin Apa Aja . Nanang is an Indo Pos journalist who has been on assignment in th Banten province for 4 months. Nanang was nominated by Hanny of Maverick, and here is Hanny's reason for nominating Nanang:

The title of this blog is NGOMONGIN APA AJA. I’m interested in the layout of this blog, because it’s really fresh and clean—and your eyes won’t get tired reading the postings. The title really reflects this blog, because Nanang writes about everything—about journalism, tourism, life, humor, movies, even short stories.

The most interesting post is the one where he relates mathematical theorem with journalism. A very intersting look into journalism from a different perspectives. On the other part of the blog, he also write about this movie called Shattered Glass, a movie about journalism—which sounds interesting, and probably we should watch it together :)

Nanang's most recent blog post is "Awas! Racun itu Bernama Amplop is his critique on the journalist profession in Indonesia, an occupation which he explained has only existed in Indonesia for less than a century.

Here's a nice quote from his posting:

Wartawan dan perusahaan media harus diyakinkan bahwa,
menerima amplop adalah meracuni pikiran.

Perhaps media companies should also select better candidates for their journalist candidates, train them periodically, and pay them more in salary...

BubuAwards v.05 Strikes Back

2006-11-13T17:44:00.000+07:00

Ever heard of the term BubuAwards? Yes, for most of us, it’s a funny word. But to those in the IT business, especially web design, I figure the term BubuAwards is very familiar indeed.

Well, to make things simple, BubuAwards is an award for Indonesian websites. Like most other awards, there are a number of categories in this award. For this year’s BubuAwards v.05, as an example, there are the corporate, student, and individual categories.

Like in previous years, BubuAwards come to contest websites of Indonesian based companies/organizations in various fields and industries in the corporate category. In this arena, the contestants can join in by registering their corporate sites from September 28 to November 3, 2006.

Well, I guess now is a bit late to fight for the corporate contest. But, have no fear as the student and individual categories is coming soon.

FYI, the judgment criteria are based on graphics and layout, content, usability and technology. As for the judges, well-known names are queuing up to mark the contestants.

Well, for further information and the simple, easy registration on BubuAwards v.5, just visit http://www.bubuawards.com/.

The explanation from SCTV on their alleged Sumanto "kidnapping"

2006-11-10T18:28:00.000+07:00

Last week, some of our friends received what seems to be SCTV's reply to the complaint e-mail that was circulating in major media-communications mailing lists. This email doesn't look very official, but so far it's been the only SCTV argument regarding the allegation of unethical practice.

Do read this letter until the end, and tell us what you think. It looks TV7-Trans and SCTV should really resolve this issue soon, or this could turn out to be a good sub-story line for the sequel of "ANCHORMAN".

SCTV: Klarifikasi Soal Sumanto

Kami telah mengangkat soal keluarnya Sumanto dari penjara dan penolakan warga desa Plumutan dan keluarganya pada Derap Hukum edisi Jumat, 20 Oktober 2006. Selama hampir seminggu reporter Derap Hukum menemui Sumanto untuk melakukan wawancara, karenanya reporter kami cukup mengenal Sumanto.

Pada hari Minggu 29 Oktober 2006 reporter Derap Hukum yang sama, kami kirim ke Panti Rehabilitas An-Nur di Purbalingga, tempat Sumanto ditampung. Namun tugasnya kali ini bukan untuk Derap Hukum tapi mengisi di program Bayu di Liputan6 pagi, yang telah direncanakan seminggu sebelumnya. Kami menganggap sosok Sumanto setelah keluar dari penjara dan tidak pulang kampung masih layak untuk diketahui. Rencana awal, tim kami harus membawa sumanto ke studio SCTV Jakarta.

Di Purbalingga, masih di hari minggu 29 Oktober 2006 ada kabar kalau Sumanto dan Pak H. Supono diajak TV7 ke Jakarta untuk Kupas Tuntas. Reaksi kami saat itu, ya sudah, kami tidak akan mengganggu acara sumanto di Kupas Tuntas TV7. Seusai acara Kupas Tuntas TV7, selasa sekitar jam 01.00 wib tim kami menghubungi kembali Pak Supono dan menanyakan apakah bisa tampil di studio SCTV. Saat itu Pak Supono menjawab bisa dan memberitahu dimana mereka menginap. Esok paginya, tim Derap Hukum yang telah dikenal Sumanto dan Pak H. Supono Mustadjab di Purbalingga- lah yang menjemput mereka. Dengan demikian, baik Sumanto maupun Pak H. Supono Mustadjab sudah tahu bahwa yang menjemputnya adalah dari SCTV.

Kami tidak pernah mengatasnamakan Kupas Tuntas pada saat negosiasi dengan pak H. Supono Mustadjab. Artiya apa? Artinya tidak ada pelanggaran etika di sini. Perlu diingat, kami langsung berhubungan dengan nara sumber utuk meminta kesediaanya menjadi tamu setelah ia tampil di program Kupas Tuntas TV7. dan yang bersangkutan menyatakan kesediaannya. Jadi, kalau kami menjemput Sumanto dan Pak H. Supono di Hotel, itu karena sudah ada janji sebelumnya dengan yang bersangkutan. Dengan demikian, tidak benar kami menculik mereka!!

Apakah untuk itu kami harus meminta izin lagi ke pihak Kupas Tuntas bahwa kami akan mengundang tamu yang baru tampil diprogramnya? Kami rasa tidak begitu cara kerja yang benar. Karena Kupas Tuntas bukan Manager Sumanto dan Pak H. Supono yang bisa mengatur kepada siapa Sumanto dan Pak Ustad harus menerima wawancara.

Setelah Sumanto tampil di program Bayu di liputan 6 pagi. Melalui telepon kami berhubungan dengan pihak Kupas Tuntas TV7. Intinya pihak Kupas Tuntas TV7 meminta kami datang ke kantor TV7 untuk memberikan penjelasan. Kami menolak karena menurut kami TV7 bukan atasan kami dan juga tidak ada masalah yang harus dijelaskan. Lagi pula kami telah menjelaskannya via telepon.

Namun begitu, kami masih menawarkan pertemuan di tempat lain, bukan di TV7, waktu itu kami tawarkan untuk bertemu di hotel tempat Sumanto menginap. Tapi pihak TV7 menolaknya. Jadi penjelasan telah kami berikan, tidak ada hubungannya dengan pemred kami yang sedang di Eropa.

Anda menuduh kami memanfaatkan keluguan Pak H. Supono Mustadjab?! Darimana anda tahu bahwa beliau lugu? Jangan-jangan beliau lebih cerdas dari anda?

Demikian penjelasan kami. Terima kasih.

Insan Kamil Produser Program Bayu di Liputan6 pagi
GRAHA SCTV
JL. JENDERAL GATOT SUBROTO KAV 21
TELP : 021-5225555
FAKS; 021-5220120

So Cute

2006-11-10T16:57:00.000+07:00

The photo shows one of the child whose blood was taken during an anemia screening. To generate the blood, the nurse had to use a small needle, which stings a bit.

The screening took place during a program called “Prevent Anemia with Posyandu,” which was sponsored by the International Pharmaceuticals Manufactures Group (IPMG) in collaboration with Yayasan Kusuma Buana (YKB) to commemorate the 42nd National Health Day. The one-year-program for 25 Posyandu throughout Jakarta will provide anemia screenings, promote healthy lifestyle, and distribute anemia medicines for free. The kick off itself took place on November 9, 2006 in Klinik Keluarga Pisangan Baru, Matraman, Jakarta Timur.

Fortunately, his Hemoglobin (Hb) level was 11,8 -- considered to be normal since that the appropriate Hb level should be around 12, mine was 12,9. Imagine how'd he felt if it turned out that he were an anemie.

SCTV Snatched Flesh-eater Sumanto from TV7

2006-11-03T08:22:00.000+07:00

I just got this in my email from a mailing list. The authenticity of this letter can be questioned, but my past experience in broadcast news has made me somehow believe that the following may be true (although written from TV7 's point of view). Yes, these popular "public figures" are hard to find, and I guess since Tommy Soeharto was not available to be invited for talk shows, their only hope was to get the other person who got out of prison this week.

Go ahead and read it yourself, and let's hope we get a statement from SCTV regarding this allegation:

Senang rasanya bisa mendatangkan Sumanto ke Jakarta untuk bisa tayang live di Kupas Tuntas TV 7, pada senin malam 30 Oktober kemarin. Meski hanya tayang 30 menit, namun perjuangan untuk mendatangkannya ke Jakarta, tidaklah semudah membalikkan telapak tangan.

Awalnya, pak H Supono Mustadjab, yang kini menampung Sumanto di Panti rehabilitasi mental dan narkoba miliknya sempat ragu bisa membawa Sumanto ke Jakarta, apalagi dengan menggunakan pesawat terbang. Karena kondisi Sumanto yang masih labil. Bahkan, Sabtu, 28 Oktober lalu saat baru tiba di panti, di desa bungkanel, karang anyar purbalingga, beberapa orang keluarga pak Pono, bahkan menolak Sumanto dibawa menggunakan pesawat terbang. Namun kami berhasil meyakinkan mereka, apalagi kami sudah membawa tiket untuk pak Pono dan Sumanto ke Jakarta.

Tapi masih ada syarat lain dari pak Pono, Sumanto harus kami pamitkan ke kampungnya. Minggu, 29 Oktober, kami mendatangi camat dan kepala desa Lumutan, untuk meminta ijin membawa Sumanto ke Jakarta. Karena Sumanto masih labil, kedua orang ini juga sempat mempertanyakan niatan kami. Namun saya meyakinkan mereka dengan cara menjadikan kami berdua sebagai jaminan, jika ada sesuatu yang terjadi selama di Jakarta.

Dan sebagai pengundang, sudah tentu Sumanto menjadi tanggung jawab kami, sejak ia meninggalkan panti menuju TV7 Jakarta, hingga tiba kembali dipanti.

Senin pagi, 30 Oktober, pukul 07.30 kami meninggalkan panti menuju semarang. Turut menyertai Sumanto H Supono, dan seorang tim medis, mas Ahmad. Kurang dari 6 jam perjalanan kami tiba di Bandara Ahmad Yani Semarang.

Disinilah kami mulai mengatur siasat untuk menaikkan Sumanto ke pesawat. Saya kemudian kordinasi dengan pihak bandara, dan juga dengan pihak Lion Air. Hasilnya, kami berlima diberikan tempat duduk dibaris paling belakang. Sejak tiba dibandara, hanya saya dan juru kamera Ferdy yang turun dari mobil, Sumanto dan rombongan tetap menunggu boarding di dalam mobil.

Saat boarding, pihak lion air menaikkan semua penumpang terlebih dahulu, baru kemudian kami menyusul, dengan dikawal petugas dari bandara, hingga tiba di dalam pesawat melalui tangga belakang.

Saya amat berterima kasih pada petugas bandara Ahmad Yani Semarang, dan pihak Lion Air yang banyak membantu.

Tiba di cengkareng, entah bagaimana kami telah ditunggu oleh banyak infotainment, di pintu keluar terminal 1A.

Melalui berbagai rintangan, akhirnya kami tiba di TV7, dan berhasil live Kupas Tuntas pukul 23.00. Namun perjuangan belum usai, Malam hari saat akan istirahat di Hotel Santika, Saya kembali melakukan semacam perjanjian dan kesepakatan dengan pihak hotel, agar kehadiran Sumanto tidak mengganggu tamu lain. Dan saya menjaminkan diri jika terjadi apa-apa. Bahkan saya dan manager hotel telah mengatur bagaiman jalur keluar masuk hotel bagi sumanto.

Sore tadi, setelah taping dengan good morning Trans Tv, Sumanto dan rombongan kami antar ke bandara, Soekarno Hatta, untuk kembali ke Purbalingga, via Jogja. Kali ini menggunkan maskapai Adam Air. Tiba di bandara, kembali saya berkordinasi dengan pihak adam air dan bandara, mengenai kronologi membawa sumanto naik ke pesawat. Sempat keluar beberapa opsi, mulai dari menaikkan lebih dulu sebelum penumpang lain boarding, hingga rencana menggunakan mobil langsung ke kaki tangga pesawat. Namun akhirnya kami menggunakan cara di semarang kemarin. (udah mirip pejabat aja yah?)

Saat semua penumpang adam air telah boarding, barulah kami merapat setelah menunggu didalam mobil di pelataran parkir, sekitar 1,5 jam. Turun dari mobil kami telah disambut security adam air dan security bandara sekitar 10 orang. Dan kami kemudian dikawal menuju pesawat melalui pintu C5.

Saya amat berterima kasih pada pihak adam air atas bantuannya, mengurus keberangkatan sumanto, termasuk pihak bandara yang banyak membantu. Dan saat tiba di Jogja pun tadi, mereka dijemput langsung oleh security adam air dari dalam pesawat. Mobil yang saya siapkan disanapun telah menjemput. Dan saat ini pukul 21.00 malam mereka dalam perjalanan menuju panti Purbalingga.

Ini saya tulis, bukan untuk pamer atau sombong, bisa membawa Sumanto ke Jakarta, untuk live. Saya yakin siapapun kru yang diutus pasti bisa membawanya. Tapi proses yang kami lalui untuk membawanya bagi saya tak ternilai harganya. Ini adalah pengalaman yang sangat luar biasa.

Namun ternyata ada pihak yang tidak memiliki etika, dan menganggap dirinya adalah bos dari kru kupas tuntas tv7, sehingga dengan seenak dengkulnya, senin subuh tadi dia menjemput Sumanto dan H Supono ke Hotel, dan membawanya ke studio SCTV, untuk live di liputan 6 pagi. Di acara baru yang dipandu Bayu.

Saya gak butuh sanjungan, tapi saya yang membawa Sumanto ke Jakarta, apa iya para petinggi di News SCTV, hingga penanggung jawab acara itu, tak beretika sopan santun? Selama di Jakarta, Sumanto adalah tanggung Jawab tim Kupas Tuntas TV7. Dan SCTV tidak menganggap hal itu, dan tanpa malu, tanpa pemberitahuan kepada kami membawa sumanto untuk live di studio mereka.

HEBAT, LUAR BIASA CULASNYA mereka. Dan saat kami meminta klarifikasi, sang pemred sedang di eropa, dan orang yang ditunjuk untuk bertanggung jawab hanya berkata “itukan biasa, apalagi kan udah live di kupas tuntas semalam”

BIASA??? Ternyata seperti itu budaya sebuah divisi NEWS SCTV??? Andai setelah live kupas tuntas selesai, Sumanto tak lagi menjadi tanggung jawab saya, SCTV mau mengundang dia live 24 jam pun silahkan, tapi dengan enaknya dia jemput, live, diantar kembali ke hotel. Apa mereka dari liputan 6 SCTV itu adalah dewa atau tuhan yang bisa berbuat sesuka hati. Persaingan boleh bung, tapi dengan cara yang cerdas, bukan cara culas mengambil narasumber orang lain, tanpa ada ijin sebelumnya.

Analogikan : dirumah anda ada tamu yang anda jemput untuk menginap, tapi saat anda tidur malam harinya, tamu itu saya bawa diam-diam? Apakah saya beretika??? Yah itulah NEWS SCTV. Yang sampai detik ini tidak berani memenuhi undangan kami untuk hadir di News Room TV 7, guna memberikan penjelasan, akan hal itu.

Dari hal ini saya yakin, kru SCTV memble, untuk mendatangkan langsung sumanto saja tak mampu, dan harus berbuat curang, culas dan menjijikkan.

Saya mengaku salah tak menjaga 24 jam di hotel, sehingga mereka dengan mudah datang. Dan dengan mudahnya kru SCTV menggunakan keluguan H Supono, sehingga bisa dibawa ke studio mereka. Hebat betul kru SCTV meyakinkan H Supono bahwa SCTV telah kordinasi dengan kami di Kupas Tuntas.

Wartawan infotainment saja menemui saya secara baik-baik minta waktu untuk bisa wawancara dengan sumanto tadi di parkiran bandara.

Saya tau SCTV sangat kaya, sehingga berapun biaya yang telah kami keluarkan untuk membawa Sumanto ke Jakarta, pasti mereka bisa keluarkan juga, bahkan mungkin lebih mewah, membawa Sumanto dengan Garuda, menginap di hotel bintang 5. Tapi bukan itu masalahnya. Mereka ternyata tak beretika. Dan apa NEWS SCTV bisa membayar semua proses yang kami lalui itu? Apa yang yang saya lakukan selama 4 hari sebagai proses menjemput Sumanto ke Jakarta, tak akan bisa dibayar oleh SCTV. Bahkan dengan ribuan maaf, atau miliaran rupiah.

Maju boleh bung, tapi dengan kaki sendiri. Kalau mau dengan kaki orang lain, yah potong aja kaki kalian.

MUHAMMAD ASRI RASMA
ASS. PROD. KUPAS TUNTAS TV 7

The Tiring Writing Competition for Journos

2006-11-01T07:48:00.000+07:00

There are ways for clients to develop better relationships with journalists, and writing contests USED TO BE one of the more popular ones.

Many PR firms have continually submitted such proposal, including us. Recently a prospective client complained to us that they always get it and they're quite sick of it. Some journalists have talked to us about these and said that there's just too many writing contests, and the prizes are not too significant either. Soon, the trophy or plaque for the winners will just become those dusty items that will take up space on one's desk. One of the journalists say that he's more interested to participate if the grand prize was something in the form of a scholarship to study abroad for a Masters degree, for example.

Yet the point we're trying to make, especially for those who do what we do:

Stop recommending writing competitions to your clients!
When it's their idea, just say NO (in a nice client servicey way, that is).

Good job Colonel Sanders!!

2006-10-31T07:50:00.000+07:00

Its wonderful news for all KFC freaks around the world, especially for me who concern about healthy food. I always believe not every junk food is unhealthy… Hah, it's because I like KFC so much :P

As written in Yahoo News this morning, Colonel Sanders will stop using artificial fat out of its frying oil! Check the link here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061030/ap_on_he_me/diet_trans_fat_ban

Phuiii…Will KFC Indonesia implements it soon? Oh, please do, so, I can eat KFC with less worry, nyam...nyam...

KFC for lunch, people?!

More Trophy for Bisnis Indonesia's Journalist

2006-10-19T17:28:00.000+07:00

The Mavericks congratulate Th. D. Wulandari of Bisnis Indonesia for her achievement in winning the 3rd place of Plangi Journalist Award 2006. This award is organized by The Plaza Semanggi, and it aims to acknowledge the amazing works of the Indonesian journalists. I read some of Wulan's writings about culinary - she is surely a fine writer!

Keep up the good work, gal!

A new JAKARTA "AREA" Blog

2006-10-19T13:19:00.000+07:00

It's very nice to find another resource or reference on our beloved city of Jakarta on the blogosphere. It's also nice to know that this blog is written by professionals (no, not the DKI Jakarta city officials) whose job is to find out everything about this city, with emphasis on lifestyle and entertainment, and also on some current issues like the monorail.

So, we'd like to welcome AREA magazine as they have emerged in the blogosphere, complete with the tagline "I AM JAKARTA".

AREA Magazine is a free Jakarta community magazine that has actually run for 3 years. In fact, the launch of their blog is also to celebrate this achievement. Why do I call it an achievement? Well, as you already know, after the SIUPP was no longer in effect, the number of publications in Indonesia went really high, much higher than the actual number of readers.

Free magazines are just one of the publications that seemed to have sprung up and filled the racks of coffee shops and restaurants, free for anyone to pick up, take home, and then totally forget about it.... because... well... it's free.

In its first edition in October 2004, AREA came out with 40 pages of what it called "the obsessive guide to jakarta's impulsive lifestyle and entertainment". I guess one of the first tasks of the owners is to prove to the public that setting up this magazine was not just an impulsive thing that they did.

Their move to go into the blogosphere is actually nice. I hope to find some useful information about my city in there. I am sure that soon when I google a topic or a place in Jakarta, that it’s most likely to show up in their page.

However, I'm actually quite bothered by the main page of the blog that looks like it's one whole magazine crammed into one space. That's just too much scrolling up and down effort. There's also a blog entry on recommendation for food joints in Tebet, which is one of the main columns of AREA print magazine, and is a copy of their September issue.

I think they should figure out what they wanna achieve through this blog. We hope they don't just copy paste everything from the magazine into webspace because that'll be redundant.

Another question is whether a blog is the right format that they wanna use (in this case, the friendliest for internet users). Do they really want to create conversations or do they just want to have an existence in the cyber world (just because everyone else is blogging)?

Cakram Lost 2 journalists ...

2006-10-10T18:19:00.000+07:00

Cakram advertising magazine lost 2 journalists this month.

Fajar F. Purba and Meindarti Wahyuningsih have left Cakram and hopping onto B&B magazine as reporters. B&B is already well-known as a magazine that mainly discusses public relations, marketing, and outdoor advertising.

A while back, Cakram's journalist Agung Harsya has also left this business magz to pursue his career as a sport journo in Indonesian edition of FourFourTwo magazine.

Hmm, does it means there are several empty positions ready to be filled in Cakram? :)

The Point is FINALLY here! But where?

2006-10-04T13:16:00.000+07:00

The Mavericks have long waited for the first edition of The Point, the newest English-language paper in Indonesia and it was finally out last Monday, 2 October 2006.

But was it? We were so curious about this newspaper so we really put our resources out there to obtain the first edition of this paper, yet this effort was to no avail... They were nowhere to be found at any newstands.

On Tuesday, Maverick's Ari called up The Point and specifically ask for it. The Point then took the initiative to send several copies of Monday and Tuesday's edition to the Maverick HQ. Apparently, the first editions of the paper are only distributed in "limited circulation", they claimed, which included just embassies and no newstands.

Well, we hope that The Point will grow to be an alternative English-language newspaper in Indonesia. But our questions are: Who's gonna read it? Will it just take parts of the pie off of The Jakarta Post?

What's your thought?

Introducing Little Rommy

2006-10-04T04:01:00.000+07:00

Our Rommy Rustami retired early from the office yesterday because it was "time". I guess he's been anxious about it for weeks now, and he even shaved his head recently because of it.

When I woke up for Sahur earlier, I found an sms from a very proud father Rommy introducing his new born daughter named Pendar Ramadhani Anitya. She was born October 4, 2006 at 01:55am at the Hermina hospital in Jatinegara.

On behalf of the Mavericks, Congratulations Rommy!

I guess we'll be visiting them soon and post some pictures here.

Telapak E.I. - Environmental Investigators

2006-10-03T09:42:00.000+07:00

Hidden cameras, undercover work, kidnapping, attempted murder… in the jungles of Kalimantan. This sounds like Hollywood, but it is the real life story of the guys of TELAPAK.

Created in the mid-90s, they started out as nature-trekkers/environmental activists who wanted to do more for mother nature. So they set up an organization that sets out to uncover the evils of men who rob nature (and the country) of its resources.

This is what M. Yayat from TELAPAK shared with us last Friday during our sharing session. He went on and told us about an incident when the Director of Telapak was captured and detained in Central Kalimantan. TELAPAK chartered a Fokker plane from Jakarta to go and extract the kidnapped director, but as the plane was getting near the airstrip, they were told by air traffic controller to turn around. They couldn't believe the last minute order, and as they proceeded with the final approach, they found that the whole airstrip was pitch black. No lights whatsover. They were circling around above the Kalimantan forest for a while before finally landing at a nearby airstrip. TELAPAK believe that the kidnapping, and also the airstrip incident was the work of the biggest illegal logger in the area, who makes so much money out of his illicit business that he owns the region, the political parties, the authorities, and whoever would take his money.

Working for TELAPAK is certainly no easy task. Your life could be constantly in danger. One of the reasons that M. Yayat himself has recently been working in HQ, is that after his recent investigation and findings in Papua he's been a wanted man by the mafia and their cronies there.

One of our questions was whether the evidence that TELAPAK collected are submitted submissable in court, since most of them were obtained either illegally (by trespassing, using fake ID and papers, etc). Yayat said that law enforcers have so far been less interested in how the evidence are gathered. This gets us worried because as these evidence are obtained illegaly, then perhaps those who are incriminated by the evidence can get away with... perhaps smarter lawyers and paying off more people?

Kontan Tabloid, Kontan Newspaper

2006-09-29T17:11:00.000+07:00

Just to add on Awie’s recent posting about KONTAN’s 10th anniversary…

We also heard that KONTAN is going to publish a daily newspaper under the same name starting February 2007. And yes, this is confirmed because it was Pak Yopie himself who brought up the news.

Let’s just hope that the plan goes as scheduled, unlike err... The Point who has missed its deadline again and again, as Unspun wrote.

The Maverick Blog got people sweating... just a bit

2006-09-29T13:58:00.000+07:00

Several weeks ago, a Maverick blogger wrote about how a major media group is planning to buy one of the very few surviving lifestyle & entertainment portal in Indonesia after receiving the information from an insider.

Earlier this week, she received a prank call... (well, she actually got a very polite call from her source, but that's not too juicy, is it?) asking her to remove the posting from our blog, because it was causing a rather uncomfortable situation for some parties.

The source explained, that the man from the media group (who has the same initial as Steven Spielberg's film in the early 80s about some alien creature) became uneasy after he was asked by a journalist regarding the takeover plan. When he asked the journalist for the source of the inquiry, then the journalist mentioned (drum roll please.... ) The Maverick Blog.

So, we've taken out the posting "temporarily", as the source said that these days are the crucial days in negotiations, and that the posting would somehow affect it. I assure you that it will back once an announcement is made.

We certainly hope that the move will benefit the portal and revive it to full potential. And to the man from the media group: Relax, mate... it's just a blog.

KONTAN BBQ a la Yopie Hidayat

2006-09-28T13:16:00.000+07:00

It was a simple barbeque party in the parking place. The editor in chief himself, Mr. Yopie Hidayat who loves fishing so much, took the liberty to grill the fish he caught a couple of days before. And the evening was so warm that some reporters started to play the guitar and sang.

But who would have known that it was the 10th anniversary party of the weekly economic and business tabloid, KONTAN.

As an easy reading tabloid, KONTAN presents a micro and macro economics analysis of the current issues on local and foreign development. For some, KONTAN is said to be a brief yet complete tabloid. Brief in a sense that the content is portrayed directly with no delay in vague descriptions and ambiguous explanations as most economic newspaper and magazines do.

The tabloid presents economics issues plus economists perspectives and predictions in a complete way that non-economist readers would have no need to search for further readings, unless they have special reasons of course. An issue, oftentimes, is displayed by focusing on the impact to the Indonesian economy in the near future.

As for myself, I see KONTAN as friendly both in writing and in the people behind it. Readers from any backgrounds would have the privilege to enjoy the light, sometimes humorous language. Then, if one also has the privilege to meet those behind it, I would never have to explain what I mean by friendly is.

Happy 10th anniversary to a dear friend, KONTAN!

No longer ring ... ring ...

2006-09-27T17:00:00.000+07:00

Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, O2, HP are only several leading mobile phone supplier among the others. The existence of mobile phone (cellular phone) in Indonesia began with Motorola’s expansion in Asia. At that time, the size of a cell phone was almost as big as a brick. These days, you can find the slimmest cell phones around. Samsung has declared themselves as the creator of the world’s slimmest cell phones, launching the Ultra Edition; D830 in 9.9mm, D900 in 12.9mm, and check out X820, world's thinnest profile of only 6.9 mm. It’s even much thinner than my compact powder!! Soon they will probably try to compete with Durex in terms of who has the thinnest products…

If we’re talking about size, anyone will agree with me that size does matter. Apparently, in the mobile phone industry the slimmest is the trendiest. These mobile phone suppliers offer much more than just small size; design and advanced technologies, such as mms/sms, video, mega pixel camera, radio, 3G, games, etc, are common features you can find in any cell phone around. Now, the slimmer and the more advanced features you have on your cell phone, seems to determine your class in this materialistic society. Many people get the latest model, as frequent as they change their underwear. The cell phone phenomenon is that they are increasingly becoming fashion phones, where you match your phone with your clothes.

To tell the truth, I’m a “gaptek” person and for me a cell phone is only to communicate and that’s it!! And to have my phone match my clothes sounds ridiculous… Many friends of mine have suggested me to change my cell phone to the latest model. One friend said, “Try this O2 Xda Atom Exec! It runs on Windows Mobile 5.0.” Other friend said, “Buy Nokia N90 and you can watch TV there!” All of their suggestions only gave me a headache.

So, what about those people who always change their phones with the latest model. To whom they ask for opinion or from where they learn the specification of the cell phone. It’s surprising that Indonesia is well outfitted with publications on cell phones. I have found more than 15 magazines or tabloids that are ready to fulfill our need on the latest information surrounding telecommunication, and cell phones are only a small part of them. Look at the media list below! They can be generated as the leading telecommunication media.

CHIP
Tren Digital
T&T
Tabloid SMS
Telset
Tabloid Roaming
T3
Gadget
Komputer Aktif
Hardware Magazine
Phone 3 Magazine
HP Magazine
Sinyal
Info Komputer
PC Magazine

At the moment, I’m handling one mobile phone supplier from Taiwan, Dopod, and I admitted that they have a high class products. The products have eh… premium price, but I’m sure that it is worth the technologies they offers.

After the product launch, the media would contact me and ask to borrow the products to be reviewed. Their judgments of the product are reliable, because they explore the whole features of the product; design, performance, program, entertainment media, are the most common categories. They can even take these gadgets to bed. Most of them also make comparison of one product with the competitors. Whether it’s credible or not, we just leave it to the readers. Do they buy it or not? But I guess you have to read more than two media until you can decide whether the product is good or not. In that point, any majority always win the case, right!

New baby born

2006-09-20T15:08:00.000+07:00

Breaking news: new baby born! The Mavericks congratulate Jonggi Manuhuruk, a journalist of Media Indonesia on his first baby born: Kinnari Emmanuela Manihuruk. The baby girl was born on 18 September 2006 at Mitra Keluarga Hospital, Kelapa Gading. Hopefully she'll bring more joy and happiness to the family.. :) All the best for Bang Jonggi, Mbak Kathrine and the cute li'l baby Kinnari!

Media Info: 25 New Journalists in Seputar Indonesia

2006-09-15T18:33:00.000+07:00

This week, Seputar Indonesia daily newspaper recruited 25 new journalists! These new journalists are all fresh graduates from different majors of several universities in Indonesia.

Why would they need new journalists? Apparently, Seputar Indonesia is planning to increase the numbers of pages to its publication. Currently, it has 40 pages and soon it will become 44 pages. The additional pages will cover hard news: politics and economics. So, readers could enjoy 20 pages of hard news!

When Maverick visited SINDO's office last year, the Editor In Chief Sururi Alfaruq said that Seputar Indonesia would focus more on lifestyle and feature articles. So, why did they decide to increase their hard news pages?

Hmm.. that's the big question. Will the newspaper that owned by the Media Nusantara Group change their main focus?

War Correspondent Rien Kuntari

2006-09-15T06:59:00.000+07:00

What comes to your mind when you hear that a person is a WAR CORRESPONDENT? Most of you would probably imagine someone who looks like the Marlboro man (without the cowboy gears, of course). Well, go ahead and erase that image. Say hi to Rien Kuntari, Indonesia’s own war correspondent from Kompas who’s made the rounds from TimTim to Vietnam to Iran and Rwanda.

“Many people get disappointed when they meet me for the first time,” she said when speaking at Maverick’s Friday sharing session last week. She has many stories to tell, from stumbling into a pit of human heads in Africa to getting trapped in dangerous territories. However, she always had experienced the kindness of strangers, but she always attributes her scoops humbly to journalist’s luck.

Rien began her foray into war reporting back in 1991, during the The First Gulf War. Then, she was merrily plodding on the diplomacy beat with little hint or expectation that she would be sent to the war. At that time Kompas had a bad relationship with the Iraqi Embassy, which denied the paper any press visas. The only one in Kompas then who had a good relationship with the Embassy was Rien, who had gotten to know the ambassador in her reporting duties.

She wants to him and explained why the Embassy should let a Kompas journalist in to cover the war. In the end the Embassy relented but on one condition: that Kompas sent Rien and Rien only. “I was a fresh journalist and had joined Kompas only for a month, and I never go anywhere with airplane before,” she said. “But I must go because it was my job.”

The going wasn’t easy though for her. Her English then was at best rudimentary, she had not been overseas before and was not savvy to other cultures; it was a male-dominated profession and other reasons. But she persevered and made it from one war to another with flying colors.

And when I asked her: “How do you see human character naturally after going through those kinds of rare experiences?”
She said that every human being always had two basic characters; bad and good. Saddam Hussein, for instance;, was well known as a tyrant (thanks to western media). But Rien said that Saddam was malicious only to his political enemies, not to anyone else. She saw first hand how warm and friendly he could be to his people.

Another example is when she was in Rwanda. Most of us would have the impression of Rwandan soldiers as brutal and sadistic as depicted in Hotel Rwanda Hotel. Rien, however, also saw another side to them. Throughout her stay there, she was always protected by five soldiers from the Rwandan army. “They didn’t allow anyone to harm me or even scratch on my skin. And they were fully supportive when I told them that I had to interview the other side to get a balanced coverage of the situation. They drive me to a village where I could go over to the other side. After the interview, I went back to the village where they picked me up.”

Rien regaled us with many more war stories for two hours and left us wanting for more. It was a privilege to have had her visit us at Maverick and we hope she’ll capture her experiences in a book.

Dani Mijarto is Back!

2006-09-11T09:27:00.000+07:00

I have known Dani – Pradaningrum Mijarto – from her early days as a sport reporter in Harian Ekonomi Neraca. She is friendly, gregarious and -- when we meet -- we always have passionate discussions on current issues. She never hesitates to share ‘background info’ on a hot topic, which always makes our discussion enjoyable as well as insightful.

She was a senior sport reporter in Warta Kota last year, when she sent me a farewell sms, saying that she’s heading for Maastricht, Netherlands. She had won a scholarship from the Netherlands Education Center (NEC) to further her studies in Universiteit Maastricht where she majored in Arts and Heritage.

An email followed a few days later, saying that although there were other Indonesians in the faculty of economics, medicine and other social sciences, she was the only Indonesian majoring in Arts and Heritage. “Who would anyone be interested in arts and heritage in Indonesia, anyway?” she said in her email. “I just hope that what I am going to learn would benefit at least to our city, Jakarta (as benefiting Indonesia would be too hard)”.

Well, now she’s back!! This time as a senior reporter in Warta Kota’s Sunday edition. This is perfect for her since Sunday papers usually contain light (but not unimportant) topics such as interesting old places. She will also have more time to apply her knowledge gained this past year. In fact, when we talked last night, she was passionate about promoting old Jakarta and its museums.

Welcome back, Dani. We look forward to you contributing to Jakarta’s arts and heritage.

Maverick bloggers engage Priyadi.net ... in real-time and real life

2006-09-11T08:12:00.000+07:00

It's great to finally be able to put a face on a name. In this case, a very famous Indonesian blog. Priyadi Iman Nurcahyo claims to be just "an ordinary human being living in Depok, Indonesia", which he states on the main page of his world-famous Priyadi.net blog.

Last Saturday, Ong, Lita, Hanny, former Maverick Eva, and myself attended this Advanced Blogger workshop at the IndoComtech 2006 exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Mbak Lita and Eva were so enthusiastic to attend that they came at 12:45 to the classroom (well, since we registered just a day before, I asked everyone to come early just to secure our spots in the workshop).

The workshop was certainly useful, as I was quite ignorant of blogging in wordpress, and had no idea that wordpress actually has a free software to download that works as a blog page editor. Pretty cool stuff though, especially with the widgets.

However, CHIP Magazine (the organizer) didn't seem to be very prepared and the flow of the workshop in the beginning was too slow. We actually had to wait long for WinRAR to be installed in the computers before we could actually do much with the wordpress software. We hope that next time such workshop would be more efficient.

Here's a group picture that we took after the workshop. I stole this from Priyadi.net earlier. Btw, Priyadi is the one wearing the khaki jackect.

maNew Faces in Maverick

2006-09-08T09:05:00.000+07:00

There are three new faces in Maverick this week.

The first is M. Adwi Yudiansyah. Prior to Maverick, Awie was an Expert Assistant at the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) where he provided advice, analysis and recommendations on Indonesian broadcasting policies. After the Asian Tsunami, Awie was sent by the Faculty of Social and Political Science, University Indonesia, to Aceh as the training coordinator in a capacity building program for the province’s radio stations. Awie holds a Mass Communications degree from the University of Indonesia and is all rearing to use his experience in his new role as a PR consultant.

The second new Associate is Irma Putri Singgih. Irma comes to Maverick after having worked as a public relations officer for the Sheraton Media Hotel & Towers Jakarta and as a lecturer at the Inke Maris Communications School. She holds a BA majoring in Mass Communications from the Lim Kok Wing Institute of Technology & Arts, Malaysia and a Diploma in Business Studies majoring in Public Relations and Communication Studies at the London School of Public Relations . She has also interned at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre while working as an assistant marketing communications manager at East Sussex, Eastbourne, UK

Last but not least, we have Chris Tumelap, who joined us as an editor in our Media Tracking Division. Chris was a reporter and currently a contributing writer in The Jakarta Post. Chris holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Indonesia. She then went for a Post Graduate Certificate in Journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Master of Arts in Migration Studies from the University of Sussex, UK.

New people from different and eclectic backgrounds will certainly bring fresh ideas and insights to the Maverick team. Welcome aboard!

Sandrina Malakiano is still here!

2006-09-05T18:50:00.000+07:00

This former colleague of mine claims that she has been having difficulties getting "gigs" after she's officially out of MetroTV. We must wonder why, because most of us know of her so well: we know about her marriage life, and most of us can imitate the way she pronounce "MA-LA-KEEA-NO".

Well, if you've been following the story, I am sure you've heard all about the story behind her "disappearance" from the TV screen. Not seeing her on MetroTV is quite a loss to many viewers as she practically was THE FACE of MetroTV since its beginning (the other face would be that of the bearded one).

In the beginning of the year, MetroTV got so many inquiries regarding the "no-veil on air" issue, and their answer at the time was that Sandrina was taking a long leave to join her husband Eep, who was leaving to obtain higher education in Germany. Well, everyone bought this story (including me) and thought Sandrina had gone bye bye. Apparently, this was not true (or at least didn't play out that way, as Eep never left and Sandrina claimed that she has always been around).

I remember one day in a very internal meeting at MetroTV, a man with the initial DBS who at the time was Editor-in-Chief, said that Sandrina is too closely associated with MetroTV that other TV stations probably wouldn't want to hire her as an anchor. There's probably some truth to that, but I personally feel that Sandrina in the post-veil era has a different persona and that "hard-news" image is gradually fading. And from talking to her, it seems that the change is something that she wanted as she aims to be a "freelance show-host".

In the coming month of Ramadhan, Sandrina will be seen hosting a couple of Ramadhan shows on various TV stations. And looking at the Ramadhan trend in the past years, there's so many gig opportunities (and hard cash) to take, as celebrities with "Islamic-image" will be so high in demand to be: hosts, MCs, celebrity guests on countless off-air events and tv/radio programs.

She also said that she plans to hold a "Hello?? I'm Still Here!" press conference in a very near future (most possibly before the start of Ramadhan). This, in my opinion, is just a great way to secure a LOT MORE gigs in Ramadhan.

So what's really the problem, Sandrina?

Gamekeper Steve Irwin's Very Last TV Shoot

2006-09-05T08:53:00.000+07:00

Yes, we were all shocked to hear that the great "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died from his injuries after his chest was punctured by the tail of a stingray, during a shooting of his TV show off of Australia's north coast. It was reported that Irwin had pulled out the poisonous barb out of his chest, but the blow proved to be lethal.

The show "Crocodile Hunter" and Steve Irwin has inspired us all. He made us appreciate nature like no one ever before with his typical comments such as "This is such a beautiful poisonous snake" in heavy Australian accent.

Irwin was a super human figure who we thought only existed in fictional stories and comic books, but earlier this week it was indeed proven that he is merely human.

His show was also copied by others. All of a sudden, there were numerous animal-adventure (is that a correct term for this genre?) show with fun n crazy hosts. Yet we all still loved Irwin's show more than others.

The Indonesian televison industry, is also known for making "adaptation" programs that are somehow "inspired by" or "accidentally similar to" shows from western television. When the original Fear Factor Indonesia was running in RCTI, TransTV also had a similar show which even had an interestingly similar bumper. However both shows didn't last long due to bad ratings. Perhaps they should have packaged the shows in Dangdut format to boost the rating. One thing for sure, the copies surely can trim down the costs . TV Stations or the Production Studios don't have to pay for the licence on the co-production to the guys such as Becker, Fremantle, etc.

Cutting costs is one thing, but most tend to also cut costs in areas that are most important and concerns the safety and well-being of the crew. When MetroTV reporter Meutya Hafid and cameraman Budiyanto was kidnapped in Iraq, it was simply a lack of preparation and safety precaution for the team of 2. Of course most people were too immersed with the whole hostage drama that was played out for months after the incident. TV7's Jejak Petualang travel-adventure show team went missing several months ago. Perhaps this could have been prevented if the team was better equipped and funded, with a pre-taping advance team to survey the area.

A professional such as Steve Irwin, who must have a highly professional team with a huge production budget, died during a regular shoot. Should our people care more, or is "modal nekat" enough here?

Independence Day: TV7 is now “occupied territory”

2006-08-18T15:05:00.000+07:00

After one whole day of flag ceremony live from the Presidential Palace, pop artists singing patriotic hymns, and major local corporations (mainly the cigarette manufacturers) airing their oh-so-touching minute long “Viva Indonesia” TV commercials, on the evening of the 61^st year independence of Indonesia, I witnessed a the airing of a variety show that was held in the front yard of the TransTV’s building. What’s different about it is that the same show was also being broadcasted on TV7. To me this was the first collaborative effort since the merge that took place earlier this month. The question is: was it a collaborative effort, or was TV7 left with no choice but to air it simultaneously? To the audience, the Konser Kemerdekaan was probably the first look at this union, in which TV7 did almost nothing but relay the broadcast of its sister station.

On August 4, it was announced that TransTV’s parent company has bought 49% of TV7. During the press conference, Trans TV’s Chairul Tandjung was quoted as saying that he hopes that this synergy of two TV stations would be a good momentum to build the nation through television. He also said “The strategy of this cooperation is to gear TV7 to a better direction” and that “the TV station’s function in information disbursement and educational tool, will be packed in an entertainment form.”

But what does Mr. Tandjung actually mean by that? One can claim just about any program would have some educational values. Even “The Price is Right” could be claimed “educational” as it provides information on consumer goods prices, so that viewers could become more “educated customers”. Well, recently KPI’s Ade Armando wrote a critique over TransTV’s “Selebriti Juga Manusia” pseudofictional-drama that had violated journalism ethics, promote bad taste, and really pissed off the guys from Partai Amanat Nasional. The last factor there was the one that really made the difference, and TransTV made the decision not to air the 2^nd episode of the Gusti Randa and wife’s “fictional recollection” of a series of events that recently made tabloid headlines.

We also wonder about what he means by shifting TV7 into a better direction. TransTV is notorious in the TV industry as having a military-style management, especially in its non-news production department. The TransTV way of doing things is to immediately liquidate all low-rated shows and create new shows with better concepts. This is probably the reason for their current success as the rating-leader. So does TransTV’s “supervision” over TV7’s program mean a complete makeover of the station and its program? And by the way, TransTV has also sent over its top guns to TV7 in the process.

A friend of mine in TV7’s program department claimed that the past couple of months have been very “uncomfortable” for them as TransTV employees have gone around the block to brag about their conquest. He said that he and some of his coworkers have prepared their resumes and start shopping around for new jobs elsewhere.

Let’s go back to recent history when TV7 just started out, and many viewers expected some great TV journalism to be at work as the station is backed by the trusted Kompas Gramedia group. However, in its tenure, TV7 hasn’t been able to establish its news programs as one of the most watched nor trusted news programs either. The gems of TV7’s original programs are the “Jejak Petualang” and its spinoff programs, which are both entertaining and educational. This program was also in the spotlight recently when its team went missing during an expedition in Papua. With this recent move, these better programs may not stand a chance when compared to the high-rating comedy or variety shows.

A TV7 news producer said that the timeslot for the 7pm News will soon be replaced by an entertainment program. It is still unclear where the hard news program will be moved to. TV7 employees are also scheduled to move into the TransTV complex later this year. No words yet whether they’re gonna have to wear those semi-paramilitary uniform similar to that of TransTV’s employees. Perhaps TransTV will also make a movie out of it, like “Dunia Lain: the Movie”.

Stop bribery - Let's fight for a "Clean" Indonesia

2006-08-10T17:19:00.000+07:00

Are all Indonesian journalists aware of their own code of ethics in running their profession? What about the “wartawan amplop” case? What drives them to being “wartawan amplop”? These questions were raised today on the celebration of Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) 12th anniversary in Jakarta.

Heru Hendratmoko – AJI Indonesia Chairman, Anung Karyadi – and Niken Rachmad – HM Sampoerna’s Corporate Communication’s Director were featured as the speakers on the discussion “Kebebasan Pers untuk Keberagaman” (“Freedom of Press for Diversity”). In this occasion, AJI informed us that they have officially formulated the journalism code of ethics since March 14 2006. You can check out the comprehensive clauses on AJI's official website.

One important note is the fact that not all journalists are fully aware, understand and have applied the ethical codes of conduct. This happens mainly due to their low earnings as journalists. It's related to “wartawan amplop” case, where journalists expect certain amount of money from their source with something in return. I believe all of us are very much familiar with that term already.

According to one of the participants (he’s a journalist from a law publication), you can find many journalists out there who don’t receive basic salary at all. They survive by relying on the amount of “money” given by government officials or private sector. This is the homework for AJI and other Indonesian journalists' associations to work on and surely it would need great support from public, private sectors and the media house as well. Recently, AJI is fighting for a salary increment for journalists in the minimum amount of Rp 3.1 million/month.

One interesting quote as I recalled from the discussion was "If the media could not pay their journalists' salary then they must close the company down!"

The Rise of the Velvet

2006-08-07T19:06:00.000+07:00

It seems like nothing can get in the way of Velvet Silver’s pursuit to spread its wings in the Indonesian media industry - not even the raunchy protest by the likes of FPI (Front Pembela Islam) to stop publishing its controversial Playboy magazine.

Following the launching success of FourFourTwo a few months back, by the end of October this year the Velvet Silver Media will introduce the Indonesian edition of Shape, a lifestyle magazine that focuses on fitness, aerobics, and nutrition that is published in the US.

“This magazine [Shape] is a mix between Cosmopolitan and Fit,” said Avianto Nugroho, Promotion & Event Manager of Velvet Silver Media, whom I met at a gathering organized by the moderator of Advertising Indonesia mailing list last Saturday.

A combination between lifestyle and fitness – this should be interesting.

Avi, who is familiar with the Indonesian lifestyle media business, further elaborate his company’s expansion plan.

“By early next year, we are planning to take over the publishing license of Behind The Screen.”

Behind The Screen magazine is geared for professional in broadcast and film.

Prior to joining the Velvet Silver, Avi was part of the MRA media family. He was an editor of MTV Trax magazine (now Trax). MRA Media is famous for publishing the Indonesian edition of lifestyle magazines like Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmo Girl!, FHM, Good Housekeeping, etc.

With the presence of people like Avi in the team, could Velvet Silver overpower the success of MRA media giant? No evidence is saying otherwise.

Trans TV To Take Over 49% Shares Of TV7

2006-08-07T15:52:00.000+07:00

Last Friday late afternoon, KCM released the news that TV7 of the KKG (Kompas Gramedia Group) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Trans TV for a strategic partnership. Under this partnership, Trans TV now owns 49% of TV7, leaving TV7 with a slightly bigger shares of 51%.

Personally, despite that they are following the trend of showing a lot of infotainment program (they have at least 7 different programs a week), I think TV7 has quite a number of good inhouse program, Jejak Petualang for one. But then again, everybody knows that good programs do not necessarily followed by high rating, and vice-versa.

So what does the business deal between TV7 and Trans TV mean for the viewers? Are we going to get better TV programs? Let’s see whether those TV station owners really think about what’s good for their most important stakeholders, that is the viewers and not the advertisers.

Happy 12th Anniversary to Aliansi Jurnalis Independen

2006-08-07T11:14:00.000+07:00

AJI (Independent Journalist Alliance) is celebrating its 12 anniversary today. However, the reception will be held on 11 August 2006.
In celebrating its anniversary, AJI always comes up with different theme each year. This year’s theme is “Media and Diversities”.

To celebrate its anniversary, AJI is conducting series of activities. If you’re interested, you could come and join some of the events below:

7 August 2006
10am at Teater Utan Kayu – Jakarta: Discussion, themed “Media and Intolerance”
Speakers: Syaiful Mujani, Director of LSI (Lembaga Survey Indonesia); Jalaludin Rakhmat, a communications expert and Moslem scholars; Musdah Mulia, activist

1pm – 6pm at Teater Utan Kayu – Jakarta: Documentary movies “Black September” and “Inside Indonesia’s War on Terror”

10 August 2006
10am at Hotel Cemara – Jakarta: Discussion on how the private sectors and the media could benefit each other.
The discussion will address the issues of bribery, code of ethics in journalism, how to create a newsworthy story for the media, how to deal with the media, how to solve conflict with the media when it occurs.
It will be useful for the corporations to create a better understanding on the characters of the media.
Speakers: Effendi Ghazali, the Chairman of AJI Heru Hendratmoko and a representative from PT HM Sampoerna Tbk

Press Conference on Udin Award and Tasrif Award
Udin Award is an award for a journalist who became a victim of violence because of its commitment, loyalty, integrity and dedication in doing his tasks.
Tasrif Award is an award for a person/group who has been helping the media in revealing the truth behind injustice cases in society.
The panel of judges for these awards are Butet Kertaredjasa; Endi Bayuni, The Editor in Chief of The Jakarta Post and Kemala Candra Kirana from Komnas Perempuan

11 August 2006
7pm at Hotel Santika, Slipi – Jakarta: Reception
A movie on history of AJI, announcement of the Enemy of the Freedom of Press (each year AJI chooses one institution who tries to block press freedom), announcement of Udin Award and Tasrif Award’s winners, announcement of the best journalists from printed media and TV will be some of the agendas of the reception.
Slamet Gundono will also perform on the reception to entertain the guests with his “gambus” instrument.

Why did AJI choose “Media and Diversity” as its theme this year?
Andy Budiman, Ketua Panitia HUT AJI ke-12, said that there were lots of problems nowadays caused by intolerance in the society. The level of intolerance was increasing, thus it needed to be eliminated. AJI wanted to share its concern to the public, specifically to the media.
Ulin Ni’am Yusron, the sub-committee head of the labor union affairs of AJI, said, “Until now, several media still created such news that could escalate the conflict in Indonesia, rather than reducing it. The media should have been a place where all different colors in the society were harmonized. They shouldn’t provoke and maintain the conflict. They should’ve helped the public to reduce the conflict”.

“The media should give a chance to voiceless people to be able to talk. So, not only those powerful people who are always talk in the media, but also the voiceless ones”, Ulin added.

“Do you think this year’s theme will bring any change to the media industry?”
Ulin added, “For sure it will bring awareness in the media. However, awareness isn’t enough. It has to be applied. But yeah.. at least AJI refresh the commitment of the media, which is very important, because nowadays we live in a such highly competitive industrialized world and someone has to remind us [the media, red] to stay neutral and objective”.

Well.. all the best, AJI and Happy 12th Anniversary to all AJI’s members! Wish AJI will be more solid and can bring a positive change in the media industry :).

Corporate Blog: Is it really a dilematic decision?

2006-08-03T18:01:00.000+07:00

In June 2006, SWAonline published an op-ed written by Amalia E. Maulana; a PhD candidate in UNSW School of Marketing, Australia. The title of Amalia’s op-ed is Corporate Blog: Dilematic Decision.

In her op-ed, Amalia stated that there are several reasons why having a corporate blog could become a dilematic decision IF corporate bloggers agreed to adopt the code of ethic in blogosphere.

Those reasons are:

The information disclosed in a blog should be honest; then how to control the flow of information of this blog? What if a corporate blog becomes a place where employees could posted their complaints towards the company?
Once a company decided to go blogging, they have to commit on their blog. Are they ready for this commitment?
Blog should not consists of advertisement. It is a 2-way communication tools that should reflects daily experience of bloggers that will lead into discussions. Then what if your corporate blog can’t lit up an interesting discussion?

She then brought an example about Google corporate blog that receives criticism for not adhering to blogosphere code of ethic.

What puzzles me is her few last statements about corporate blogging. According to Amalia, corporate blog is not a must for companies, considering the dilemma it caused. Furthermore, she said, “Companies that need blogs are market leaders wanting to positioned themselves as an expert in the industry … or those who wants to have a close relationship with their customer.”

My question to Amalia is: why don’t companies want to positioned themselves as an expert in the industry? And why don’t companies want to have a close relationship with their customer?

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In his blog, Seth Godin, the author of Unleashing The Ideavirus, All Marketers are Liars, and Permission Marketing, published a post called 'Raveling'.

Seth illustrated a blog built by Emily Martin, a graduate from art school. Emily has a myspace page for her blog Inside A Black Apple; and starts selling her artwork on Etsy.com.

Inside A Black Apple captures Emily’s daily life, her dreams, as well as the history behind her new paintings and other cute artworks. Emily has only a small store in her apartment; but she has hundreds of views in Etsy and has sold more than 20.000 dollars worth of paintings so far. Hmm, does it ring a bell?

***

You can wait forever; but probably you’ll never become a market leader.
Does it mean you’re not going to consider blogging until then?

I think being a blogger is more into becoming an opinion leader. That’s why Mavericks go blogging at the first place, and I think that’s the reason why other bloggers do, too.

Note: Amalia is a member of Virtual Consulting, where his colleague Nukman Luthfie wrote about corporate blog. Amalia's post in SWAOnline is written before that particular posting appeared in Nukman's blog.