Laura – Web Editor Extraordinaire

Laura Mukite Walubengo is one of our latest recruits and she joins us as a Web Editor and part of the Kenyan crew in Nairobi. Her day to day activities include writing stories and making celebrities look good and she has been doing this for a few weeks now. She doesn’t have any nicknames, but we’re sure you could just call her Laura. She studied Business Administration at Graffins College but found her way to us because of her love for stories and the English language. There wasn’t any particular moment of realisation that this is what she wanted to do, but things “just kind of fell into place”… sounds serendipitous to us.

How We See Her Fitting In

Laura was our very first freelance East African contributor, based in Nairobi. Since we’ve taken her on board permanently, she’s sourced an even bigger pool of reliable contributors, some based in Kenya, others in Tanzania and Uganda.

With the assistance of her editorial team, Laura is bringing local flavour to our East African pages, producing entertainment news and video content featuring home-grown celebrities and DStv programming information. Her mandate is to work closely with the MultiChoice and M-Net teams to assist in growing DStv Africa subscriptions, while also simultaneously growing the website audience. We believe she will add value to MultiChoice and DStv by helping localise and customise the website.

On A Personal Note…

As a child, Laura wanted to be an actress or musician when she grew up. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of her talent coming through as creative expression, or perhaps she’ll just entertain us over drinks with a song? She previously held the position of Senior Editor at Capital Lifestyle and radio news reader on Capital FM, she also contributed to our East Africa pages, as you know, until we decided to snap her up and get her on board permanently. Most people don’t know this, but her super power is sketching – thankfully for us.

As a side note: If ever anyone needed to bribe her for anything they should note that chicken is most appreciated.

She can be found on the dance floor when she’s not at work and when she’s not there, she’ll be chilling at home listening to some Neo-soul or soft rock vibes. If you could get inside her brain you’d probably notice her thinking about ways to instil world peace or enhance respect for humanity and women in particular. You might also catch her planning a delicious meal that she’s about to cook.

Future Inspiration

Laura can be depicted as happy, thoughtful and artistic and we can already see her bringing these positive attributes to the table through her work. Gaining great inspiration from her family and peace from her Bible, Laura is set for great adventures and many a flowing, rhythmic written word with the DStv Online team .

Find her on Twitter .

Avesh Rampersadh – Kung Fu Fighter

Avesh, also known as Avi or Avz, has recently been welcomed to the DStv Online team. He’s not really a Kung Fu fighter, but if childhood dreams had their way, he would’ve been. He is, in fact, a junior test analyst – an important cog in the ever-turning wheel of our digital domain. He’s currently finding his feet and getting to know his colleagues, but we’re pretty sure we can expect a lot of hard work, enthusiasm and loyalty from this guy. His proudest moment to date was when he received his tertiary education in Information Technology from the Durban University of Technology, and now he’s here! It’s all upwards from here…

On The Personal Side Of Life

Avi knows that he can bring his own arrangement of ideas to the testing environment, but he also wants to bring some alternative passion to the table in the form of an Action Cricket team. Growing up, his most prized possession was his cricket set and to quote him directly, “I don’t like cricket, I love it.” Sounds like a promising idea. When he’s not working or obsessing over cricket, Avz can be found playing online games or treasuring his PS3. He also plays golf and cricket on the side – did we mention that he loves cricket? He always makes time for SuperSport and music, specifically R&B and rock. This self-confessed jovial chap has received a lot of inspiration from his incredible family who did whatever they could to create opportunity for him. We have no doubt these fortunes have not been wasted on Avesh and look forward to seeing his talent unfold within the DStv Online family.

Lindokuhle Ngobese – Lindo For Short

One of our newbie graduate testers, Lindokuhle Ngobese, has been with the DStv Online team for a few weeks. A lover of technology, gadgets and all things software or programming related; Lindo counts testing TV applications, writing test data and reports as part of his daily activities. Our young starlet studied a National Diploma in Information Technology at the Durban University of Technology after realising in Grade 9 that this was the career path for him.

His path towards DStv Online has been pretty smooth, always having a clear vision of what he wants and going after it. In Lindo’s eyes, computers are the greatest invention to mankind and they pretty much run the world. He’s not far off if you think about it; DStv Online wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for computers!

On A Personal Note…

Lindo has eluded us to the fact that he does indeed have a celebrity crush. However, he is clearly a “don’t kiss and tell” kind of guy, because he won’t tell us who that crush is! His favourite DStv channel is SuperSport, his most prized possession is his external hard drive, he loves R&B classics and his hobbies are programming and surfing the net. As a youth, Lindo aspired to be a soccer player in his adult years. Although he doesn’t play professionally, he wants to start up an indoor soccer team with the DStv Online crew – perhaps fate got confused with his childhood dreams?

Even without becoming a soccer star, Lindo knows that he’s already achieving great things by becoming one of the DStv Online team members. His thoughts regarding our haven; “Good people around, awesome environment and I get to be exposed to the broadcasting industry.” For someone straight off the campus, it’s certainly a great achievement and we hope that Lindo’s chilled yet motivated ways will continue to positively influence the team and surroundings.

Our Designers As Avatars

Chantelle Matthews

Chantelle is a commercial designer for DStv Online who has a penchant for dragons and anything out of the ordinary. This far from standard girl would be silver if she had to choose a colour, because it’s a cool colour for robots – is she trying to tell us something?

If she were a vegetable, she’d be a fruit and she used to have a crush on Sinbad due to his display of mischief, wit and adventurous spirit. Then there’s the hunky Li Shang from Mulan and Throttle from Biker Mice from Mars – but the latter was all to do with his motorbike.

Chantelle’s award for the end of 2012 was the Yin and Yang Award, for being half of the first pair of conjoined twins with her bestie, Steph. Her emoticon would be :-P.

Richard Graham

Richard Graham is our Art Director. If he had to be a vegetable, he’d be a pumpkin because it’s smashing… no guesses as to his preferred flavour of music.

His cartoon crushes include Leela from Futurama, because he knows he’d have her undivided attention. Of course, there’s always the possibility that she could look away, in which case he’d certainly make time for Wilma Flintstone.

As far as operating systems go, he’s an iOS man all the way although he does have much respect for Android too. His award for the end of 2012 was International Man of Mystery because he’s absolutely groovy, baby, and if he were an emoticon, he’d have to be 8-# (that’s the Zombie emoticon, for those who aren’t in the know).

Thabo Mbuyisa

Thabo is a Junior Web Designer at VOD. He wouldn’t be a vegetable or a colour, because he’s just himself. He won the Yo Bra Award at the end of 2012 for record attempts at fitting the words “yo” and “bra” into his sentences.

Jacques Keet

One of our Commercial Designers, Jacques Keet, is an Android man due to his undying love for open platforms. If he were a vegetable, he’d be a mango – yes, we realise there’s a slight disconnect there – because he loves the colour orange.

His cartoon character crush is none other than Jessica Rabbit and he feels there is no reason why he has to substantiate that. We tend to agree. He won the Cat in the Hat Award at the end of 2012, for always finding a reason to wear a hat. If he were an emoticon, he’d be a straight-up

.

Ingrid Eckmann

If Ingrid Eckmann, our TV Designer, was a vegetable, she’d be a fresh, crunchy, green broccoli. She resonates with this veggie because it looks like little trees and she enjoys being firmly rooted.

Her cartoon crush is none other than Flynn Rider from Tangled; the unspoken hero who goes to great lengths to rescue his love, Rapunzel, and make all her dreams come true.

This iOS girl loves anything Apple – even golden delicious apples – due to their user friendly, intuitive design. She won the Zen Guru Award at the end of 2012 for finding a way to be perfectly balanced – no matter what the circumstances. If she were an emoticon, she be a :-).

Erika Fourie

Erika is one of our Web Designers for Channels. She’d also be a fruit if she were a vegetable – a dragon fruit, to be precise – because it’s pretty, colourful and yummy. She’s neither an iOS nor an Android person, but just wants a platform that can support decent apps.

Her cartoon crush is Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid. He nearly died rescuing his dog and he had to put up with a lot of crap from other people, to be honest.

She received the Morning Ninja Award at the end of 2012, for always managing to pitch up fashionably late, but just in time for her first meeting. As an emoticon, she would have to be a :D.

Leanne Scott

One of DStv.com’s Web Designers, Leanne describes herself as a continental lentil. The reason being, if a pea can get away with being a vegetable, then so can a lentil… and she’d be a yellowish-brown one.

Roger Rabbit is her cartoon crush because he had a little bit of experience in the ways of the world. As a well-rounded kind of person, she doesn’t favour neither iOS nor Android and her emoticon would be the :-/.

At the end of 2012, Leanne received the Silent but Violent Award. As obscure as this may sound, it’s actually commendable as she is the quietest among the designers, but the one who handles the loudest “bully” with the greatest of ease.

Stephanie Lun

A Junior Web Designer at SuperSport, Steph also received the Yin and Yang Award at the end of 2012, for being the other half of the conjoined twins – Chantelle and Steph.

If Stephanie were a fruit, she’d be a cherry because they’re small and cute like her, and she’d be turquoise if she were a colour as it’s her favourite. She’d have a mad fling with Mako from Legend of Korra. He’s super good looking and he can also bend fire… yes, that’s right… bend fire.

Neither an iOS nor an Android person, but just a little of both, Steph would be a ^_^ if she were an emoticon.

Brian Chewe

Brian is one of our TV Designers and he’s the winner of the Oliver Twist Award for 2012. The “please sir, can I have some more” award fell into his lap because of his habit of always looking for more work. We’ll make sure we have a little extra work lying around for him in future.

Seef Oosthuizen

One of our Web Designers in VOD, Seef would choose to be an aubergine if he were a vegetable, quite simply, because the word has a nice ring to it.

There are two things he’s certain of: that Ashley Williams from Mass Effect would be his cartoon crush and that Android rocks over iOS.

Seef received the Imperial Stormtrooper Award at the end of 2012, for being so in love with the Stormtrooper on his desk (and for defeating an army of Sith Lords). If he were an emoticon, he’d be a \m/.

Craig Webster

One of our UX Designers, Craig would be spinach because spinach has panache and as a colour, would be green because green goes so well with spinach.

In terms of cartoon crushes, Sheena Fujibayashi from tales of Symphonia would be the one; she does her fair share of ass-kicking but has incredible shyness and understandable insecurities.

Another fan of open source, Craig favours Android over iOS, even though it’s not 100% open… it’s a good start. Craig received the Dramatic Beaver Award at the end of 2012 for having several DIN DIN DIN moments in a day. As an emoticon, Craig would be =? (we think that might have been a makeshift emoticon).

Rochani Van Staden

Rochani is our Graphical Team Lead and she’d most definitely be a strawberry if she were a fruit – pink and filled with sweet stuff that works well with dessert. She chooses Superman as her cartoon crush because she likes manly men, but she’s always had a thing for the name Pikachu. Rochani is an Android girl for sure, especially since a half eaten apple is lame when comparing it to a cute robot. She also appreciates convenience that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

This lady won the Lady Gaga Award at the end of 2012 for making use of any opportunity to dress up. If she were an emoticon, she’d be a <3 or perhaps something a little more dramatic, a *\0/*.

Mariska Claassen

A SuperSport Web Designer, Mariska would be an artichoke if she were a vegetable, simply because she loves them. She would also be the dreamy colour pearl if she were a colour.

Her cartoon crush is Ken – I’m sure many young girls are with her on this one – even though Barbie would be absolutely shattered by the idea.

This fence-sitter prefers to take a little of both iOS and Android, the best of both worlds, she calls it. She won herself The C Award at the end of 2012, for doing everything in her power to get her electricity and Internet working to meet impossible deadlines. If Mariska were an emoticon, she’d be the simple :).

Joe Mashapa

Another UX Designer, Joe, would be a green banana if he were a fruit. He doesn’t want to name a cartoon crush because he prefers real life and avoids his fantasy life – perhaps he’s hiding a secret shame?

Joe is an iOS man, without a doubt as he feels that the products are unique while satisfying their target user group. He likes the fact that he never has to think with iOS.

As an emoticon, Joe would most definitely be a thumbs up – we’re just not sure how to make that emoticon in text.

Alicia Sheppard

Alicia is also a UX Designer and she’d be a strawberry if she were a fruit. Reason being? They’re bright red, delicious and they basically bring the party to any fruit salad.

Her cartoon crush would be Aladdin, so that she could ride his magic carpet and get songs sung to her. She’s not fussy when it comes to the debate between Android and iOS, as long as the technology works.

If she were an emoticon? She’d be a smiley face with crazy eyes, because she’s a happy person with a little smidgen of cray cray in her.

DStv Online Leadership Programmes

It’s tough keeping up with innovation and progression, which is why you always need to have the best people on hand to keep your business ahead of the game. We’ve got some of the digital realm’s most incredible minds on board already and we’re actively assisting people to own exceptional roles within our team .

Our learning and development system offer a number of valuable leadership programmes that allow bright young people to become the future’s leaders. By giving these employees the tools they need in order to excel, we’re developing a culture of brilliant people who are invested in DStv Online and empowered to make a difference through their work.

Stepping Up To Management Programme Graduates

We’re incredibly proud of our team members who’ve recently graduated from the Stepping Up To Management Programme. Each individual has gone above and beyond to complete the course with flying colours and they all deserve special mention:

Lauren Dewhirst – Media Manager who graduated with distinction
Lee Davies – Portfolio Manager at DStv Connect and Original Production who graduated at the top of her class
Kerry Wright – Senior Web Editor
Douglas Lendrum – Football Sub-Editor
Rivaj Sing – Solutions Architect
Leonard Ray Khan – Product Owner at SuperSport Games
Alice da Silva – EPG Specialist
Leanne Rencken – Senior Web Editor
Timoteo da Silva – EPG Specialist who earned a distinction

Congratulations to you all! You make the entire DStv Online family so very proud!

Various Programmes On Offer

Each programme has a special purpose to drive learning in focussed areas that speak to various roles within the business spectrum.

Core Programmes

Accelerator – a blend of concepts and tools that offers new managers a learning experience that helps them work with people, delegate, establish and cultivate networks, organise tasks within jobs and work towards becoming effective overall
Wings – supports individuals in middle management positions by offering them the tools they need to deliver excellence in their roles

Leadership Development Programmes

Transitional Programmes – designed to support leaders in honing their abilities
Catalyst – this is aimed at high-potential employees and it enhances the thinking involved with systems, decision making and presentation. It blends learning and mentorship programmes that help expose the attendees to the various dynamics within the business
Certification Programmes – exposes participants to the realities of business management in order to prepare them for leadership roles. It enables participants to grow their confidence and emphasise their functional competencies

By investing in our team, we’re investing in our business. With the results displayed by our Stepping Up To Management graduates, we’re more than convinced that this system can only benefit us all.

From top to bottom (from left to right): Douglas, Lauren, Lee,Leonard,Timoteo,Alice,Kerry

Lebogang Tsele – Communications Expert

For the last two and a half months, DStv Online has been fortunate to have a team member in Lebogang Tsele, our newest web editor. A typical day in the life for him includes doing the highlights, compiling the Kenya newsletter as well as writing awesome, informative articles for DStv Online. A communications graduate from UJ, Lebogang doesn’t consider himself a geek, but rather a quiet, low-key guy who is hugely opposed to inconsiderate people.

Why DStv Online?

The love of media attracted Lebogang to our quirky team of professionals . While he wanted to be a movie director when he grew up, we don’t think he’s ventured too far from his dream. He has clearly been influenced by the silver screen his entire life, with his favourite TV channel being the M-Net movie Premiere channel and his most treasured possession growing up being his Buck Rogers ray gun. Perhaps this is why he regards electricity as the greatest invention ever, for what is a movie without energy to power it?

Lebogang says he’s waiting for the major milestones to unfold in his life, but some of his most memorable moments were an epic holiday to Mpumulanga with the love of his life – his fiancée – and the day he received his degree. He is also in awe of the fact that he got to interview Keri Hilson, Bow Wow and Vikas Swarup. Who wouldn’t be?

We’re looking forward to Lebogang growing with our team and hope to one day help him find a better way to start the day than waking up in the morning… that will make him very happy.

Lungelo Blondy Ngcobo – Newbie Geek

We’re always welcoming some of the country’s greatest minds into our team, and Pops – as he’s affectionately known – is our newest recruit. This young graduate tester was brought on board to enhance the DStv Online experience, and he’s fully enthusiastic about doing so. Every morning starts off with personal affirmations that dictate everything he does is going to be carried out to perfection. Not afraid to learn from his mistakes, Pops is constantly striving to evolve in this technology driven environment and we know this attitude is going to help him do just that.

The A-ha Moment That Changed It All

Before coming to join the ranks of our awesome team, Lungelo was studying Information Technology (IT) at the Durban University of Technology. A self-confessed geek, Pops has always wanted to work closely with software developers and found his niche when he was asked to test another developer’s software. After finding a number of bugs, it became clear what career path he should be following.

With the right education, he believes that he has the key to open doors for himself, and rightly so – look where he’s landed up! He aims to become an expert within his environment, both for himself and so that he can help his mom, wife and children live a better life. Statements like these make it very easy to understand why his mom is so proud of him.

Just A Regular Guy

When he’s not working on fixing our bugs and errors, Pops can be found kicking back and listening to some gospel, jazz and fusion tunes, or playing a game of soccer. He’d be really keen to introduce a book club to the DStv Online team environment as he believes that books and information are all we need to get through the day – you can’t beat the good old fashioned promise of books. This all-round positive guy has only one pet peeve, and that is his noisy neighbour, although we doubt this respectful, loving guy lets this get to him too much.

Nkhumeleni Maliehe – Technology Lover

Nkhumeleni Maliehe, affectionately known as Khume, is one of our newbies, taking over as an NOC Controller. He’s been part of the team for two months now and is already finding his niche within the team framework. A normal day consists of a lot of monitoring for Khume, so he needs to have his wits about him and be on the ball. He doesn’t consider himself to be a geek or a nerd, but he’s a number one fan when it comes to technology… that works for us!

Khume studied an MCITP at Boston City College, but never really had an “a-ha moment” that made him realise that this is what he wanted to do. He kind of found his way through a series of life events and now he’s here, with us as one of the quirky DStv Online team members . Khume can be described as fun, friendly and awesome, as well as hard working; all attributes that we value in any team member.

On a Personal Note

Khume sees the invention of cars as one of the greatest known to mankind. Cars are also connected to his absolute worst pet peeve – bad drivers. His favourite toy growing up was a bicycle – are you recognising a theme here? His favourite possession isn’t a car or a bike as one would think… it’s his phone, access to BBM and the ability to stay connected to the world.

In his earlier days, Khume saw himself becoming a lawyer, but if you flip to present day, his greatest achievement is getting his job here at DStv Online. This makes our hearts bounce! He loves the people and the technology and brings his own combination of lateral thinking and technical skills to the table to enhance everything we do here.

During his downtime, you’ll probably find Khume listening to some RnB, watching Supersport 1 or playing rugby or soccer. Such is his love for soccer that he wants to start a soccer club at DStv Online – perhaps we can work something out. In the near future he hopes to be able to buy a house and we’re sure that the support and stability gained while working here will help him along the way.

Alicia Veronica Sheppard – Dolphin Trainer Wannabe

Affectionately known as Leesh, Alicia has been working with the DStv Online crew for a little over six weeks now. She joined our ranks as a junior user experience analyst after travelling around the UK and South East Asia, but not before studying Information Systems at Rhodes. She can usually be found designing wireframes, making design recommendations and thinking of new and inventive ways to improve the DStv.com website.

While not a geek, per say, she certainly displays tell-tale traits that suggest she could be easily swayed. Her love and respect for the Internet and technology such as Skype are two good places to start. She always dreamt of becoming a dolphin trainer, which is not really similar to being a user experience analyst, but her creativity and eye for detail seem to make this a good career choice for our young newbie.

An A-Ha Moment That Changed It All…

Leesh is one of those young starlets who recognised the signs along her journey to finding her first job – right here at DStv Online . While sitting through lectures on Human Computer Interaction, a certain spark ignited in her and she knew this was the way forward. Lucky for us, as this fun, chatty and somewhat crazy lady brings a great deal of enthusiasm to the table. She’s also passionate about making products more useable, effective and enjoyable – invaluable, as drive like that can rarely be taught.

Where To From Here?

Already feeling relaxed in the workspace, Alicia seems to have found her groove – and the free popcorn! Work aside; she’s aiming to buy a house someday soon with her hubbie, but not yet – she’s still basking in the glow of getting her first (most awesome) job here with us.

When not designing wireframes, she can be found taking part in team sports, dancing, reading or watching movies and rugby. She’s also looking to add a dimension of health and fitness to the DStv Online team by introducing a sports team, perhaps soccer or hockey? A self-confessed sports fanatic, Alicia thinks that something like this will help employees get to know each other in an environment outside of work. She feels that it’s important “…to build relationships that extend beyond the work place. These help to strengthen communication and are a good way to build up team qualities that can be used elsewhere in the business.”

We couldn’t agree more and we look forward to getting to know Alicia in the fruitful years to come.

Winston-John Kwan Seng Ho – Geek By Default

A business analyst at DStv Online, Winston has been working with the team for about a month and a half – or 3.5 million seconds, as he put it. He received Honours in Computer Science at WITS and a Business Analyst Diploma from FTI, before venturing towards the star-studded digital domain of DStv Online . A far cry from his original, youthful dreams of becoming a plastic surgeon, basketball player or Ninja Turtle, we think Winston’s made the right choice in joining us, especially since one of his favourite TV channels is SuperSport. This works for us.

This zealous, self-starter has already found his place within the quirky team and feels very much at home. His appreciation for what DStv Online is all about lies in “the people, the agile environment, the freedom to think and add value…” He’s also keen to influence us in his own way by starting a fitness group to enhance productivity and reduce stress levels.

If that’s not enough, he also hopes to start an initiative that allows underprivileged kids to express their creativity through a medium of their choosing, such as music or art. Volunteers could mentor the children and help them release their hidden talents. He believes that “creativity has the power to change the perspective of the status quo; changing a perspective creates opportunities and opportunities encourage change.” Makes sense to us.

Oh, and then there are his hopes to introduce Waistcoat Wednesday too.

An A-Ha Moment That Changed It All…

We all like to think that there was a defining moment in our lives that helped shape our future and in Winston’s case it’s actually true.  As a young child – about six or seven – he became hooked on his first interactive TV experience, the NES gaming console. He used to sneak out of bed late at night to get his fix and play his favourite games while his family slept. Fast forward to 2013 and he now has all the tools at his disposal to create the mastery that had him hooked as a child. With his creative and innovative nature, we can more than likely expect some great interactive experiences coming from his corner in the future.

Where To From Here?

While Winston’s career path is certainly not fixed, he has vivid visions for a bright and prosperous future. Receiving his MBA before he turns 35 and his black belt in Taekwondo by 2016 are both on the cards – no small feats, but definitely achievable if his attitude is anything to go by.

When he’s not trying to change the DStv Online team one sit-up at a time, Winston can be found spending time with his fiancé – a celebrity in his eyes *melt*. He’s also a keen piano and guitar player, loves to sing, and is passionate about Taekwondo and finding rare limited edition TV games. You might also find him kicking back and taking some time for himself while listening to jazz, blues and soul, mixed with a little hip hop, punk and a sprinkle of dub-step.

This man certainly has loads to offer and he squeezes a lot more into one day than most people manage to. Maybe it’s all about perspective? Maybe it’s being told that you’ll never amount to anything and then making sure you prove the naysayers wrong. He’s done more than that and we’re incredibly proud to welcome him to our funky little family.