urn:www-mashada-com:feeds:atom Mashada Blogs » May 29, 2009 Mashada Blogs » May 29, 2009 2009-11-21T18:01:13-05:00 http://the-undergraduate.blogspot.com/2009/05/lost.html the-undergraduate: Lost 2009-05-29T15:51:00-04:00 2009-05-29T15:51:00-04:00 Its scary,all dark,all black,
I can barely see a thing and the horizon is just but an arc,a light straining to shine through enveloped by the engulfing darkness
I can feel the storm building up
I can sense the whispers in the breeze turned wind
And before the hail storm delivers its wrath,i need to get home
Sit by the fire place warming my cold hands
If not,at the bottom of the sea is where i shall be traced
Drowned by the salty tears that fell from my eyes
Anchored by the sorrow that consumed my soul ]]> http://www.stonecoldhaven.com/2009/05/baptism-of-fire-part-i/ Darius Stone STONE COLD HAVEN: Baptism of Fire - Part I 2009-05-29T13:48:32-04:00 2009-05-29T13:48:32-04:00 http://www.kenyanentrepreneur.com/equity-bank-kenya/ kenyanentrepreneur Kenyanentrepreneur.com: The Strange Story of James Mwangi & Alnoor Kassam 2009-05-29T12:40:44-04:00 2009-05-29T12:40:44-04:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThinkersRoom/~3/tHIqXYxKRps/ M tHiNkEr'S rOoM: Typing Errors 2009-05-29T12:11:25-04:00 2009-05-29T12:11:25-04:00 Looks like Uhuru-ism is seeping into government. Sample the Presidential Press Service press release

 

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]]> http://afromusing.com/2009/05/29/tree-planting-after-rhino-charge-kenya/ AfroMusing Afromusing: Tree Planting After Rhino Charge - Kenya 2009-05-29T09:13:35-04:00 2009-05-29T09:13:35-04:00 The Rhino Charge event is an offroading and camping event that raises money for Rhino conservation in Kenya. It is an event that many in Nairobi look forward to every year. A group of Kenyans have taken the initiative to plant trees after the event. It is one thing to complain about deforestation, and quite another to come together and do something about it.
Below is a picture of the saplings prepared for planting at Narasha Forest. How neat is that!!
saplings

If you are attending the Rhino Charge, its not too late to RSVP on the Facebook event page,, kindly do so as the number of confirmed attendees will determine how many saplings will be made available. The District Officer has pledged to provide a sapling for each person who RSVP’s and shows up.
DATE: 1st June 2009
TIME: 10:30 am – 01:30 pm
LOCATION: Narasha Forest right behind the district forest office at Eldama Ravine.
DIRECTIONS: At the town, turn right after the Kobil gas station (DO NOT proceed towards Maji Mazuri – Timboroa – Eldoret Rd), through the town along the Ravine – Kamwosor – Kaptagat – Eldoret Road. After the river/bridge drive about 0.7 kms from town center on your left sign board, M.E.N.R. Eldama Ravine Forest Station.

I applaud the organizing team, lead by Gerald Chelelgo, the contributions of Kipkorir Chemirmir, and last but not least, the District Forest Officer Timon Mboga.

The idea of coming together during social events to do something positive for the environment is so inspiring to me, and I hope to join Gerald for the next excursion, and to incorporate this in future events i am involved in.

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]]> http://bankelele.blogspot.com/2009/05/swag-like-us.html bankelele: SWAG Like Us 2009-05-29T08:16:00-04:00 2009-05-29T08:16:00-04:00
With over 50 listed companies, why some days become so popular is a mystery; calendars can be spread out by the capital markets authority. It has been difficult for media and investors to keep up with this; media houses will perhaps give coverage to only one event (e.g. Nation mainly featured their own AGM), while a common lament of shareholders has been there are 365 days a year, how do these companies all pick on one day to have five different meetings?

Investors want SWAG: An excellent series of (3) articles on investor relations (IR) management in East Africa notes that retail investors are often there (at AGM’s) for the free lunch, not for company information.

And how do investors deal with the challenges posed these last two days?
- try and attend every AGM
- Dashing back and forth to attend all, spend as much time as it takes to get SWAG
- Send a friend or relative as a proxy to get SWAG while they do the same at another meeting

What is SWAG? The urban dictionary gives the best definition of SWAG which can be

promotional merchandise for a band, record label, or other entity in the music business, usually distributed at concerts. May include t-shirts, stickers, promo CDs, posters, etc. Often free, but not necessarily; a t-shirt or record purchased at a concert might still be considered swag, especially if it is a design or release that is not readily available in the mass market. The chief difference between swag and regular merchandise is that its purpose is not to make a profit, but to promote the band/label, and reward its supporters by giving them something cool and unique
Or
Stuff/Sh*t We All Get - Relating to the trade show convention industry, where exhibitors hand out "free stuff" to visitors. Most of the time these items are purely promotional materials, and are fairly worthless. i.e. pencils, mugs, and mouse pads. SWAG always has the company name, logo, slogan, product, service, and contact information clearly printed somewhere on the item/s

So SWAG is why many investors attend corporate annual general meetings. Don't believe that institutional investors and media attendees are immune to the lure of SWAG - they also get their own SWAG, often the same stuff (meals & promotional items) but at different more respectable venues.

Why SWAG?: Companies should not lament SWAG as being expensive items that are the price of being a listed company that has to satisfy hungry shareholders. A shareholder has to show up (or send a proxy a.k.a authorized representative) to get some SWAG.

Attendees have to show up to get SWAG, those who are not in attendance or represented don't get any except the dividend which all shareholders get, but according to the number of shares they own. For many shareholders, their SWAG is much more than the dividend that their shareholding entitles them to

For the guest It is also a universally African concept to honour your guests with a meal.
For the host And for the company giving out SWAG this can be vital to the orderly and delicate flow of a company’s annual general meeting. Also, in marketing terms, a well designed, durable and branded cap, travel bag, t-shirt or umbrella, will be used to market the company for years to come in faraway parts of the country where even the company’s products are not sold, and long after the shareholder has sold their shares.

SWAG Costs: While the costs of SWAG items (from vendors like Vajas and San Valencia) has not increased by much, the number of shareholders seeking SWAG appears to have gone up significantly in these tough economic times. many show up for SWAG and don’t even enter the meeting hall and some companies acknowledge this by handing out SWAG before the meeting starts. And therefore the cost of hosting an annual general; meeting has gone up Safariom with 800,000 shareholders is probably contemplating the SWAG question for its annual general meeting set for august 19.

How can they minimize the cost of SWAG?
- have a meeting at a remote venue and hope few show up for it
- publicly announce that they are not going to be giving out any SWAG. But tough to do when well paid directors and executives are announcing billions in profits
- be stingy with the SWAG (Yesterday, the Nation Media Group gave out copies of their newspapers (Daily Nation, Taifa Leo, Business Daily and East African) along with a buffet lunch, while a few years ago they gave out gym bags & polo shirts with lunch and transport to the venue)

What's your opinion of SWAG? ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KenyaImagine/~3/GT2Py1WL6zg/that-monster-single-cause-ethnic.html Kenya Imagine: That monster, single-cause ethnic explanation, who doth eat all sense 2009-05-29T03:18:00-04:00 2009-05-29T03:18:00-04:00

Muite and Kiai look only at the benefits that could reasonably have been expected of a Kibaki administration, find that none were realised and move smoothly to the conclusion that Gikuyu voters' support for Kibaki can be explained only by their ethnic identification. They look only at the positive reasons for voting Kibaki, conclude that there were none, and so attribute irrationality to his supporters, on the ground that those voters have fallen foul of the requirement of rational political behavior mentioned in the previous paragraph. Concede, for argument's sake, that the Kibaki administration hasn't realised any of the promised benefits. The point, so banal I hesitate to make it, is that that argument leaves the negative reasons unaccounted for. Even if one assumes that the first Kibaki administration didn't produce sufficient benefits to drive a non-ethnically-motivated vote, Muite and Kiai's argument that Gikuyu supporters of Kibaki are irrational ethnocentrists fails, because Muite and Kiai consider only positive reasons to vote for the Kibaki regime. ODM's 41-against-1 pre-election campaign, and its post-election conduct, give sufficient negative reason: the average Gikuyu voter's expected loss from an ODM victory is sufficient to motivate a vote for Kibaki, given that a Kibaki vote was the only plausible way to prevent an ODM victory.



Nicholas Biwott. Joseph Kamotho. The Nation op-ed pages will give it up for anyone these days. Maina Kiai and Paul Muite's recent piece wasn't quite that bad, but it was bad enough; I have a (long!) go at saying why.
]]> http://sportskenya.blogspot.com/2009/05/kenyan-football-dithers.html SportsKenya: Kenyan Football dithers.... 2009-05-29T01:31:00-04:00 2009-05-29T01:31:00-04:00
It is not anything new on Kenyan football. The usual noise about the national team has been covered elsewhere adequately. That the now infamous stadium naming disconcertation is still being discussed in Parliament, really no suprises !Let's think though of the missed opportunities ;1) Kenya's playing Nigeria in 2 weeks:- in protest, I will not even bother watching the game. We were to have some friendlies as part of the preparations but all we've seen is a mulish coach and non-committal club coaches and players. 2) FIFA Confederations Cup:- In June also the winners of the respective continental cups at national level and the current World Cup winners congregate in South Africa, to test the grounds and preparedness of the host nation to host next year's World Cup. Kenya being the hub of the region is undoubtedly supposed to host a team or two even if it's for 3-5 days before they descend to SA. That is not looking good from my vintage point. With our priorities geared to self-destruction, other countries in the region are waiting with glee. Watch the Tanzanians and Rwandans too.3) 201o World Cup:- It's no open secret that the South African will want to reap as much from the tournament as possible. There's a general feeling that maybe they are not sharing some of the fringe benefits expected from the same. They are working around the clock to ensure they get it right. Given the rivalry in regional and continental circles, and also our skewed politics; we're not in the picture. The lack of commercial commitment from sports associations (especially the KFF or is it Football Kenya?) has heightened this. Let's not be under any illusions that we can start making this happen next year, too late ! I will make a suggestion here ( after chatting with a leading sports administrator in Tanzania about their 2014 preparations), let's forget the 2010 World Cup and move on with life ! If there are good tidings from transit visitors , that's as much as we can hopefully organise well. As for the rest, let's start afresh.
Local Football Scene:After hoping for fireworks for the first-half of the Kenya Premier League, I'm one disillusioned Kenyan. Though most clubs promised us quality games and with SuperSport screening the weekend games, they have not delivered the goods. With resignations and firings left, right and centre, you can expect the second-half to be as slow if not worse. Anyone willing to buy the KPL? We can sell it to willing-buyers (caveat emptor) as we're ransoming the rest of the country to hooligans and gangs.  ]]> http://sportskenya.blogspot.com/2009/05/rhino-charge-weekend.html SportsKenya: Rhino Charge Weekend 2009-05-29T00:58:00-04:00 2009-05-29T00:58:00-04:00  to fence the Aberdare Forest which is one of the country's water sources and major forest hosting wildlife which is a main attraction for anyone visiting the country.Take the weekend off, it's going to be a long one (thanks to the holiday on Monday), enjoy the ride.
More Action:As you make your way to the Rhino Charge on Sunday, do take a detour tomorrow to make a visit to the Great Rift Rugby tournament which starts today. This is one of the main attractions on the local rugby scene and coming post-Impala Floodlights , it is bound to be explosive. For more details check here. You can also watch the IRB Rugby 7s Series which comes to an end this weekend at the Edinburgh - Scotland Sevens-the last in the circuit. A good way to crown a great tournament.  ]]> http://kaasa1.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/dont-be-the-crazy-woman/ kaasa kaasa: Don’t Be The Crazy Woman 2009-05-29T00:15:55-04:00 2009-05-29T00:15:55-04:00 ]]>