Journalist, Miliswa Sitshwele interviewing Winnie Madikizela- Mandela
Flow Communications is a diversified company. When people ask me about the company I work for and what it’s about, it’s always a great pleasure for me to try to unpack it and explain to them.
I always say we are the leader in communications in South Africa. What other company designs websites, prints booklets and flyers, conducts media training, journalism and social networking classes, does graphic design and interviews the who’s who of South Africa?
Life at Flow Communications is fast and no day is ever the same. We get to write about insects, banking, art, fossils, drama, higher education, insurance, tours, birthday parties, documentaries, HIV/AIDS, community projects, Mandela Day … You name it, we’ve written about it!
In our line of work we often cover big events for clients, such as lectures, exhibitions, announcements, press conferences, tours of Johannesburg or Cape Town, and the like.
When covering such events, we try to plan ahead as far as possible so there is no mayhem (or at least as little as possible). Before the event, we meet to share out duties so that, on the day, people know what is required from them and where they should be.
Covering these events can be nerve wracking for a journalist, as you’re often required to get quotes from the high flyers of South Africa.
My trick has always been to sum up the courage to dodge the bodyguards and get a comment from one celebrity – once that’s done, the rest is easy.
I have got quotes from the likes of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Basetsana Kumalo, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Zwelinzima Vavi, Baby Jake Matlala and Peggy-Sue Khumalo, among others.
It always feels a bit unreal once I have the quote in my little notebook: these are people I watched on TV while growing up in the rural Eastern Cape – I never thought I’d see them, let alone speak to them!
Of course, they probably won’t remember me next year, when I have to interview them again – but the experience is priceless, nonetheless.
After getting the quotes and hopefully some photographs to accompany them, we slot the comments into the story. Depending on the event, we’ll also be rolling out content for the client’s social media channels – perhaps recording video for YouTube, Tweeting on their Twitter profile as the night goes on, and uploading pictures to Flickr. By the end of the night, we already have something up on their various web properties. Sometimes we even manage to publish material from the venue before the actual event even formally starts!
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