Let’s Talk About Things To Do Over The Holidays!

Are there any things to do nearby?

What should you add to your reading list?

And if you’re a parent, how are you going to make the most of the time you’ll get to spend with your kids?

Media veteran David O’ Sullivan looked into Things To Do Over The Holidays with author and writer Nechama Brodie, travel blogger Kate Els and poet and writer Kojo Baffoe in our latest Iris Session. Watch the recording on YouTube or below*!

David O’ Sullivan is no stranger to the South African media-landscape, having worked at Talk Radio 702 for 19 years and 11 years as a sports presenter on SABC2 and SABC3. He is the co-author of two best-selling books: “The Penguin Book of South African Sports Trivia” and “The Extraordinary Book of South African Cricket”. He covered the Oscar Pistorius Trial on the DSTV’s Channel 199 (“Oscar channel”) and co-hosted the Mnet Sunday evening show, Carte Blanche Legal Round Table in 2014. He regularly MCs corporate events.

• Kojo Baffoe is a writer, poet, blogger, media consultant and producer based in Johannesburg. He was poet laureate for Gordon Institute of Business Science, was founding editor of Blaque Magazine. He was part of a variety of projects and shows, including Afro Cafe (a music show), Emcee Africa (a pan-African reality music show), Making Moves (an entrepreneurial show), Zooming In On Men (a men’s lifestyle show) and Zwahashu (a lifestyle show). He has also served on many judging panels, including MTN Business App of the Year Awards and Miss South Africa 2014. More recently, he was Editor of the men’s business and lifestyle magazine, Destiny Man, for four years from 2010 and is a director in Kwaya Holdings, an investment and consulting group, positioned to take advantage of opportunities in the publishing, digital, entertainment, fashion, media, events and rights management sectors with particular focus on the African content.

Nechama Brodie is a freelance print, online and television journalist. She cut her teeth working in women’s magazines – she was the Assistant Editor of FAIRLADY, launch editor of FAIRLADY BRIDE and SARIE BRUID and launch editor and associate publisher of REAL magazine. She currently contributes to a number of leading South African publications, including the Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times, City Press and Business Day’s award-winning magazine Wanted. Nechama has published two books on Johannesburg – The Joburg Book and Inside Joburg, and her Cape Town Book also recently hit the shelves.

Kate Els spends her days writing, brainstorming online marketing ideas and figuring out which country is next on the bucket list of places to see. She studied journalism at the University of Johannesburg before falling into tourism journalism. After writing and editing for SA Tourism Update, and a period at Hotel & Restaurant, she moved into the role of content editor at South African Tourism. She currently does freelancer online marketing projects as a digital project manager, social media marketer and strategiser and chronicles her interests on Indikate.net – a blog about her travel experiences, as well as food and wine, attractions, hotels, places she’s seen and funny stories from the people she’d met along the way.

What is an Iris Session?

It is a Google Hangout that you can listen to live via Google+, or later, via YouTube and the Change Exchange site. Each session lasts 30 to 40 minutes and if you are watching live, you can send your questions through to the facilitator via the Hangout page. The facilitator will then bring your questions into the conversation.

Keep an eye on our Events page to ensure you diarise the dates.  We looking forward to connecting with you!

If you missed our previous Iris Session Finding joy in your job, you can watch the recording here.

Why ‘Iris’?   

Iris is the name of BrightRock’s icon. This was called Iris in reference to eye – which lets in the light – and the Greek goddess of light whose rainbow connected the heavens with the Earth.

These sessions act as digital conversation spaces that we hope will provide you with new perspectives and shed light on the moments of change in your life.