The DMMA's Knowledge Network aims to enhance digital media literacy and skills among South African youth, particularly focusing on women and previously disadvantaged communities. It proposes various initiatives, including mentorship programs, career guidance, and partnerships with educational institutions to promote digital careers and transform the media and marketing industry. The plan involves setting up an annual campaign to attract talent, provide training, and ultimately create a skilled workforce ready for the digital age.

1. Education & Transformation
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2. Welcome to the DMMA’s Knowledge
Network, a group led by South Africa’s
top digital professionals who aim to
promote the use, understanding and
development of digital in the media
and marketing environment through
transformation and training.
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3. OBJECTIVES:
• Develop new knowledge society.
• Build new skill-sets.
• Enhance and empower a fresh generation of
media and marketing thinkers as the industry
transforms to digital.
• Provide enrichment and skilling to previously
disadvantaged communities (especially women).
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4. TARGET MARKET:
• African Youth
• Women dominant
• Matric candidates with intervention starting
at - Grade 9 level
• University and FET college students
(including - AAA, Boston Media School, Vega
School of advertising & Red and Yellow
School of logic and magic)
• Existing media and marketing workforce
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5. OBJECTIVES:
We will set the tone for the campaign by then mounting a highly publicized promotional
pledge, whereby members organisations will be asked to sign-on to support our
transformation and training campaign, including:
• Identifying new talent to drive the future of digital.
• Promoting digital media as a profession.
• Growing the profile of black women in the sector.
• Attracting a network of learners to inter-act with thought – leaders in the digital
media and marketing industry.
• Sharing knowledge, fostering learning and connecting a developing industry.
Signatories will be encouraged to acknowledge their pledge by displaying their certificates
in their office environs to showcase their recognition towards promoting transformation
and digital training.
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6. TEN INTER-FACES
ARE PROPOSED FOR
CONSIDERATION:
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7. INTER-FACE 1: 2012: GRADES 9 - 12:
THE ABC OF DIGITAL: ADVISING ON
DIGITAL AS A CAREER CHOICE
1. Attracting learners: Interact with high schools to raise the profile of
digital media as an attractive career path.
Create awareness and position digital media as a career that includes
content development, media, marketing, development, web sites, content
aggregation, management systems, business systems and web design
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8. • This method looks to involve the full
learning triangle of parent, teacher
and learner and will be aimed at
Grade 9 – 12
• In year 1 we will identify a network
of schools from Ekurhuleni e.g.
Katlehong, Benoni, and Pretoria and
Soweto in Gauteng; and two schools
each in KZN and the Western Cape.
• Initially we will select girls to support
gender transformation and we will
instigate:
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9. • Career guidance talks to learners from Grade 9 upwards
• Parenting education: We will attend parent meetings to present digital media as a
career option
• Learnership Programmes: It should become mandatory that DMMA members take
one/two students per year to actively share skills for two months
• DMMA Job-Shadow Week: Members will host a shadowing programme that involves
taking learners into the office for five days. Candidates will be chosen from the
DMMA school network
• Bring about discussion and awareness for the excitement of digital as a developing
skill across career websites, blogs and tweets to make sure that the DMMA is
associated with the up-liftment of skills, training and transformation
• Set up a Facebook group of digital careers and people working in the industry.
• Open discussion with the likes of the National Electronic Media Institute of South
Africa (NEMISA) who train according to SETTA accredited programmes like TV and
radio production, Animation and Graphic Design. The SABC offer 1.5m in bursaries to
train close to 1 000 graduates a year.
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10. INTER-FACE 2:
CAREER DAYS
Lift interest in ITC and digital media by
providing advice and information booths at
university and school career days. Use these
insights and responses to determine the way
forward and develop learning collateral
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11. Graduate Recruitment 2012/2013
South African Universities
University Career Fair Career Fair Dates
UPTA General-08th/09th May 2012 08th/09th May
WITS General Career Fair : 19th July; General 19th July;04th October
Career Fair-04th October
UWC General Career Fair-3 April 3 April
UCT General Career Fair-14th August 2012 14th August
STELLENBOSCH 01st August 2012-General 01st/02nd August 2012
NORTH WEST General Career Fair-22 May; 22nd May
NW-MAFIKENG General Career Fair-18th/19th July 18th/19th July
RHODES General Career Fair- 30th July 30th July/07th August
UKZN Not available
NMMU
UJ
UNISA
UFS
Members to host Career days to promote digital as a vocation
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12. INTER-FACE 3: MEDIA CAMPAIGN 2012
• Prepare and disseminate press releases for inclusion in careers supplements each
quarter - each Exco member to prepare 1 press release providing their entry angle for
the sector
• Include free 3 minute Career Advice on Matrics Uploaded (SABC 1) and Switched On
(Soweto TV and other community TV)
• Prepare digital media career ads for use as fillers across member media and websites.
• Include Facebook, Twitter, Bozza & MXit into the campaign dissemination mix.
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13. INTER-FACE 4: MENTORSHIP
• Identify DMMA members that already have a mentoring culture.
• Survey DMMA member companies to understand what form of mentorship
works best in each environment.
• Devise a DMMA Mentoring Programme that includes sharing knowledge,
fostering learning and connecting users and students across the industry.
• Create a mentoring workshop for learners.
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14. INTER-FACE 5: DMMA INTERNSHIPS:
• Attract candidates via mobile, online, member sites,
educational publications and programming and specifically
identified schools in townships, peri-urban environments and
the DOE.
• Each member organisation to offer one internships per year.
Interns to be paid.
• Intern stipends suggested at R2 000 plus transport for first
half-year and R4 000 plus transport for the second six
months. Members can then offer successful trainees jobs or
put their names onto a DMMA notice board.
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15. INTERFACE 6:
DMMA JOB-SHADOWING-WEEK
• Learners from the schools that we have visited
across the provinces should be invited to spend a
shadowing week at member companies.
• This will give them the opportunity to understand
and consider digital media and/or marketing as a
career and will help guide them in making subject
choices
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16. INTER-FACE 7: WORKING WITH
EXISTING SERVICE PROVIDERS:
Digital course offerings are growing rapidly across digital specific institutions,
FET colleges, universities, online and through in-house business programmes.
•Various courses are offered by training institutions such as iGibbs, Rhodes University,
Blue Magnet Digital Solutions, Quirk, the Digital Academy, Britefire, Damelin
•Look at creating association-rights with certificated institutions - this will align the
DMMA to institutions who are at the forefront of training and development in the digital
media and marketing space
•Possibly partner with DJ Fresh Scholarship that awards top performing African students
who want to get into media)
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17. INTER-FACE 8: SKILLS SURVEY
AND AUDIT:
•Run surveys to estimate a needs analysis among media,
marketing, government and corporate South Africa for skills
in the sector
•List the different jobs in the different digital media and marketing
sectors and explain what each entails and what inherent
capabilities are required
•Promote digital as a career on member sites and facebook
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18. INTER-FACE 9: TRANSFORMING
AND UNDERSTANDING THE
WORLD WE WORK IN: EXISTING STAFF
• Attract staff in legacy media to study the ABC of Digital through short courses as per
the AMASA model
• Develop DMMA short course modules
• Work closely with AMASA to look at building digital studies into their existing
education programmes including:
 Media Management Course (with AAA)
 Bursary Fund
 Annual Workshop (media planning
 Amasa Text book
Their committee members also assist AAA in setting exam papers, monitoring course
material and engaging top class lecturers who give freely of their time to impart their
knowledge to learners.
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19. Introduce annual workshops for sales, marketing and editorial staff
This will be a major step forward in understanding convergence across the industry
The DMMA learning series can include:
•Behind the scenes with digital
•Understanding digital for a future career
•We will help you train for your future
Course audiences:
Courses should be tailored to digital natives and digital Immigrants across the sector
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20. INTER-FACE 10: ICT SPONSORSHIPS
AND GRANTS
By establishing the DMMA Knowledge Network as a partner that stimulates and fosters
learning, training and mentoring in media and marketing in an emerging economy, the
organisation could set up a training NGO and apply for accreditation in the longer term.
Funding and scholarships can then be sought via international foundations such as
Kellogs, Bill Gates, Harvard, Thomson Reuters etc.
Outcome: A data base of 700 students each year who have inter-faced with ITC learning
either through DMMA efforts, training institutions, schools, colleges or the work place.
This base will provide the enlightened digital natives of tomorrow who have been trained
to take digital media and marketing to the new level
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21. LAUNCH CAMPAIGN:
• Establish an online forum where members can post
their suggestions to encourage online brainstorming
• Introduce a DMMA digital planning certificate - three
different levels: Basic, Proficient, Expert to up-skill
media planners , creatives and sales staff
• Use content from across the various courses to get
buy-in of all schools and resource providers
• White label existing content
• Consider content from Zibusiso’s book as a two week
semester course
• Collate and understand what is already being
produced
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22. LAUNCH CAMPAIGN:
• Find out the size of the industry
• Look at Old Friends Young Talent (OFYT) an initiative
that wants to transform the ad industry from the
bottom up.
• Establish a "Google Engage" type website where
members can find resources and study online, with
an online exam to be done where they can get
accreditations (and future employees can cross
check accreditations).
• Schools presented for consideration include:
Bhukulani Secondary School in Soweto, Glendale
Secondary School in Mitchells Plain and
Masiphumelele High School in Fish Hoek
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23. We ................... a member of the Digital Media and Marketing Association
Pledge to promote transformation and digital growth within our Organisation
and will train …… % of candidates by 2015
Signed:
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