Season's Greetings

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

Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna 2006: The Winners!!!

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

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

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.

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

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!

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!

AAS 2006: Photo Category Finalists - Congrats!

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

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

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

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!

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… ;)

AAS 2006: The Judging Process Begins!

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! :)

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

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….

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

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

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! =)

BubuAwards v.05 Strikes Back

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/.

So Cute

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.

Good job Colonel Sanders!!

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

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!

Cakram Lost 2 journalists ...

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? :)

Kontan Tabloid, Kontan Newspaper

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.

KONTAN BBQ a la Yopie Hidayat

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 ...

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

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

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

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!

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.

maNew Faces in Maverick

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!

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

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

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

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

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?

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:

1. 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?
2. Once a company decided to go blogging, they have to commit on their blog. Are they ready for this commitment?
3. 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?

***

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.

Away Day To Puncak

This is my maiden post for my new company’s blog. And what could be a better post than a "wild" weekend going-out on a semi-holiday with your office-mate in just my first month? Rather than write something serious, I prefer to post about our week-end Puncak last week.

This Away Day, is a routine annual office-activity on a weekend (I guess), and this time we went to the Novus resort in Puncak, West Java.

We departed on Friday morning, while most of people in Jakarta still queuing in traffic-jam and mumbling a powerful spell: Thank God it’s Friday.
Just like other ordinary office-meeting-holiday, we mixed pleasure and work in this Away Day. Yes, there’s a swimming pool, spacious room for just playing a card-completed with strange movement from card-players, enough time to stay awake until morning dawn, hang-out place with street-singer, and of course a nice comfortable bed and a thin blanket in the middle of freezing atmosphere.
But let me point out, this is an office-meeting holiday. So there’s also a series internal-meeting that we have to attend. Even if I have to compare it to daily meetings, I still comment “Hey, it’s just an ordinary chit-chat while we’re hang-out for lunch, no more or less…”
Did I mention that in Maverick we’ve tried to be balance? Its fun to be serious and seriously having fun eh?
Through this event, we’ve tried to F5 (refresh) our company’s vision and values, in the fun way of course, thanks to Ariono and Riri as well as everyone else who made this event possible.
Finally, we’ve arrived back to Jakarta on Saturday afternoon, so we still have enough time to spend our weekend.

And here's a little peek on some of the things that I did on our away day

Tempo Magazine on Blogging ...

On its 6th of August edition, Majalah Tempo published several in-depth articles about (here we go again): BLOG!

The articles were placed in a special column called "Selingan" and consists of more than 6 pages about blog, bloggers, and blogging. The articles reveal the vast majority of bloggers--especially Indonesian bloggers, that strikes the blogosphere. According to the article, blog has also becoming a relevant and reliable source of information in our world today, keeping up with conventional media.

Several prominent bloggers are being highlighted in the articles, such as Fatih Syuhud, Enda Nasution, and Rovicky Dwi Putrohari. Rovicky is well-known for his blog about geology and disaster. He has a special ability to explain complicated process of earthquake and tsunami in a very decent way, that it makes sense and understandable even for those who has no interest in geology.

The 'blog' articles published in Majalah Tempo are written by Sapto Pradityo, Cahyo Junaedy, Tulus Wijanarko, and Budi Putra.

Amongst these journalists, Budi Putra as a tech editor stands out for his blog called Asia Tech Weblog: Blogging the Future.

His blog is mainly discuss about technology and the internet, but he's also posting several mainstream issues along the way.

Budi Putra has also published 2 books, Planet Internet: Jaringan Pintar yang Mengubah Dunia and Planet Seluler: Ketika Teknologi Bergerak Mengubah Hidup Kita.

Congratulations for Majalah Tempo and its journos for they have directed public's eyes into the blogosphere!

From Cakram to FourFourTwo

The Mavericks used to know Agung Harsya as a young journalist in Cakram business magazine. Well, apparently, Agung has moved to a literally "greener" field, since he is now a reporter in Indonesian Edition of FourFourTwo* soccer magazine!

***

If you came over to Agung's blog, A Platonic World, it is obvious that Agung is really into soccer. In his posting entitled "Sepakbolahawe", Agung told us about his long lost love: yes, soccer!

His love to this particular sport have made him once promised, that soccer will no longer act merely as a game to kill time. Not to mention that Agung cherishes this sentimental memories as a child; listening to his grandpa telling stories about soccer. Surprisingly, as time went by, Agung found out that his interest in soccer has gradually decreased. He even started to think that soccer will never become his future.

An Invisible Hand, however, has brought soccer back into Agung's life. He finally reunited with his long lost love once again, through his new job in FourFourTwo magazine. Hey, it seems like somehow you have kept your promise, Gung! :)

Good luck with your new carreer--and keep score!

*FourFourTwo is published under the Velvet Silver Group that becomes famous for publishing Playboy magazine

A Meeting with Faisal Basri

My second meeting with Faisal Basri happened last Tuesday.

I met him for the 1st time back in May 2006, when Faisal expressed his willingness to serve as a member of Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna’s* Board of Judges.
*For more info on Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna, feel free to call Maverick or send an e-mail to aas@maverick.co.id

Who is Faisal Basri, anyway?

For those of you who haven’t heard of him, Faisal Basri is an Indonesian prominent figure, mainly in economy and business. In 2000, he was elected as an Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs. Currently, he is a Commissioner of the Supervisory Commission for Business Competition of the Republic of Indonesia. Viewed as an expert in economic field, his opinions have constantly appeared in several major publications in Indonesia, such as Kompas and Koran Tempo.

During Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna’s Judges Meeting last Tuesday, Faisal told us his ideas and opinion about journalists and media in general. Faisal believes that it is important for media/publications to use an appropriate Indonesian language. It is true, that the language used doesn’t have to be correct according to Pusat Kajian Bahasa Indonesia, for example. Journalists and the media, however, should also bear in mind that they also have to serve the public. Therefore, continuously using jargons or filling an article with too much ‘local slang’ can be irritating.

He also mentioned that a journalist must start to think out-of-the-box to find a different approach towards an article that he/she is working on. Faisal took the book THE WORLD IS FLAT* by Tom Friedman as an example. The content of the book is not new in itself, but Tom Friedman has managed to bring the concept of ‘the world is flat’ and make it looks new.
*Last week, Maverick Book Club has chosen The World is Flat to sit in our ‘must-read’ list

Before I met him, I’ve known Faisal Basri mainly through his personal website, www.faisalbasri.com, that presents a more ‘humane’ side of this economic expert. The web contains his profile, writings, lectures, and … his poems!

Just listen to this piece of poem he wrote during a flight; entitled Aku Tak Kenali Lagi:

Aku kian bergegas
Tapi mereka seperti berlari
Tiba-tiba muncul dari arah depan
Menyeringai disertai ejekan

Aku berbelok ke selatan di persimpangan jalan
Ternyata jalan itu buntu
Aku berbalik arah menuju utara
Di sana ada keramaian
Tapi semua orang membisu
Kusapa satu-satu
Tapi tak berjawab

Well, turned out that our DKI Jakarta’s Governor candidate is a very poetic person!

"We’re empowering the government"

Those are the words of Bambang Basuki, the Executive Director of Mitra Netra Foundation (MNF) during an interview with The Star Malaysia late last week in “The 12th International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)”. That was his answer when asked about the government's support to MNF. Established in 1991, MNF is a Jakarta-based NGO dedicated to the education and development of the visually impaired through partnerships. MNF’s presence in that global convention was to discuss the attitudes and policies, inclusive educational practices, multi-disabilities with visual impairment, and equality of access to education for the visually impaired across the regions.

Bambang and Mitra Netra was profiled in The Star Malaysia for their struggle in empowering the Indonesian government to support and create inclusive educations for the visually impaired.

Maverick and MNF have also built up the partnership since 2005 in term of capacity building program in communication and public relations skills which very much relevant to our expertise. By empowering Mitra Netra with communications skills Maverick hoped that all their set objectives would be soon accomplished.

”challenges can always be solved by learning and hard work, that challenges create opportunities,” as quoted from Bambang at the end of his interview.

You can check out the article’s details thru this link http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/21/central/14879155&sec=central

To fly or not to fly

Do you ask yourself, “Will I get there alive?” whenever you’re about to fly with an Indonesian airlines? Don’t worry. We all have asked that question once or twice. It is public knowledge that the Indonesian airlines are still quite unsafe. It just seems more definite when it comes from an insider in the industry itself.

Last Friday, July 7, 2006, Maverick had the pleasure of having Harumi Supit from Airefata as a guest speaker in our weekly Friday Sharing Sessions. Looking very relaxed among the Mavericks, Harumi spoke for almost two hours giving us no-sugar coated insights on the Indonesian aviation industry and then patiently answered all of our questions.

Don’t get me wrong. Harumi was not slamming the Indonesian airlines, she just laid it out as it is. She started by giving us a picture of the commercial airlines industry from the top airliners, Garuda and Merpati, to the low cost carriers (LCC), such as Air Asia Indonesia, Lion Air, Adam Air, Batavia Air and Mandala Air. With the very tough price competition between the airlines, there are also smaller airlines, which still manage to hang in there among the bigger airlines, like Sriwijaya Air, Kartika Airlines, Ekspress, Jatayu Airlines, and Riau Airlines. However, those that couldn’t compete slowly fluttered away, like Star Air, Bali Air, Indonesia Air, Air Paradise, and Bouraq. Airefata is positioned strategically between the top airlines and the LCC’s.

Among the still active airlines, Harumi said that Garuda was still the safest airlines in Indonesia, although they're deeply in debt. On average, Garuda has the “youngest” age aircrafts compared to the other airlines. But, according to Harumi, the age is not the main safety perimeter for an aircraft; maintenance is. Even if an aircraft is not considered “young” anymore, as long as it has been maintained well, it is safer than a newer aircraft that has been flown abusively – just like any type of machinery. A well-oiled plane should have a complete maintenance log done by reputable maintenance facilities, as well as knowing the history of every single spare parts of the airplane.

So now we know that good maintenance is key to a safe fleet, Harumi also said that pilot’s training and flight hours were essential to judge the safety of an airline. These factors can determine the decisions that a captain will make during crisis or emergency situations. Harumi said, that is why at Airefata, they carefully chose experienced pilots and invested in providing them with ample trainings and much more.

Another interesting sharing session that broadened the Maverick’s knowledge. And even with the new information we’ve just learned, we are not afraid to continue to fly because we are the fearless Mavericks and that statistically, flying is still the safest way to travel – even if we continue to ask, “Will I get there alive?”

Benvenuta piccolina!!

(Welcome little one!!)

On behalf of all Mavericks, we would like to send our best wishes and congratulation to Mas Rudy (our Finance guy) and his wife, Ratna who have been blessed by the presence of their cute and lovely baby girl, named Winola Hanaya (Win Win) on July 11, 2006.

After a nice lunch with several Mavericks, we went to visit him and his wife to express our sympathy and plus, to witness the little creature…indeed she is so cute!! Wondering when I could also have my own...

Over the window of baby's showroom, we saw her sleeping in serene and we were carried away to the same situation like she had, peaceful… As quoted from Carl Sandburg that "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on," so I guess lets have more babies to make our world goes around!

Jakarta Post to lose 8 journos?

The Grapevine has told unspun that The Jakarta Post is losing eight reporters, some to further education but others to the competition.

Among those the Post will be losing is Reiner Simanjuntak, the business editor to Forbes Indonesia that is being run by former Singapore Business Times correspondent Shoeb Kagda. The other poacher of Post talent, we are told, is research and lobby firm Van Zorge Heffernan.

In the meantime, rumors of a second English-language daily starting up soon are rife. But very few people seem to know who is behind it, except that one of the owners may be from a mining firm that has been in the news a lot lately and one of the editors used to work with Antara.

It looks like Daniel Rembeth, the new CEO of the Jakarta Post has his work cut out for him.

Another Journo Joining Maverick

Today we welcome another journalist into the Dark Side ;)

After working for five years with Bisnis Indonesia, the nation’s leading business newspaper, Rommy Rustami is joining Maverick.

Rommy is a civil engineering graduate of the National Institute of Technology, Bandung and started his career as Reporter and Announcer of Radio Maraghita, Bandung, in 1997 before moving to Bisnis.

“After being a journalist for many years, I’m very excited to enter and experience the other side of the field,” Rommy said.

His journalism experience will surely strengthen the Maverick team Welcome to Maverick, Rommy, we all look forward to you playing a big part in the kick-ass team we have!

AFP looking for journos

AFP is apparently looking for Indonesian news correspondents. Here's their announcement to the jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

VACANCY AT AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) seeks a full-time Indonesian news correspondent to be based in its Jakarta bureau, reporting on Indonesia and East Timor. Candidates must speak and write fluent English.

The ideal candidate will have some experience working in print, radio or television news, with a strong interest in and understanding of world politics and economics. The candidate should be able to generate their own ideas for feature stories.

He or she must be self-driven and be able to work with minimal supervision.

Travel to different regions of Indonesia and possibly elsewhere in the region will be necessary, sometimes at very short notice. The candidate must be willing to report occasionally in hazardous environments, such as disaster zones.

Proficiency in Indonesian languages such as Javanese, or other languages such as French, would be an advantage.

Salary will be commensurate with experience.

Interested applicants should send an application letter and a CV as soon as possible to sebastien.blanc@afp.com, cc samantha.brown@afp.com