Tag Archives: Chris von Ulmenstein. Whale Cottage Portfolio

Grass Consumer Action Sweet Service and Pick ‘n Pay Sour Service Awards!

Grass logoThe Sweet Service Award goes to the Grass Consumer Action group, which is keeping retailers generally, and Woolworths specifically, on their toes in respect of the humane treatment of their suppliers’ animals, and the ethical and honest labeling of products.  Ayrshire milk and cream has been misleadingly labeled, and falsely described as organic, just because (only half of)  the cows eat grass; products containing GMO ingredients should be better identified and those ingredients removed;  the Sustainability series ‘Hayden Quinn: South Africa‘  has been a greenwash of Woolworths’ misleading consumer communication; and more.  Every time Grass challenges Woolworths on an ethical issue, the retail adjusts its labels!

Pick n Pay logo smallerThe Sour Service Award goes to Pick ‘n Pay in the V&A Waterfront, and its manager Faizel, the only manager on duty on a recent Sunday evening.  I had popped in to buy some bread and bananas, and saw the fruit weighing lady and a colleague chatting away, one even sitting down on the boxes of paw paws.  I asked her what the problem was, and was told that she was ill.  I asked why she didn’t go home if ill, but she said she was not allowed to.  From the time I saw a Pick ‘n Pay staff member and requested her assistance to find the store manager, it took 15 minutes for Faizel to arrive at the till, where I was waiting for him, having already paid.  He was rude in telling me that it is the staff member’s duty to tell him when they are ill, not that of customers!  Cheekily he asked me if that was the reason why I had called for him!

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at  whalecot@iafrica.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog.  FOR THE DURATION OF MASTERCHEF SA SEASON 3 WE ARE MOVING THE SWEET & SOUR SERVICE AWARDS TO SATURDAYS.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here

World Design Capital 2014: Highlights for Cape Town!

Clocktower WDC 2014There has been little information about what to expect for next year when Cape Town takes over the honour of being World Design Capital (WDC) 2014, from 1 January onwards.  The theme for Cape Town is ‘Live Design, Transform Life‘.

An article in Mercedes-Benz magazine provides a short summary of the ten projects chosen by World Design Capital 2014 operating company Cape Town Design NPC  CEO Alyne Reesberg.  She is a dynamic personality, having worked as a relationship manager at Microsoft previously.  She says her vision for the important design year is to ‘make visible and tangible the many life-altering innovations that are being fostered‘ in Cape Town.  She also wants to incorporate our continent of Africa into the design discussion, and wants it to continue beyond 2014.

Reesberg believes that Cape Town’s design focus will attract more businesses to the Mother City, to offer employment to locals, and to utilise our city’s infrastructure.  She also hopes that tourists will visit next year, to also experience ‘the incredible ingenuity, know-how and capability’, which seem intangibles which will be hard for them to experience!  She would like to see the legacy of Cape Town as World Design Capital 2014  as ‘an absolute must-see for people who are interested in how design can improve citizens’ lives‘.

The ten top design projects for 2014, according to Reesberg, are the following: Continue reading →

New York Times questions ethics of travel blogging, focus on Cape Town Tourism campaign!

Travel bloggingOne of the last pats on the back which former Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit-Helmbold and PR and Communications Manager Skye Grove gave themselves before leaving the tourism organisation at the end of July was the coverage by the New York Times of the international travel bloggers’ week-long visit to Cape Town a year ago, proudly reTweeting the article.  It appears that they did not read the (long) content of the article, it delicately questioning the ethics of travel blogging by travel bloggers in general, and by those bloggers who visited Cape Town.

We were very critical of the attention which Cape Town Tourism paid its visiting bloggers in July last year, which was preceded by a #LoveCapeTown campaign on Twitter, Capetonians being asked to recommend interesting places for the four bloggers to visit during their week-long stay.  However, the campaign was deceptive, in that the itinerary Continue reading →

Cape Town Stadium future venue for concerts and events

The future of the Cape Town Stadium after its use for the World Cup is uncertain.   SAIL Stadefrance, the operators of the Stadium on behalf of the City of Cape Town, plans to host 18 events in the Stadium in 2011, but the nature of the events has not been declared, reports the People’s Post.

SAIL Stadefrance entered into an agreement with the City of Cape Town, to manage Cape Town Stadium, paying a rent of R1 (!!!) per annum, for a 30-year lease period.   The company must pass on 30 % of its revenue to the City; must pay R45000 in parking fees per event, for 3000 temporary parking bays around the Stadium; must invest R 10 million in capital improvements;  must pay for maintenance, cleaning, security, municipal rates and taxes, maintenance of the pitch; fit out 134 suites; responsible for security and cleansing of the Green Point Park.  

It has been confirmed that rugby will not move from Newlands to the Cape Town Stadium, and that soccer will continue to be played at the Athlone Stadium after the World Cup.  Cape Town Stadium would be likely to be a “multipurpose venue” for events and concerts, and a “…a few international sporting events” are also hoped for.

The planned events will be a mixture of six “major” (35 000 – 55 000 spectators), six “medium-size” (25 000  – 35 000) and six “small” (5 000 – 25 000 spectators) events.  The nature of the events has not been announced.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com