Maverick Indonesia

Click of The Week #29: Marwan Azis

When we read a newspaper, we are bombarded with news on politics, economy, business, crimes and sports. We don’t find articles on environment too often, unless the issue is really high profile and involving big names.

That’s why I’m going to give a nod to Marwan Azis, a self-proclaimed freelance environment journalist, by choosing his blogs as Click of the Week. Perhaps I should say Clicks of the Week since he is taking care of three blogs: petualanganku.multiply.com; etalasehijau.blogspot.com and greenpressnetwork.blogspot.com.

The first two blogs are his personal blogs where he posted his work on various environmental issues. While the third one is the official blog for an organization for environment journalists, the Green Press Network, where Marwan acts as the editor. Green Press Network adopts citizen journalism principle where Marwan invites everyone who read his blog to submit environmental-related articles to be posted in his blog.

Obviously, Marwan is passionate about delivering news on the environment and we should salute him for doing it. Indonesia is such a vast country with great natural treasure and thanks to journalists likeMarwan, we can stay updated in any environmental issues that are happening all over the archipelago.

We need more people to care about the environment in this country. Perhaps by reading Marwan’s blogs, some people will think twice about throwing garbage out of their speeding cars.

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*Note: Our 29th Click of The Week is nominated by Crivenica Alam (Riri)–Head of our media tracking division who loves baking environmental-friendly cookies

Citi Zoo Day Out!

Going to the zoo can be so much fun and indulging in an upbeat activity while there can bring about even more excitement. At any rate, that was true for our friends from Citi Indonesia, one of our biggest clients, when they organized their annual Global Community Day (GCD) “Citi Zoo Day Out” on Saturday, 17th November 2007, at Ragunan Zoo.

At 7 a.m., when everybody was still enjoying a leisurely weekend morning in bed, nearly 1,500 Citi Indonesia volunteers had gathered at the main entrance of the zoo, all brimming with high spirit and energy. They all looked ready to take on the world in their “Citi Peka” white shirts over jeans or shorts, complete with hats and sunglasses, brooms, paintbrushes, shovels and many more cleaning devices in their hands.

What were they up to, going to the zoo carrying all those tools?

The volunteers were going to give the park a makeover! They had seven things in mind: to clean and paint animal cages, tidy up the public areas, paint park benches, plant trees, bathe the animals and also place trash cans at 38 locations around the park. Yes, they needed those tools as they had volunteered to clean up the zoo on Citi Global Community Day.

Citi has conducted countless community services through its award-winning Citi Peka program. The Global Community Day is a day when Citi volunteers all over the world conduct a massive program that benefits the community where Citi operates. This year, in Jakarta they gave Ragunan Zoo a makeover. And, for the first time, their colleagues in Bandung, Semarang, Medan, Denpasar and Surabaya conducted a similar volunteer work in their respective cities, organizing social activities at orphanages and schools and cleaning up beaches.

Now, back to that hot, sunny day at Ragunan Zoo, it seemed that one of the most favorite activities was giving the animals a bath. When a team from Maverick conducted a survey last month, they found that it was okay to give the baby tiger a bath and included it in the itinerary. However, Maverick found out later that the baby tiger had grown so fast in the past month that it had become too dangerous to give it a bath. Instead, the volunteers were given elephants to spoil, which was no less exciting.

Citi Indonesia on the occasion symbolically presented cleaning equipment to Ragunan Zoo Director Drh. Sri Mulyono, Msi., witnessed by U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume and Jakarta City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya. These distinguished guests also rolled up their sleeves to join other volunteers.

When Citi volunteers wrapped up their activities at about 10 a.m., they all felt happy to have spent a wonderful time at the zoo. The “Zoo Day Out” was more than just a way to have a great time but also to get involved in efforts to preserve and conserve wildlife and the environment.

by: Joyce

AAS 2007: The Finalists

The moment we’ve been waiting for! The awarding night is approaching! As promised, please kindly find below the complete list of AAS 2007’s finalists:

ART & CULTURE

Hardnews

• Adi Marsiela, Suara Pembaruan: “Anggun Menawan Publik Bandung”
• Bambang Sulistyo, Gatra: “Cipoa, Rekreasi Garing”
• Ipik Tanoyo, Bisnis Jakarta: “Tak Berubah dalam Gaya dan Suara”

Feature

• Soleh Solihun, Playboy: “Menunggu Matinya Majalah Musik”
• Soleh Solihun, Playboy: “(ak ’sa ra): skrg”
• Titik Qomariyah, Surabaya Post: “Sang Bohemian”

Photo

• Yudhi Sukma Wijaya, Jurnal Nasional: “Senandung Marawis Jalanan”
• Arie Basuki, Tempo (English Edition): “Tarian Penyambutan”
• Adam D.P., Media Indonesia: “Mewujudkan Mimpi 3″

SPORT

Hardnews

• Tjahjo Sasongko, KCM: “Davenport di Simpang Jalan”
• Tjahjo Sasongko, KCM: “Angie: Antara Masa Lalu dan Masa Depan”
• Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya, Jurnal Nasional: “Bagaikan Menjilat Ludah Sendiri”

Feature

• Gunarso, Suara Merdeka: “Siapa Melempar Handuk Duluan”
• Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya, Jurnal Nasional: “Jalan Berkelok Menuju Beijing”
• Titik Qomariyah, Surabaya Post: “Nyoo Kim Bie–Potret Jasa yang Tersia”

Photo

• Arif Nugroho, Seputar Indonesia (edisi Jateng DIY): “Momen Langka”
• Danu Kusworo, Kompas: “Tak Perlu Malu Indonesia”
• Danu Kusworo, Kompas: “Pukulan Chris John…”

SOCIAL

Hardnews

• Novita Amelilawaty, Indo Pos: “Tak Ada Koordinasi Lintas Instansi, Mafia Tanah Bebas Beraksi”
• Ariyanto, Indo Pos: “Merayu Investor di Kota Tua”
• Henny Primasari, Berita Pagi: “Nelayan Takut Melaut”

Feature

• Rusman, Jurnal Nasional: “Obsesi Si Penjual Ginjal”
• Tina Savitri, Femina: “Hari Gini Masih Mau Poligami”
• Tandri Eka Putra, Padang Ekspress: “Si Buta dan Ibu yang Lumpuh Penjual Sapu Lidi di Payakumbuh: Pantang Mengemis Justru Jadi Jutawan”

Photo

• Yudhistiro Pranoto, Seputar Indonesia: “Macet Mudik”
• Taufan Wijaya, Jawa Pos: “Menyambut Kemerdekaan”
• Achmad Ibrahim, Associated Press: “Ciuman Persahabatan”

ECONOMY/BUSINESS

Hardnews

• Henny Primasari, Berita Pagi: “Kendalikan Harga Digelar Pasar Murah”
• Henny Primasari, Berita Pagi: “Pilihan Konversi dengan Pipanisasi”
• Nopiyanti, Nusa Bali: “Pertimbangkan Bangun Bandara di Daerah Lain”

Feature

• Marlini Hasan Pontoh, Femina: “Bisnis: Menjaring Untung Lewat Franchise”
• Rahmat Herutomo, Globe Asia: “E-Governmen: Good Governance Good Investment”
• Joanita Roesma, Femina: “Hati-hati Rayuan Maut Investasi”

Photo

• Yuniadhi Agung, Kompas: “Aktivitas Perekonomian Terhambat”
• Raka Denny, Jawa Pos: “Manekin Hidup”
• Arie Yudhistira, Seputar Indonesia: “Belanja Jilbab”

POLITIC

Hardnews

• Yamin Panca Setia, Jurnal Nasional: “Rekening Departemen Bukan untuk Kepentingan Pribadi”
• Asrori. S, Gatra: “Polling: Dicari Pemimpin Alternatif”
• Suwastinah A, The Jakarta Post: “Five years after regional autonomy, dissatisfaction rising in resource-rich

Feature

• Arif Adi Kuswardono, Majalah Tempo: “Sang Bohir Jakarta Satu”
• Budi Setyarso, Majalah Tempo: “Roge, Roger, Intel Sudah Terkepung”
• Asrori. S, Gatra: “Barang Dulu, Anggaran Belakangan”

Photo

• Priyambodo, Kompas: “Kambing Pun Dibawa-bawa”
• Agung Rahmadiansyah, Radar Surabaya: “Tolak Papernas”
• Totok Wijayanto, Kompas: “Kasus Poso Masuk DPR”

LAW

Hardnews

• Kuncarsono Prasetya, Surya: “Siapa Membakar Pasar Turi”
• Bambang Sulistyo, Gatra: “Hukum Datang, Timah Senang”
• Okky Puspa Madasari, Jurnal Nasional: “Menuju Purifikasi Peradilan Militer”

Feature

• Arif Adi Kuswardono, Majalah Tempo: “Bila Menteri Halalkan Dana Tommy”
• Triyono Junaedi, Sumatra Ekspres: “Narkoba di Sekitar Kita: Mampukah Aparat Memberangus”
• Irawan Santoso, Ombudsman: “Time Kalah MA Dibelah”

Photo

• Agus Susanto, Kompas: “Rokhmin Dahuri Ditahan”
• Mahdi Muhammad, Kompas: “Hukum Cambuk Pertama”
• Agus Susanto, Kompas: “Suciwati Cari Keadilan”

Congratulations to all finalists! Can you guess who will be the winner of AAS 2007 in each category? Just log in to this blog and see the results on Dec 7, 2007–after the awarding night is over!

The ‘Fall’ of Hardnews and The ‘Rise’ of Feature

“Probably it has something to do with post-journalism; but nowadays, the line that separates hardnews from feature has become thinner. And then there’s this tendency where hardnews writing is tinted with more and more feature characteristics. This includes the choice of headlines and the style of writing,” said communication expert Effendi Gazali, during Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna AAS) 2007’s final judging process.

The final meeting that lasted from 2 pm to 7 pm yesterday was rich with discussions, debates, and arguments to determine three nominees and one winner from the total of 18 categories in AAS 2007. These include hardnews, feature, and photo categories in art & culture, economy & business, sport, social, politic, and law.

Most of the final judges agreed that the quality of feature articles were improving significantly this year; especially in art & culture category. Bens Leo, senior music journalist who serves as one of the final judge in this particular category was dazzled by this. “Compared to last year’s feature articles, this year’s features are a lot better, especially in terms of depth,” said Bens.

Unfortunately, the opposite happened to hardnews category, where most of the jugdes felt that there are no significant improvement compared to last year’s results. Therefore, the judging process for this category became even harder.

However, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo and the rest of final judges were totally impressed with one journalist in hardnews-law category who had produced such a balance, accurate, and comprehensive reporting towards an issue.

Since the judging process was done anonymously to maintain objectivity, the final judges didn’t know (yet) the name of AAS 2007’s winners and nominees, and from which media they come from. However, of course, in Maverick we’ve had the results and have started contacting all nominees to the Awarding Night on Dec 7, 2007.

It was quite surprising and exciting to know that both the nominees and the winners are coming from a wide variety of media; including some new media and regional ones.

Mmm, curious to find out? Don’t worry. We will publish the complete list of AAS 2007’s nominees here by the end of this week. Join the fun and guess who are the winner from each category ;p

Let’s see if your vote is similar to the judges’!

by: Hanny

Master The Art of Selling Ideas

For 3 consecutive years, various non-profit organizations in Indonesia has come to Maverick and learn more about the art of selling ideas.

Yes, as a part of our Corporate Social Leadership (CSL) program, we share our experience and knowledge in communications and public relations to non-profit organizations; to support their efforts in affecting positive changes in society.

This year, starting this November, we have adopted Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Yayasan Prestasi Junior Indonesia to receive 10-month capacity building program–equipped with comprehensive training and mentoring on communications and public relations, including:

• how to design suitable PR program for their organizations,
• how to sell your ideas,
• understanding the media and maintaining media relations,
• developing media documents,
• sustaining government and stakeholder relations,
• public speaking,
• and last but not least: about PR on the Net.

As a watchdog for Indonesia’s democracy and governance, ICW feels the need to learn more on how they can get their ideas and messages across effectively to their audience. While as a nascent organization focusing on youth education and entrepreneurship, Yayasan Prestasi Junior is eager to sharpen their ideas and PR planning, to grab an even larger audience.

We are so excited to assist and help these organizations to strengthen their communications and PR skills. Hopefully it will also help them achieving their objectives; and of course, we are proud to be a part of that noble objective.

Yayasan Mitra Netra, Yayasan Kelola, and Center for The Betterment of Education (CBE) are several non-profit organizations that had gone through our 10-month capacity building program.

Apart from this, we also provide one-day media handling training program for non-profit organizations’ spokesperson. So, if you know any NPOs that needs these kind of trainings, you can always call me (Lia) at Maverick (021) 727 898 33 to get more info on how to join this program for free. Or you can also join our group in Facebook, to meet and network with your fellow NPOs and others who are interested in Corporate Social Leadership (CSL).

by: Lia

Click of The Week #28: Eyes on Indonesia

Drop yourself sometime to a blog by Andrew Greene, called Eyes on Indonesia: a blog that provides you stories–not only verbally but also visually– of a number of beautiful places that might give you a closer look into different side of Indonesia and other countries in Asia that the author has visited.

Take a peek on a photo posting entitled Tika ready to cross the river at Bukit Lawang, a photo of Sumatran girl who is ready to cross a river, with a canoe, that divides her village at Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra. At her back we can see a beautiful steep hill covered with plants and misted over. How beautiful.

Scroll your screen a bit down and you’ll see another beautiful scenery in Tuk Tuk, a small town in Samosir island, with a mountain and coconut trees lining up like a fence guarding the rice field.

Like many other blogs, Eyes on Indonesia’s postings are divided into several categories, namely travels, articles, book reviews, photos and profile, also one topic called On Words, a weekly column in The Jakarta Post.

This blog also offers you some postings about public speaking that might eventually teach you how to make your point before an audience. Take a look at a posting entitled Speech writing: Subject, Purpose, Audience, Occasion that teaches you how to make a success for your public speaking, which according to him is in a large part determined by your attitude. In this posting he will teach you to maximize a positive attitude potential by keeping in mind the four organizational basics of subject, purpose, audience and occasion while you plan your speech.

Overall, Id say that Greene’s blog is a blog worth visiting, where you’d be aesthetically pleased while you get informed.

Andrew Greene is a weekly columnist for English language newspaper The Jakarta Post. He is a teacher and freelance writer and photographer who stays in Jakarta and West Java.

by: Oji

AAS 2007 Journalistic Photography Judging Day

Last Friday, the porch of Maverick’s office house was transformed into a gallery of photos chronicling the best, worst, peculiar and heart warming images of Indonesia over the past year.We were displaying more than 600 astonishing entries from this year’s Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna(AAS) 2007. AAS, now on its second year, is an annual competition held by our client, HM Sampoerna, to recognize the best Indonesian journalistic works, including photojournalism.

The purpose of the display was to allow AAS judges, veteran photojournalists Oscar Matuloh (GFJ Antara) and Firman Ichsan (professional photographer) to evaluate the photographs. Oscar focused on the journalistic value while Firman focused on the aesthetic value of the photos.

The entries were in six categories: Law, Politic, Social, Economy, Music and Art, and Sports.

The judges took the entire afternoon to come to a decision on the photos and I can say that these are superb photos indeed that tell the human story of Indonesia eloquently with power, with empathy and sometimes also with humor. Which are the photos and who are the winners?

You’d have to wait for the AAS Grand Final and Awarding Night on Friday, December 7th. Watch this space for news of the awarding night and the results of the AAS awards.

by: Finnie

Pesta Blogger 2007!

I was given the task to blog about Pesta Blogger 2007, the nationwide gathering of bloggers that attracted about 400 bloggers and 100 guests on November 27. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get to this task done until now because of work commitments. I know, I know, it’s a little bit late in the day for such a posting but better late than never. Besides Priyadi has just completed the audit report and posted it on pestablogger.com, and that puts a bit of finality on it enabling me to relax since I was one of the team members from Maverick charged with seeing to the smooth running of the event. So here goes my account:

Saturday, October 27th, 2007 was blessed with bright sunshine. We could all see it from the huge windows of Blitz Megaplex which is on the 8th floor of Grand Indonesia. Our team was there by 8am. Shortly afterwards we had one or two enthusiastic participants showing up way ahead of everyone else wanting to claim their Entry Code or reservations to attend and enjoy Pesta Blogger 2007.

 

Registration desk was filled by big smiling faces of Maverick staff, helping out in giving out 500 goodie bags.

By opening time at 11am the place was already packed with bloggers, some lining up to claim their reservations while others who had been registered took the opportunity to meet fellow bloggers, introduce themselves to new ones and take lots of photos together.

Shortly after 11 am the bloggers were asked to enter the auditorium where the event’s main activities would be held. Inside, State Minister for Information and Communication of the Republic of Indonesia, Muhammad Nuh gave an opening ceremony speech and officially made October 27th as National Bloggers Day.

 

 

This was followed by a talk show hosted by Wimar Witoelar and four panelists: Budi Putra, Enda Nasution, Mohammad Nuh, and Adrianto Gani. These icons of the blogosphere, I believe, are very concerned about the future of blogging in Indonesia. Bravo!

One of the highlights of the event was the interactive voting for the participants’ favorite blogs in different categories, namely online marketing and sales, women issues, technology, personal blogging, celebrity blogs, current issues, bridge blogging ( blogs that are written in English so that the wider world has an alternative window to the happenings in Indonesia) and the New Blogger Award, for those who have started blogging in the past six months. From 216 Indonesian blogs that were nominated by Indonesian bloggers, three top blogs from each category made it to the shortlist where the participants at Pesta Blogger 2007 get to vote their favorites.

After lunch, there were the breakout sessions hosted by well-known bloggers. Many of the groups had quite impassioned discussions and virtually the only complaint about the breakout sessions was that they were too short.Finally, the bloggers trooped back to the auditorium for the finale of the event, which comprised a summary of points discussed in the breakout sessions, followed by the announcement of the winners of the favorite blog categories. The winners were:

1. Online marketing and sales category: Media Ide Bajing Loncat
2. Women’s issues category: Fashionese Daily
3. Technology blog category: Ilmu Komputer.com
4. Personal blog category: Istri Bawel
5. Celebrity blog category: Jennie S. Bev
6. Current issues category: Perspektif. net
7. Bridge blogging category: Enda Nasution
8. New blogger award: Lidya Wangsa

Each received a certificate, and on the hand it was only Lidya Wangsa who received Nokia N73 Music Edition.

Here’s a few interesting comments or reviews from bloggers who attend Pesta Blogger 2007 that I found on the blogosphere: Priyadi on his personal blog, priyadi.net wrote: “Yang menarik dari sini adalah diketahui bahwa salah satu peserta berasal dari Poso dan tidak bisa kembali lagi karena kehabisan uang. Di akhir sesi salah satu sponsor memberikan tiket kembali supaya yang bersangkutan bisa kembali lagi ke tempat asalnya.”

One of the sponsors, XL Business Solutions jumped to their aid and agreed to pay their return passage.

There were also many bloggers who came from other cities to show their existence in the blogger community. They are Angkringan (Yogyakarta) , Anging Mammiri (Makasar), Go Ranah Minang (Padang), loenpia.net (Semarang), and Bali blog community who unfortunately could not attend by they did send felicitations to pestablogger.com.
Another interesting comment was from Rendy Maulana who wrote on www.rendymaulana.com “Seharusnya acara ini masuk MURI, karena ini merupakan acara blogger terbesar sepanjang perjalanan Blog di Indonesia, Suara Baru, pemersatu dari berbagai komunitas yang ada di Internet, apakah panitia mau mengklaim ini sebagai acara terbesar kepada Muri ?” This is sounds like a great suggestion.

And last, I found this one very unique yet impressive: Cak Andry wrote on Human vs Machine PestaBlogger 2007: “Pesta Blogger 2007 is a lot like having sex for the 1st time. You’re excited but you don’t really know what the hell you’re doing. And some way, one way or another, it’s over too fast.” There were other many interesting reviews from bloggers, I just couldn’t fit all here.

Thank you for the support and participation to make the national-scale blogger gathering a reality. Pesta Blogger is organized by Maverick together with Bubu Internet and is supported by the Ministry of Communications and Information. The main sponsors are Microsoft Indonesia, Nokia Indonesia, and XL Business Solutions. The media partners are Kompas Cyber Media, Koran Tempo, The Jakarta Post, and O Channel.

By: Finnie