Category Archives: Press Releases

Comic Con Africa & StreamerCon Africa 2022

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I attended Comic Con Africa for the first time in 2019 and what an experience it was! Check out some images and footage from the 2019 expo here, here and here.

It looks like this year’s Comic Con Africa is going to be bigger and better than ever, so get all the details of what to expect below.

Comic Con Africa, Africa’s largest multi-genre pop-culture and gaming festival, which is taking place from 22-25 September 2022 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, has announced another exciting addition to the event this year: StreamerCon – the place to celebrate and experience all of the online magic and wonder in real life.

Geared towards celebrating digital creators, platform innovators, and their fans all in one place – StreamerCon is bringing together everything that is a part of creating, watching, and promoting video content. More than that, StreamerCon will be the hub for creators to expand their reach, collaborations to spark, and for aspiring content creators to be guided by industry veterans.

Comic Con Africa’s Show Director, Carla Massmann, expressed her elation at the addition of StreamerCon by saying that local content creators are at the core of planning and bringing StreamerCon to life.

“We’ve seen the growth and talent of South African streamers – and want to offer these very talented individuals an opportunity to be celebrated.” Massmann added. “The influencer today is very different to what it was. Content creators today are the micro-influencers who drive  exceptional engagement through niche communities.”

“In the past year Comic Con Africa has worked to give local streamers and content creators a platform to promote themselves and we believe that now more than ever it is an imperative new addition to the show.”

StreamerCon aims to create awareness around the world-class local content creators irrelevant of their platform – be it Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, or anything else.

In 2021, Comic Con Africa launched Streamer Takeovers which allowed members of the South African streaming community to showcase themselves on Comic Con Africa’s Twitch channel. After engaging with this community, that displays great passion and comradery, Comic Con Africa has set out to highlight content creators – established and upcoming – across the continent.

StreamerCon is also excited to welcome streaming software companies, tech brands, high performance software and systems, peripherals, and components, streaming equipment, streaming and recording software, video editing and design software, vlogging kits, as well as so much more.

Follow *StreamerCon on Twitter to get the latest updates and see the website for more information on attending and exhibiting.

Twitter:               https://twitter.com/TheStreamerCon

Comic Con Africa returns bigger, better – and safer – than ever in 2022

Comic Con Africa 2022 is the ultimate pop-culture and gaming festival in Africa, and the biggest of its kind offering something for everyone in the pop culture space. With tickets on sale since December 2021, the festival is set to take place during the traditional Comic Con month of September, from the 22nd to the 25th. Ticket sales have been staggered into a phased approach to ensure the control of capacity as well as being of benefit to the early birds who buy their tickets in the early phases.

Below are some images from when I attended Comic Con Africa in 2019:

The team at Comic Con Africa HQ have spent the past two years performing the necessary due diligence to ensure that the event in 2022 will be bigger, better and safer than ever before – with the strictest of Covid protocols and measures in place, to ensure peace of mind for all attendees and vendors.

Comic Con Africa 2022 will see more activations and international talent, and in order to accommodate this growth (and social distancing measures) the event has found a new home – the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec. This venue boasts a capacity that is a great size for the anticipated 80 000 plus visitors, while still offering further growth potential for years to come with its extensive indoor and outdoor areas.

The show floor will play host to international celebrities, the best in gaming and gear, Artist Alley, pop culture merch, table top games, and of course the highly anticipated Cosplay Competitions alongside various activations leading up to the event. Not only is this a pop culture playground for enthusiasts and professionals, but there will also be the KidsCon edition, creating a space for the entire family to enjoy the ultimate day out!

Brands and individuals interested in exhibiting at Comic Con Africa 2022 can contact info@comicconafrica.co.za.

Tickets for the festival and more information can be found on the official Comic Con Africa website.

For the latest Comic Con Africa 2022 news and updates, be sure to connect online:

Facebook:          https://www.facebook.com/AfricaComicCon/
Twitter:               https://twitter.com/ComicConAfrica
Instagram:         https://www.instagram.com/comicconafrica_official/
YouTube:              https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyeKw1HRrkpSJ5FJgXmtVCQ
Get tickets:         https://bit.ly/CCA2022_Tickets

*For the latest StreamerCon 2022 news and updates, check out:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheStreamerCon
Website: https://www.comicconafrica.co.za/streamercon

If you have never heard of Comic Con, here’s what it’s all about:

Comic Con Africa is Africa’s largest multi-genre pop-culture, gaming and fan festival. 

The festival features a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements including cosplay, comic books, anime, manga, tech, film and series, gaming (including video, mobile and esports) toys, gadgets, clothing, collectible card games, fantasy/sci-fi books and authors as well as the ever-popular Artists’ Alley. The inaugural 2018 event welcomed over 42 000 visitors (ABC Audited) and 2019 saw over 70 000.  In 2019 KidsCon was a new addition to the festival, allowing for the festival to be the ultimate family day out with loads of activities for all to enjoy. A single Comic Con Africa ticket gets you access to both Cons at Johannesburg Expo Centre NASREC on 22 – 25 September 2022. (www.comicconafrica.co.za)

Comic Con Africa is owned by Reed Exhibitions (Pty) Ltd and used under license by Mogull Media Proprietary Limited.

SA Fashion Week 2022

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Ecological sustainability, women’s empowerment, inter brand collaboration and proudly local production investment are some of the dynamic developments that mark SA Fashion Week’s 25th Spring/Summer Collections.
 
The SAFW’22 Spring Summer Collections will be showcased from 28 – 30 April, Parkade G5, Entrance 24 at Mall of Africa in Johannesburg.

Twenty iconic names including Ephraim Molingoana for Ephymol,  Amanda Laird Cherry and Palesa Mokubung of Mantsho as well as cult Kasi brand, Loxion Kulca, now designed by Olé Ledimo, will launch their 2022 collections to the media, buyers, selected VIPs and a limited edition of public tickets through Quicket, alongside exciting new stars including 2021 New Talent winner Artho Eksteen as well as Fikile Zamagcino Sokhulu and Sipho Mbuto who both participated in the Fashion Bridges collaboration with Milan Fashion Week last year. 
 

Hosted by SA’s favourite social personality, Maps Maponyane, the 24th New Talent Search will again open the event with a line-up of six of the most promising young designers to watch. This year’s contenders are:


·       Thando Ntuli – MUNKUS
·       Nichole Smith – Ipikoko
·       Mikhile du Plessis – MeKay Designs
·       Calvin Lunga Cebekhulu – Czene.24
·       Sanelisiwe Gcabashe – Gjenelo Couture
·       Mimangaliso Ndiko – Sixx6

Other highlights of the first day is the CRUZ COLLECTIVE featuring Sokhulu and Mbuto as well as another new generation notable, Michael Ludwig Studio.

Day two opens with The OPPO COLLECTIONS which brings Artho Eksteen, Ezokhetho, the gender-neutral signature, The BAM Collective, and the much revered, Amanda Laird Cherry, together in a celebration of technology and perfection that will speak to OPPO’s Reno 5 mobile phone as the quintessential tool with which to capture the ethos of contemporary living as “the new spectator sport” which happens where everyone, everywhere engages, interacts, captivates and comments.

“We are excited to go into our second year of partnership with SA Fashion Week. This is an important partnership for OPPO, as it gives us the space to connect with our customers and it shows our commitment to empowering local talent through our technology to curate a line of sustainably resourced fashion that represents both the heartbeat and heritage of our country. We are looking forward to our second collection and what our designers will come up with this year. For us, it is all about the creative collaboration that translates South African culture into design, which is the essence of what the OPPO brand represents both locally and globally.”  says Avashnee Moodley, Head of Marketing at Oppo South Africa.
 
This is followed by the high-profile trio of Cape Town-based Helon Melon who wowed audiences in 2021 with her all-white, sustainable collection, fashion forward Judith Atelier, an ardent supporter of South African mohair and perennial fashion week darling, Palesa Mokubung of Mantsho.

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Disney+ set to launch on 18 May 2022 in South Africa

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I was super excited to learn that Disney+, the streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, has confirmed launch dates for the 42 countries and 11 new territories set to launch this winter.

The streaming service will launch in South Africa on 18 May 2022. South African pricing has also been announced at R119.00 per month, or R1 190.00 for an annual subscription.

With exclusive original content and thousands of episodes and movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and general entertainment from Star, Disney+ is the streaming home for some of the world’s most beloved stories.

Subscribers will have access to Star Wars’ “The Book of Boba Fett” and “The Mandalorian” from Executive Producer and Writer Jon Favreau. In addition, the Marvel Studios’ series “Moon Knight” starring Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, which sees a mild-mannered gift-shop employee becoming plagued with blackouts and memories of another life as well as Academy Award®-nominated “Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings” starring Simu Liu and Awkwafina, will also be available at launch. 

MEET THE MADRIGALS – Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto” introduces the Madrigals, a compelling and complicated extended family who live in a wondrous and charmed place in the mountains of Colombia. © 2022 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Subscribers will also be able to enjoy Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award®-nominated “Luca”, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award®-winning “Encanto”, which tells the tale of an extraordinary family called the Madrigals and Academy Award®-winning “Cruella” starring Emma Stone as the legendary “Cruella de Vil”. 

In general entertainment, subscribers will also be able to watch titles including “The Simpsons”, “Queens” and “The Kardashians”. From National Geographic, fans will have access to both seasons of “The World According To Jeff Goldblum” that sees Jeff take us on an entertaining, insightful and playful ride. In each episode of these 12-part series, he pulls on the thread of a deceptively familiar object to unravel a world of astonishing connections and fascinating science and history.

Disney+ offers access to high-quality viewing up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to ten devices, and the ability to set up to seven different profiles, including the ability for parents to set Kids Profiles that have an easy-to-navigate, child-friendly interface to access age-appropriate content.

To keep up to date, visit:

Disneyplus.com

twitter.com/disneyplusza

www.facebook.com/DisneyPlusZA

www.instagram.com/disneyplusza

Society Coffee Launches New Mochaccino Flavour

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It’s been two years…two very long years…of lockdown, social distancing and disconnection from family and friends.  Most of us have been altered in one way or another by COVID-19 protocols and lockdowns. Whether we have become more family-orientated, more anxious or more of a homebody, we have all been affected.

A survey conducted by Specsavers assessed what people have missed most during the lockdown period. Turns out, it’s the little things that matter the most. Of the respondents, 83% noted the freedoms of day-to-day life were most missed. However, the overriding theme was that people are longing for those everyday connections. 

Connecting with people outside of our immediate family, extended family and work colleagues after two years of disconnection can be somewhat daunting. Many may feel a sense of anxiety when it comes to being around people again, even with COVID-19 protocols in place.

However, Society Cappuccinos is encouraging South Africans to take the plunge and initiate connecting with friends and loved ones again, whether in person, or over a phone call or video call, based on the fundamental belief that we really are better together. To bring people together, Society has launched a new Mochaccino which unites two things people love – coffee and chocolate.

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Launch of Africarare – Africa’s First Metaverse Collaboration

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Boity Thulo in the Africarare Metaverse

Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse is set to unlock African creativity and connect Africa to the global digital economy. At an event in Johannesburg on 28 February 2022, plans were announced for commercialisation of the 3D virtual reality experience, that is set in Ubuntuland, a virtual world that marries creativity, cryptocurrency and commerce. 

Firstly, virtual land will soon be available to purchase and develop with MTN, Africa’s largest multinational mobile telecommunications company, joining Africarare with an upcoming 12×12 village (144 plots of real estate) secured in Ubuntuland. Additionally, M&C Saatchi Abel have entered the metaverse as the first South African advertising agency to do so. There will only ever be 204 642 plots of land available, made up of different village sizes in various community hubs. The land is positioned and priced according to a tiered value system.

Landholders will be able to customize their 3-D land spaces, such as hosting shops, producing resources, renting virtual services and developing games or other applications. Designated spaces will serve the community for work, play and wellness purposes, including state of the art meeting rooms, online therapy rooms (with optional anonymity), concert stages, film festival spaces, meditation lounges and other dynamic interactive environments. And, there’s more to come, such as staking, DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) and blockchain play-to-earn gaming.

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