Maverick Indonesia

Pesta Blogger 2007–officially launched!

Finally, we have officially launched Pesta Blogger 2007 yesterday in Anomali Coffee, Jakarta Selatan. Though lots of bloggers in the blogosphere have discussed about this gathering for quite a while, yesterday’s briefing was very alive with questions and discussions generated by our journalist friends.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this event, Pesta Blogger 2007 is the 1st national-scale blogger gathering in Indonesia that will be held on October 27, 2007.

The theme is “Suara Baru Indonesia”, whereby we’d like to celebrate the birth of a new generation (bloggers) who have used a new media (blog) to express their thougths in a new paradigm (that is more informal, personal, and opinionated), and have started to form an influential role over the Net.

Thanks to Enda Nasution as the Chairman of Pesta Blogger 2007 and all steering committee members: Budi Putra, Fatih Syuhud, Lita Mariana, Nukman Luthfie, Priyadi, Ratna Ariyanti (Atta), Wicaksono, Wimar Witoelar, and Yosef Ardi who have shaped-up Pesta Blogger 2007; also to Bubu Internet as co-organizer, Depkominfo, Nokia Indonesia, Microsoft Indonesia, The Jakarta Post, Koran Tempo, and Kompas Cyber Media, that have fully supported this event.

For more information about this upcoming bloggers’ celebration, please do visit the official blog pestablogger.com regularly.

Let’s celebrate our ‘voices’, bloggers!

*image (up) courtesy of Ndoro Kakung

A New Life in Bisnis Indonesia

This Monday marks a new chapter in Zaki’s life as a photojournalist. After spending several years in the famous teenage magazine Aneka Yess!, he decided to pursue his career in a totally different kind of publication.

Yes, starting today, Zaki has become a photojournalist in Bisnis Indonesia–a respected business daily in the country.

“I’ve taken so many pictures of Aneka’s top models! I think I’ve had enough,” said Zaki playfully, when I asked him the reason why he decided to join Bisnis Indonesia. “Now it’s time for me to meet successful figures–and hopefully, by meeting these people, I can be as successful as they are!”

Good luck, Zaki, and success for your new career in Bisnis Indonesia! I think we’ll meet again soon in several business events

Soccer Tabloid & RCTI: ‘The Marriage’

No, it’s not about RCTI acquired Soccer tabloid (though that will become something newsworthy!).

The marriage is between Soccer tabloid’s reporter Asep Ginanjar, and RCTI’s off-air promotion, Riska. Last Saturday (16/6), Asep and Riska held their wedding ceremony in Dr. Ismoenadji Auditorium, Bogor–with beautiful Sundanese wedding rituals. Asep’s friends from Soccer came first, and then Riska’s friends from RCTI showed up with an Indonesian Idol bus.

It was such a pleasant party for everyone … ! Congratulations for Asep and Riska!

Good Luck, Ajeng!

As I arrived in the office early in the morning today, I checked my email and found a message from Ajeng Ritzki Pitakasari, Gatra’s journalist.

After being a reporter in Gatra news magazine for 3 years, Ajeng decided to tap into a new area: architecture. Yes, Ajeng has resigned from Gatra, and she is now joining I-ARCH (Indonesian Architecture), a monthly magazine focusing on architectural reportage and criticism. In I-ARCH, Ajeng covers topics related to architecture, interior, or exterior building design.

On behalf of the Mavericks, we’d like to congratulate Ajeng on her new job; and hopefully she’ll be having a great reporting adventures with I-ARCH.

Good luck, Ajeng!

Ira, Tukul, and SMS…

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Akmal–a Tempo journalist who turns into a novelist. Today, I write about a TV reporter who turns into a book writer.

Yes, congratulations to Ira (Yuniarty) Lathief for her books, out now: Tukul Arwana, Kumis Lele Rejeki Arwana–an ‘unauthorized’ semi-biography of this comedian (and presenter) from Ira’s point of view as a journalist; and SMS Rayuan Gombal–a collection of flirty text messages and pick-up lines.

Ira is a reporter in RCTI’s News Feature Department, and loves to write in her spare time. You can also check out some of her opinions in her blog My School of Life.

Congrats, Ira!

KCM Community & d’Blog

Have you ever heard about Kompas Cyber Media Community - Indonesia Around The World?

As a subsidiary of Kompas.com, KCM Community is a page dedicated to KCM readers who are scattered in all parts of the world, as stated in their headline: The World Just A Click Away!

In this page, you can view light and crisp article in Kolom Kita, human interests issues in Potret, and discover delicious foods in Mak-Ples (it reminds us to Mak-Nyus’ phrase used by Bondan Winarno in his culinary show as he tasted delicious foods); but Mak-Ples here stands for ‘Makan & Plesiran’ (Eating Out & Travelling).

You can also find other interesting columns here, including Love Talk, Urban Life (by lifestyle expert, Samuel Mulia), and Jalansutra (collection of articles written by Bondan Winarno about his traveling experience).

However, good news for Indonesian bloggers all around the world: KCM Community provides a special column called d’Blog, that provides links and descriptions of Indonesian blogs! To have your blog listed here, you can fill in a form on the bottom of the page, by typing your name, your blog (and its URL), plus giving a short description about your blog.

And… voila! Welcome to the KCM Community’s blogroll!

Akmal’s Imperia

A journalist turns novelist?

That’s what happened to Akmal Nasery Basral, a journalist in Tempo magazine who had released his first novel, Imperia, in May 2005.

I met Akmal last Saturday, in Omah Sendok Restaurant, when he came over to share the writing process of Imperia with several amateur writers. He told us that his profession as a journalist spilled over to this novel. He started out with an idea to write something about the Semanggi incident, but through time, the story evolved into a different direction and finally resulted in the novel Imperia.

Akmal also shows his concern towards Indonesian writers, for they are not yet given enough support and opportunities to maximize their potential. He admitted that he is not sure that someone can live properly by becoming a full-time writer, especially in Indonesia, though the idea itself is very tempting.

The title Imperia comes from the name of a statue in Konstanz, Germany; and Imperia is a prostitute.

“This is the most interesting fact about Imperia,” said Akmal. “In many countries I’ve ever visited, usually they have statues of their national heroes or artists… but this is a statue of a prostitute! On her hands, she grabbed a king (King Sigismund) and a Pope (Pope Martin V). This statue shows that a prostitute can seduce two most important figures in the government and religious institutions–and that she has the power to control them.”