[this was updated 13 Oct with date and venue changes]

The 'matchstick girl attempts South Africa's first ever SWARM Party on 20 November 2010 – a social networking game and social responsibility project rolled into one exciting live event.

Telana Simpson, also known as the 'matchstick girl, has been trading a single matchstick up in value with the ultimate goal of reaching office space, which she wants to offer to start-up entrepreneurs to help them get their businesses off the ground.

She traded a matchstick for a pen, and then swapped the pen for a toy frog, and the toy for two books. The books she traded for two cases of First Sighting wine, and has continued trading up in value. She is currently on her tenth trade which involves trading 375 designer T-shirts from the Cape Town based start-up company Springleap, with 375 people. She believes she will get to her offices in three or four more trades once she has finished her tenth trade.

Telana is holding South Africa's first SWARM Party where she has organised three of South Africa's up and coming bands to play at the Bluesroom, Village Walk . The rock/pop bands are Broken People, Mantis Moon and Book of Thieves. VIP tickets for R183 include one of her Springleap T-shirts and two Castle Lagers sponsored by SAB, plus entry to the SWARM Party.

A SWARM Party is an event that involves the exciting social networking, location based game Foursquare.com, which is new to South Africa but growing very rapidly in popularity.

Foursquare is a free online game with a phone application where you create an account and connect with your friends. When at a venue, you check-in to that venue and can see if any of your friends are there as well, or where they are at that time. You can leave tips and recommendations about the venue and see nearby venues and any specials they are offering. The person who checks-in the most in a two month period to a certain venue becomes the "Mayor" of that venue.

The more things you do on Foursquare, the more points and badges you can earn which are displayed on your profile. The points are also displayed on the Leaderboard so you can see if you are beating your friends or who is in the lead.

A SWARM Party is an offline event where at least 250 people get together to take part in an online Foursquare flashmob at a designated time. They get together to be part of the Crowd Swarm, and all 250 people have to check-in on Foursquare at the venue, within the same hour, to get points and get awarded the coveted "Super Swarm Badge" on their profile.

This one matchstick SWARM Party on 20 November is an opportunity for South African players of Foursquare to unlock the hard-to-get Super Swarm Badge. Telana is going for a record of this SWARM Party being the first in South Africa to unlock the Super Swarm Badge on the African continent, while at the same time helping her finish her tenth trade and get one step closer to making her 'one matchstick office' dream a reality.

Players who want to attend the SWARM Party need to get their VIP tickets from Telana on 083 730 2979 or onematchstick@gmail.com

A while ago the Ubuntu Girl Sonja Kruse was in Joburg, and we organised a talk in Soweto to hear her story. If you weren't there, then check out her blog to hear what she is doing- it's an amazing story!

At the talk, Vije Vijendranath offered to come take some photos, and he then offered me some photography as part of a Three-Way Trade. Yayy!

I've been following him on Facebook for a while now, and am constantly appreciating the exceptional photographs he takes, of scenery, but especially of people. He has a way of capturing the atmosphere and the person that makes his photographs a delight to look at.

He has offered me a photo shot for some T-shirts! Super Fly deal this is!

This 3 hour photo shoot is ideal for a corporate wanting to take photos of their team, or for an up and coming model wanting to develop a portfolio. A band or family might even like it, for some portraits. "It can be anything really, all depends on what's possible for the time available. So if I can do what is needed within 3 hours, great!" said Vije!

Conditions:

1. The shoot will take place within Gauteng
2. Vije will provide the best photos and he will not give all the photos that he takes.
3. For a modelling shoot, he will spend around 1.5hrs on the shoot and the other 1.5hrs is used for the editing of the photos.
4. The photos will be on CD/DVD but no prints.

Vije is offering this photo shoot for eight of my Springleap T-shirts! So it'll cost you just R1515 (for the T-shirts and for delivery) for this awesome photo shoot!

You can get more of this Photographer on his website: http://www.vimagemedia.com/
And more pictures from his portfolio from his blog: http://blog.vimagemedia.com/

So, if you would like a 3 hour photo shoot, then CALL ME 0837302979.

You'll get a CD full of the best photos taken in 3 hours by Vije!
Vije will get 8 Springleap T-shirts!
I'll be 8 T-shirts closer to my goal of finishing my tenth trade!

A three-way win-win-win!

This is my next BIG step that I've been planning for months! I hope you can come join in the fun?



Join us for South Africa's biggest Swarm Party! It's a foursquare flashmob!

Featuring the bands:

• Broken People
• Book of Thieves
• Harbourlight

Date: Saturday 16 October 2010
Time: doors open 19:00pm, event starts 20:00pm
Venue: Tanz Café Fourways, The Buzz Shopping Centre, Witkoppen Road

R183 on VIP Guestlist, pre-booked (includes trading with me for a Springleap T-shirt (excl delivery), 2 Castle Lagers and free entrance) book with Telana onematchstick@gmail.com or call 083 730 2979

Additional Information:

A Swarm Party involves an online flashmob on foursquare.com (the location-based networking site) that unlocks the coveted and hard to get Super Swarm Badge. The party is a way of 250 or more users checking-in to the party location to collect their virtual badge and points.

The Springleap T-shirts are part of the onematchstick.co.za project, and are couriered to VIP's for an additional R36

Entertainment for the night is a pop-rock extravaganza, featuring:

- Broken People (melodic alternative)
- Book of Thieves (contemporary)
- Harbourlight (melodic rock)

RSVP – Book your VIP ticket with Telana on onematchstick@gmail.com or 083 730 2979

Will you be there?

Join the Facebook event here
Join the meetup.com event here

Do you want to market your product or service to Students?

Marc Kornberger of Student Village is offering a most amazing offer! It's un-be-liev-able!

I spoke at Student Village's inspiring "Women's Leadership Conference" a few weeks ago, where I bartered my way to fly to the conference in Durban and Cape Town. At the conference here in Jozi, I met Marc. He is Student Village's specialist in marketing to students and in career development.

He's been super helpful and has even included me in their blog crammed.co.za (see if you can find the matchstick!) and he has nominated me to speak at this years TedX Johannesburg conference in November. Wow, I sure will be getting over my fear of public speaking at this rate!

So, back to Marc's unbelievable offer:

He's offered a months worth of online advertorial or to run a competition on their Student Village website, in exchange for just ONE of my Springleap T-shirts!

Yes- just one! That means you get the value of R9500 worth of online marketing direct to students for one month – that is, for the cost of just R183.00.

How lovely!

The Student Village website gets over 2 million views a month and is a hot property for brands wanting to target students.

So- first come first served with this one!

So if you want to advertise to students for a month- CALL ME 0837302979.

You'll get R9500 worth of online advertising for just R183
Marc of Student Village will get a Springleap T-shirt
I'll be one more T-shirt closer to my goal!

Lekker!

When I was in Cape Town two weeks ago, I got to spend some time with Adin, the No Money Guy.

We met at the wonderful TRUTH coffee and made a little video after catching up over a cup of TRUTH's very yummy coffee!

You can check out the video on Facebook here.

Every year I work towards learning a new skill or hobby. This year I've undertaken two- I've started to learn the Argentinean Tango, and to rock climb. And I am thoroughly enjoying both!

I joined the Mountain Club of South Africa to get into rock climbing, and at my first meet to learn the basics, I met Grant Rens who is my instructor.

Grant has since offered me a rock climbing lesson to trade on for two of my Springleap T-shirts.

So anyone want to start rock climbing, or perhaps improve their technique? Here's more info on what Grant is offering:

Want to climb? Indoors & Rock?
Want to know what you are doing?
Learn to climb safely from a Qualified Instructor.

From Basics to Advanced
We teach you what you need to know to climb safely!

Explanation of Services:

EGO offers a variety of courses with the objective of teaching the learner to rock climb from being a beginner right through to an advanced level. The core to this lies in individual instruction for the student (& their climbing partner if they have one), with the objective being one of a comprehensive understanding as to the basics necessary for safe climbing. The curriculum is comprehensive, emphasising core competencies, whilst giving the beginner a broad based understanding as to the sport & all its intricacies & foibles. The instruction is paced according to the learner’s progress & tailor-made to suit the individual.

Our objective is a climber who understands & knows what they need to know to climb safely & responsibly, to the end that they enhance the climbing experience of those around them by their safe & knowledgeable approach to the sport.

Basic Breakdown of the lessons available:

ROCK CLIMBING INTRODUCTION (usually 2 to 3 lessons)

This covers all the basic requirements to climb safely in a climbing gym or a supervised environment outdoors. You will learn all about the most important pieces of equipment, their function & how to use them safely. You will also learn how to tie into a rope & how to belay (the friction method used to control a rope). At this level your climbing will be very low risk, due to the "top rope" method used & once you have completed this series you will be confident in your climbing & trust of the roped environment.

SPORT CLIMBING (usually 2 to 3 lessons)

Sport Climbing is the next logical step & here one learns all about climbing in a "bolted" climbing environment. The safety afforded by anchors bolted into the rock enables one to learn the art of lead climbing in a safe & secure environment. In this course we also deal with anchors & cleaning a sport climb, following on to multi pitch climbs & the management of stances. Abseiling is also dealt with at this level.

TRADITIONAL (FREE) CLIMBING (usually 2 to 3 lessons)

Trad Climbing is all about the adventure of climbing where you want & following in the footsteps of those who have gone before. Here one learns the art of placing your own anchors, leading on placed gear, creating stances & finding your route up a cliff according to a route guide. This apprenticeship is not for the faint hearted but yields the true spirit of "seat of your pants" adventure. Here a major emphasis is placed on climbing safely & capably in the Vertical environment.

All these courses should leave one with the assurance that you know what you are doing & can enjoy this thrilling sport in a safe & knowledgeable manner.

This is what Grant does at EGO – Extreme Guided Outings.

So are you keen?

If you would like one lesson at any level of sport and traditional rock climbing, as outlined above, then contact me! The nice thing is, thanks to Charl, you will also get a castle lager beer, and Grant will also get one (in three-ways you get to share the two Castles!)

So, to summarise:

• You'll get the lesson with Grant and a Castle, and it will cost you just R402
• Grant will get 2 Tshirts and a Castle
• I'll be two T-shirts closer to finishing my tenth trade.

So CALL ME 083 730 2979 or email me asap to take up this offer!

Trade with me and get an awesome funky T-shirt just in time for wonderful spring time!
And you'll get TWO Castle Lager Beers for free!
And you'll be helping me get closer to my goal of offices to help start up entrepreneurs!

So spring leap into action and trade with me!

All you need to do to trade with me is buy your T-shirt(s) through Springleap.com and make them count towards my one matchstick trade by using the code onematchstick.

Details on how to trade are:
1. If you haven't registered yet on Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.
2. When you are logged in, choose the T-shirts you want. You can choose ANY design. Just Click on the SHOP button at the top of the page to see the available designs.
3. When you find the T-shirt you want, click on the size you want (there is a link which explains the sizing and the ladies T-shirts are a lady's cut). Once you click on the size, it gets added to your "shopping cart".
4. When you've finished adding your T-shirts to your shopping cart, click on the shopping cart icon on the top right hand of the screen.
5. Enter in your delivery details, and where it says "if you have a Springleap coupon, enter it here:" you enter the code, which is: onematchstick (all lower case, one word). This is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP! Please remember to add the code so we can track your trade with me!
6. Click the confirm and pay button.
7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by credit card or EFT.
8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finalised your T-shirt trade with me :)
9. Let me know when you've made your trade and what the order number is via email or sms to 0837302979.

Thank you! And..