My good friend Sandy Pullinger (or Sadams as I have always known her) asked me to speak at an APMP meeting last night. For those of you who don't know Sandy, she runs a fantastic software company called nFold. I recommend you look at their web site too. It was a wonderful event with a great crowd who really got involved. Thanks Sadams, I really enjoyed it - you can ask me any time.
On the subject of courses and training, I mentioned before that you'd do well to ignore all the BEE courses that are floating around at the moment. They are generally overpriced and offer the same old drivel that has been expounded on for the last four years. Who the hell wants to go to a conference that is going to tell you why BEE is the right thing to do and how you can maximise your points on procurement. I certainly don't. The face of BEE is going to change - the noises from Zumachine Gun and Phosa are steering us toward a different and more meaningful goal. The days of doing something because it generates points at a great expense have to come to an end. No BEE course is going to tell you that.
HOWEVER
Kevin Lester invited me to his four hour presentation on the so-called verification manual. It's the same course that the DTI distanced themselves from - stupid move. Kevin's presentation is quite the best I have been to (and I include all the ones I have presented too). He comes from a largely legal perspective and puts things across in such a way that you can immediately see the folly of the manual but you are still left with a sense of hope. And Kevin is particularly entertaining too!!!
This same course is being offered to ABVA members for R950 and non-members for R1050. Go to this presentation; it is money well spent and you'll get more out of it than you would a one or two day course for seven times that amount. It is valuable for any person involved in any aspect of BEE.
On a sad note
Today would have been John Lennon's 68th birthday. I still mourn his loss on a daily basis.
And an even sadder note
When I started out in this business I did a lot of employment equity reporting. I would then take my report to the 4th floor of the Department of Labour in JHB. I was always greeted by the friendly face that belonged to
It seems to me that more and more people are loosing the plot and that they, including the gurus, have forgotten what B-BBEE stands for. Is it not the empowering of Black people, is it not moving forward with the economic growth of black people in our country, is it not equal opportunity for all, can I go on....?
If there are no courses to attend and the 'word' is not spread no one will care (or caird) a damn about the actual reason why this strategy was implemented by the dti in the first place.
There are companies out there who need info and who need to know how to improve their scores and how to go about and where to with B-BBEE, because they don't know how! Most of them don't have a clue.
The same old drivel as you call it is going to stay for another 10, hopefully more years, until we can get it right. Selah
Posted by: mjs | October 10, 2008 at 12:11 PM
I think I have been roundly chastised by your comment. Being in the industry I wrongly assume that it is the same old drivel. A point that I failed to make is that there are a number of so-called conferences and workshops that add so little value that you'd be wasting your money and time going to them. I base this fact on the speakers at these conferences and not that I had been to them. I have been to Kevin's though and I learned more from that one than I have from any other, hence my endorsement. Also remember that Kevin does stand out as one of those who has been a vital contributor to almost everything that we understand about empowerment.
It should also be mentioned that I am only endorsing Kevin's course, I do not include any of the other Transcend courses in my endorsement.
Thanks for your comment, it keeps me on my toes.
Paul
Posted by: Paul Janisch | October 10, 2008 at 01:09 PM