Every now and then Flowstars have to relocate to their clients’ offices to help out in a tight spot. And when that happens it’s a bit like starting a whole new job as you learn a new organisation from scratch.
When WWF-SA’s newly married communications officer Quathar Begg headed off to Warsaw for COP 19 and then “greener” pastures in Kurdistan, Flow was asked to step in.
Which is how I came to find myself in the WWF-SA’s offices in Claremont, Cape Town, helping out with their day-to-day communication, media, marketing and social media needs.
From the outset it felt like home: an office full of wonderful, friendly people, all with the same objective in mind: doing something for our unique environment and promoting sustainable living. First up, there was the Journey of Water function at Kirstenbosch, where a four-day, 85km hike from catchment to coast was coming to an end. The idea was to highlight the urgent need to protect water catchment areas.
The Journey of Water is an important piece of work that shows that 8% of the surface area of South Africa supplies 50% of the country’s water, but precious little of this land is properly protected.
It’s just one of many projects in which WWF-SA is involved, from working on sustainable seafood to saving grasslands and rhino research (which Flow knows well from the #iam4rhinos campaign).
Realising the depth of work that goes on within WWF’s ranks and also how seriously the organisation takes its role in influencing policy-makers and government, is an important part of the job.
To this end Flowstars in Johannesburg jumped in to cover the Living Planet Conference that precedes the WWF-SA annual general meeting each year.
And so it goes: today it might be the launch of an online shop, tomorrow providing social media support for the Ride for Nature team’s efforts at the 94.7 cycle race and next year’s Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour.
In between all this, comes an unusual plea via Facebook for help from northern Mozambique. A South African IT specialist wants to know if WWF has an official document to dissuade the locals from trading in pangolins. As it happens, the WWF network is able to turn up just the right person (from outside the organisation) to help out.
And then there are the little gems, like the three pre-schoolers who raised R750 for rhino conservation and hand-delivered the proceeds to the WWF-SA office in Johannesburg. So sweet, so committed …
If the first few weeks are anything to go by, what’s not to like about the panda people? I regard it as a privilege to be able to spend time with them.