one matchstick

Latest trade: "Rock the House" with WONDERboom

2012-01-31T13:24:00.000+02:00

"Rock the House"

A private house party for up to 200 people with WONDERboom!

- An exclusive WONDERboom experience with after party with DJ JP Silver -

Life is wonderful! There is so much to celebrate! And what better way to celebrate whatever is full of wonder in your life, than to throw a party with all your friends and their friends and their friends too!

And no party is complete without music. And if that music is a live band – how cool is that?

After finishing my epic-long 2 year Springleap T-shirt trade last year on 22 September, and then re-energising and also exploring and researching quite a few options for my next item to trade, this is it: a “Rock the House” Party with WONDERboom

WONDERboom will play their awesome rock tunes at your home, for your friends and their friends, your mom and dad and the rest of the family, your dog, the neighbours, (and the second biggest fan of the band who begs you to attend your exclusive party).

Offer includes:

An exclusive WONDERboom experience at your home

DJ "JP Silver" to keep the party rocking after the mini-concert

All production and lighting costs and equipment needed to rock the house included

Travel costs for the band if the party happens in Gauteng is included (if outside Gauteng, you'd need to cover additional costs- ask me about this)

Date is subject to the availability of WONDERboom

So if you want this exclusive WONDERboom experience, then make me an offer! I’ll consider whatever you are prepared to trade with me for this awesome and exciting opportunity. So get in touch and let's chat!

Call me on 0837302979 or email onematchstick@gmail.com

Offers for "Rock the House" with WONDERboom

2012-01-31T13:17:00.000+02:00

**PLEASE NOTE**

These offers are the exclusive "Rock the House" Experience with WONDERboom. If you would like to trade with me for any of these offers, please let me know what you would offer me to trade for it by emailing onematchstick@gmail.com! It will then be much easier for me to decide which item to trade if my next trade is ready to go. Let your imagination go wild! Thanks. T

**********OFFERS FOR "Rock the House" with WONDERboom**********

There are no offers yet! Be the first rockstar by getting in touch with me on 0837302979!

I lost my mojo... but found it again

2012-01-13T18:08:00.000+02:00

Wow! It's the New Year already and I haven't written a post since finishing the Epic T-shirt Trade in September last year.

Good reason for that though.

I burnt out. Like this matchstick.

Well, that is how I felt.

It had been a year of studying full time at Raizcorp, working full time on and in Inner Coaching, starting my own online TV Show Let's Talk Possibility, becoming a director of YBSA, helping to develop the MCF's supervision programme, only wearing T-shirts (that wardrobe restriction did cause a level of stress for even the tom-boy in me!), and creatively engaging all my gears to finish trading the springleap T-shirts.

So yeah, I was pretty tired.

Rest is good. Time contemplating is useful. Re-connecting with my purpose and my reasons for turning a matchstick into an office ignited something again. Throw in a couple of transformational coaching sessions too, and time with my family in Cape Town, and voila- I've found my mojo again.

I'm back. I'm ready.

With also many calls and meetings and emails and options explored over the last few months, and becoming a full page spread in the Brainstorm Magazine, I've now made some decisions. And that will lead to an announcement of my next step.

So, just a little more patience please. You'll know soon enough what the 375 Springleap T-shirts have turned into, that you can then make me offers on, in order to help me get to the offices. And help those entrepreneurs we need to create more jobs. Yeah!

Till then, rock on!

Hallelujah! I've finished!

2011-09-22T21:24:00.000+02:00

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah-hallelujah-ha-leee-lu-jah!

And if you don't like my singing along with the chorus of angels in my head, then try this video clip of the Johann Strauss Orchestra and the Harlem Gospel Choir! They do a much better rendition!

This is what I've been hearing in my mind since Wednesday morning 21 September. As it was then that I got the final nod from the awesome team at Springleap – to say they have accounted for all my 375 T-shirt trades that they facilitated for my tenth trade.

Remember – way back in August 2009 I traded the party with DJ Al for 150 people with Eran and Eric for 375 Springleap T-shirts? And then I started my epic trade of trading all 375 T-shirts with 375 people?

Well, 780 days later, I have finished this trade! Hallelujah! Thank you to all of you who took part in this trade and helped me make it happen. And to those who supported me and cheered me on!

Now. The next steps.

1. I have finished my "wearing only Springleap T-shirts" pledge that led me to develop an 'Ellen Look' – so now summer dresses are back!

2. I have to decide now what to trade on up with.

The nature of the deal I made with the T-shirts, means I get to choose what am going to put on offer to trade.

So, while I mull over a few ideas and options, if you are reading this and think you have an idea of a fab item of some sort (product/ services/ experience/ etc), then get in touch with me and let’s chat!

Otherwise, watch this space – I'll be announcing soon what my next step will be! I think I'm going to surprise myself!

ONE left! Be my Hero!

2011-09-07T15:07:00.000+02:00

So I now have one Springleap T-shirt left to trade, as part of finishing my tenth trade.

Exactly 1.

O-N-E!

So, who is going to be my T-shirt Hero and trade with me for my last T-shirt?

It's taken me nearly 2 years to trade 374 T-shirts... so how long will it take to trade the very last one?

If you want to be the onematchstick Hero and my Hero, then all you need to do is follow the below instructions, and then contact me with your order number! Email or sms 0837302979 or tweet me!

How to trade with me by buying your T-shirt and make it count towards my onematchstick trade:

1. If you haven't registered yet on www.Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.

2. When you are logged in, choose the T-shirt you want. You can choose ANY design. Click on the SHOP button 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-shirt 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! this is how springleap tracks that it is a trade with me, and it costs you nothing.

6. Choose your delivery options, then click the confirm and pay button.

7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by credit card.

8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finalised trading with me, and your T-shirt will be delivered to your door by courier in about 3 days.

9. Email or sms 0837302979 or tweet me your order number so I can add it to my list of trades as the FINAL TRADE!

Yippeeee!

Thank you!
Telana

My "Ellen DeGeneres Look"

2011-08-07T13:10:00.000+02:00

On the 2 August 2009 I started my long Tshirt Trade with Eric and Eran of Springleap. What an epic long trade it's turned out to be: a whole 2 years and 4 days to date.

We threw a competition to design the official onematchstick Tshirt. And then I traded nearly a hundred in a few weeks of launching the code to track the trades. Then things slowed down...

I am often asked if I think I made a mistake making this trade. I don't believe I have. I made it for very specific reasons, which will unfold as I progress with my future trades. And though I did not think that it would be such a difficult (at times), and long process to trade on the 375 T-shirts (especially such awesome, funky, designer T-shirts like Springleap T's), I will finish this trade. And soon!

To keep myself motivated and show the few nay-sayers my commitment to this trade, I pledged on 27 August 2010 to only wear Springleap T-shirts until I finished this trade. That meant that every day I would put on a Springleap T-shirt, and remind myself of my mission. And then it was easy too to show a sample to people I met who expressed interest in trading with me.

And I have kept that pledge to date. And will for however long it takes me to trade the last remaining 27 T-shirts.

I had some challenges with this dress-code pledge in the last year. Like when I had business meetings to go to – I soon learnt how to "corporatize" my T-shirts. Then there was a formal wedding a friend asked me to attend as his date. I hired a Tuxedo Tailcoat and added high heels, to dress up my T-shirt for that occasion. And then the elegant Feather Awards, where I was a finalist, I dug out my glitzy poncho that I got on my travels to India for a friend's wedding.

Recently I noticed that I’ve developed a certain "look". After starting my own podcast show with my friend and co-host Jack, I started looking for mentors to help develop my skills. I've been getting some inspiration from watching TV talk shows, and often catch the Ellen DeGeneres show while I have lunch. And then I noticed how my pledge has led me to pick up an "Ellen look".

(image of Ellen from here)

Living in jeans and a T-shirt and a blazer sure is comfortable. And even though it's comfy, I am so looking forward to finding my own look again, and exploring some girly-girl dresses this summer, and less of the T-shirts and jeans.

So, with only 27 T-shirts to go, I am wondering if I'll manage to trade them all by the end of the month – making it a yearlong Pledge and a 2 years and one month Trade. I have this Adventure Talk coming up, these 3-way trades, and also the Tattoo Picnic Party to help finish this trade.

Do you think I can do it?

Lisa talks for onematchstick about Adventure!

2011-08-04T13:26:00.000+02:00

Come join us for an evening of ADVENTURE with our special guest speaker:

Lisa de Speville

THE TALK:

Fascinating Expedition & Adventure Talks (FEAT) is to adventurous pursuits as TED Talks are to... well, everything else. FEAT, an evening of time-limited talks by South African adventurers, was created and launched last year by adventure racer Lisa de Speville.

In this talk Lisa will go through FEAT's unique format - one that makes it so dynamic, captivating and inspiring - as well as a new FEAT 'product' - FEAT Award.

She'll also talk about making that adventure happen - the one that has been in your mind and heart for years - and she'll deal with sponsorship issues too.

And if a two, three or six month adventure is really not an option, she'll tempt you to consider microadventures close to home.

You're welcome to toss any questions about adventure racing and trail running her way - she'll gladly answer.

ABOUT LISA DE SPEVILLE:

Over the past 12 years, Lisa de Speville has immersed herself in adventure racing and trail running - including staged, ultra and mountain running. She writes about these sports; she participates in events locally and abroad; she runs workshops, courses and an adventure racing club; and she organizes a variety of events - whatever catches her fancy. She's the owner and editor of Adventure Racing, South Africa's adventure racing website and the creator of FEAT. FEAT is very much the accumulation of more than a decade of racing, playing and meeting people as well as her love of reading books on adventures and expeditions.

Date: Tuesday 30 August

Time: 19H00 to 20h00

Venue: Sekolo sa Borokgo School, 45 Susman Ave, Blairgowrie, Randburg

Cost: R50 entrance fee

Proceeds will go towards onematchstick.co.za to help Telana complete her current trade of T-shirts.

RSVP: Telana on onematchstick@gmail.com or 083 730 2979

Jarrod on jarrodlevenstein@gmail.com or 084 588 0565

Bring friends and family and enjoy an exciting adventurous evening with us!

Walter Pike spoke for one matchstick

2011-07-17T19:05:00.000+02:00

Joburg- you've been such a great sport with supporting onematchstick!

A great bunch of Joburg-ites ventured out into the cold and found their way to 44 Stanley, to The (vibey) Room at Il Giardino to hear Walter Pike talk for onematchstick.

It was an enjoyable evening, with lots of networking and learning. Walter shared how "the internet is word of mouth on steroids" and profiled case studies including Vodacom, Cell C, Nando's and FNB that my friends are still talking about. He made the new Organic Marketing so accessible and practical, with examples from Egypt, to Charlie Chaplin, to surfing and Big Mac’s.

Some of the tweets that were flying around included:

I would like to thank Walter for trading his talk with me for one of my Springleap T-shirts, and helping me to trade another 32 T-shirts through this event! (At the time of writing this I have 44 T-shirts to go until I can move onto my next step)

A big thanks too goes to Grieta for allowing us to use Il Giardino to host the talk and for Rika for putting me in touch with Michelle of The Sound Corporation for providing the sound equipment we needed, and to Jelena for the projector.

And thanks to all of you who attended the evening and traded with me!

You all rock, and made the evening a huge success! *mwah!*

The Room at Il Giardino, our venue for 29 June!

2011-06-19T17:38:00.000+02:00

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there!

I was day dreaming today that if my Father were here, I would have taken him for lunch at Il Giardino at 44 Stanley. He would have loved the vibe, sitting under the wild olives trees, with the gypsy folk jazz band playing, having a glass of wine and some pizza.

We would have been brainstorming ideas to help me find the 50 more people to attend Walter Pike's talk for onematchstick, to finish my tenth trade. I imagine that the conversation would have also covered topics like business (he was an entrepreneur too!) and politics and how he loved his country and the spiritual flow of life!

My Dad would have also enjoyed laughing with Grieta, the lovely lady who runs Il Giardino and is sponsoring the venue for Walter's talk. He would have got all fired up with the negotiations I had with Christof who is looking into helping me with the audio-visual equipment for the event. And he would have chatted too to some of the other lovely people I met under the trees, like the Pieters family, and Sean and Michelle!

I gave Michelle one of my matchstick business cards, and she exclaimed that it reminded her of her wedding! At each guest's seat they put a single matchstick. And each matchstick had stamped on it: "a perfect match!" My dad would have smiled with me at hearing that story!

So I am so looking forward to hearing Walter's Talk entitled "Recalculating – a new guide to marketing" with my friends, old and new, who are supporting me in getting closer to my offices!

It's going to be a lovely evening learning, with fabulous people, fine wine, pizza's and chandeliers!

Join us – I have 50 Springleap T-shirts left!

For more info check out the event on Facebook or this blog post.
And give me a call on 0837302979 to RSVP!

And for all of you who's Fathers are around - enjoy celebrating them! Life's too short to not bask in their company!

My latest offers

2011-06-13T15:48:00.000+02:00

So- it's been 5 years! And I'm still going strong, with my motivation and determination stretched and expanding.

I'm 80 T-shirts away from finishing my current trade, and I did another three-way trade this past weekend. My friend Dion and I were looking for a course to develop our presenting skills, and Erik Vermeulen popped up with the perfect solution.

Erik offered me a place on his course for one of my Springelap T-shirts, and it's the second time in my 5 years of trading that I have traded with myself (the first was when I took part in a 5-way trade with Vije for a photo-shoot!)

We attended the "Effective Speaking and Presenting" course on the weekend, and wow – what a super course! Erik's Grid System has been so useful that Jack, my "Lets Talk Possibility" podcast show co-host, and I have already applied it to prepare for our next show. I know too that my other friends who attended have found the system offered what they had been missing in their presentation and public speaking toolkits. (Pssst! Erik's offered to run this course again for the public- so let me know if you are interested!)

Upcoming trades that I have on offer that I need to find someone to trade with, include the below three-way offers. Each trade that I do will include 2 (or more – depending on the latest stacking and stashing) Castle Beers and the chance to come and hear Walter Pike talk - for free!

If you just want to hear Walter share his 30 years of branding and marketing knowledge and understand the world of social media more, plus enjoy some beers, then you can just buy one of my Springleap T-shirts, and not do a three-way trade with me. But that might be too boring for you...

Plenty of choices, I know. So if you can't decide, but want to support me then please give me a call and I can help you work out how to trade with me.

My current items up for three-way trade involving T-shirts are:

~~The onematchstick Story Scarf with lots of goodwill for R219 (1 T-shirt)~~
Get 4 Tshirts and a cap signed by Solo Adventurer Jolandie Rust for R402 (2 T-shirts)
Mini-Photoshoot for R402 (2 T-shirts)
20 person henna tatoo party with photographs for R1515 (that's R75 per person) (8 T-shirts) - JOIN THE HENNA PARTY AND BE ONE OF THE 20 PEOPLE: see the Facebook event here for details.
One hour inspirational talk by international speaker Sonja Kruse, otherwise known as the Ubuntu Girl for R402 (2 T-shirts)
Social Media consulting by Adin van Ryneveld, the No Money Guy R219 per hour(1 T-shirt per hour)
Three hours of Recruitment Consulting Services for R219 (1 T-shirt)
A guided hike up Table Mountain for four for R768 (that's R192 per person) (4 T-shirts)
A Hypnosis session to stop smoking –for only R585 (3 T-shirts)
A one hour Hypnosis session for weight loss, breaking habits, overcoming phobias, improving performance in personal and business life –for only R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
~~A diamond - 0.297 Carat with certificate valued at R1200, for only R951.00 (5 T-shirts)~~
The writing services of a Reporter and Freelance Writer, Abed for R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
Artwork - Dancing Girl OR Hula limited edition prints by artist Tuesday Houston valued at R900 each for only R402 (2 t-shirts) each, or both for only R585 (3 T-shirts)
One Payroll Workshop in audio and workbook format valued at R399.99, for only R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
A years website hosting plus the development of a wordpress website if you need it, for just R1327.00 – that's R110. 50 per month for 12 months for a website! (7 T-shirts)
4 Private Pilates Classes with David in Fourways, Johannesburg valued at R720 – for only R585 (3 T-shirts)

These are items or services that fab people have offered me for which they are willing to be "paid" in Springleap T-shirts. All we need is you to put up the cash for the item or service, and then we have a 3-way Trade!

How Three Way Trades work:

An item or service is offered to me, for one or more of my T-shirts.

You then decide you want that item or service,

and then pay for the relevant number of T-shirts

which are sent to the person who offered the item or service.

The person then delivers the item or service to you.

Simple!

All you need to do is CALL me on 083 730 2979 if you want one of the above items and then you will be helping me get to my offices, to help start up entrepreneurs AND you'll get 2 free beers AND (but wait, there's more!) listen to Walter Pike's keynote presentation!

It’s been 5 years today

2011-06-12T20:24:00.000+02:00

Five years ago on this day, 12 June 2006, I started my onematchstick Project.

I had the vision at that stage of just wanting a little project to prove to myself that anything is possible, and everything is negotiable, and through which I could try to get myself something I needed and also give back to others by sharing in the final outcome.

I just wanted to have the personal experience of bartering up a matchstick to offices, inspired by Kyle who was on his way to trading his red paperclip into a house. And I thought that if I succeeded (which today I know I will) then I wanted to have offices big enough to give some of the space to other startup entrepreneurs to help them.

I had no idea that it would lead me to meeting so many wonderful people and making some close friends. Or that I would learn and grow personally to the extent that I have.

I didn't think that I would learn so much from having to research every item I was offered, from motorbikes to stamps to henna tattoos to diamonds. Or that my creativity would be sparked so much.

I didn't know then that I would set a record for Africa by hosting Africa's first SWARM Party.

I didn't think that I would pledge ten months ago to only wear Springleap T-shirts until I reached a certain target (which I am 80 people away from).

I had no inkling that I would test my self-discipline and my perseverance to the extreme, or that I would have personal challenges to face and surmount alongside the project, like growing my business and overcoming a period of health challenges.

I had no intention of winning competitions, like the Netweb and Missing Link ‘Headstart competition, where I won the making of onematchstick, The Movie! Or that it would lead me to being a finalist in the Female Tribe 2011 Feather Awards for Business Icon and Entrepreneur. Or that I would be nominated as June 2011's Xtraordinary Woman of the Month.

So much has come out of the last five years working on this project that I feel humbled looking back and stand here in a state of gratitude.

And the most significant outcome of the last five years, is the inspiration my project seems to ignite in others who hear of it. If nothing else ever comes from this, I am so glad that I have been able to pass on the inspiration and belief in possibility that Kyle passed on to me with his story, when I read his blog five years ago.

So thank you to all of you who read my blog posts, tweets and facebook updates, who have traded with me, helped connect me to people I have traded with, and who continue to support and cheer me on. It is because of all of you that onematchstick is where it is today, and that we will get to the office – hopefully in the very near future!

Walter Pike talks for one matchstick

2011-06-06T14:44:00.000+02:00

Get yourself one of my Springleap T-shirts, and walk away with social media marketing knowledge!

Being one of South Africa's earliest adopters of digital marketing and lecturing at some of our leading institutions, doesn’t even begin to sum up Walter Pike.

Join me, the 'matchstick girl, for an evening of learning with lecturer, international speaker and marketing maven, Walter Pike.

It's like being there, doing it, and getting the T-shirt.

Oh, and you keep the T-shirt!

Date: Wednesday 29 June
Time: 18:30 for 19:00
Venue: The Room @ Il Giardino at 44 Stanley, Stanley Avenue, Milpark, Johannesburg
Cost: one of my T-shirts – which is R219 with delivery (you get to keep the T-shirt!)

RSVP: Telana on onematchstick@gmail.com or 0837302979 or @telana

Topic for the evening: "Recalculating - a new guide to marketing"

Marketing in a social world is different, and you need a new navigator.

TV, Newspapers and Radio are very primitive communications options. They can only do one thing well: push out a message. They can’t listen, can’t be used to talk back, and are very difficult to share.

In the 1960's some great minds built modern marketing around this and we built brands by creating associations of performance and feelings and attached them to our products and services. These associations became the brand.

Unfortunately marketing is not an exact science and someone moved the goalpost. Things changed when media stopped being merely a source of information and became the site of coordination.

When marketers lost control of the medium they also lost the ability to attach these associations. No longer does the size of your advertising budget equal the amount of attention customers give you. No longer does share of voice equate to share of market.

Business needs a new paradigm to operate in this highly connected world.

Marketers need a new paradigm, a new way to think about building brands in a market in which the customer is no longer listening.

Organic Marketing is a new way to navigate brands and branding in a social world. In this talk we unpack the new route map and update the software in our marketing GPS.

Speaker's Bio

Walter Pike – Marketing Maven

Walter once farmed oranges.

And cows, pigs and maize. He also taught people how to farm and grow forests. He bred a racehorse and raced it. He played Polo, provincial polocrosse and coached cricket and soccer. He ran schools and sports clubs and sports associations. He was a very keen fly fisherman and guide and is a photographer.

He worked a lot in the motor industry for major manufacturers in sales and in marketing and for their advertising agencies. He directed strategy and client service for the top agency in the country and worked on some of the biggest and most famous brands.

He collected degrees and became the Head of Faculty of Marketing and Advertising of the major advertising school in Africa- the only one to offer an international qualification.

He used to be a husband and is still a father.

He is an acknowledged marketing and digital thought leader, appears on TV and is frequently heard on radio and from the stage at conferences and his writing is in print on paper and electronically.

He founded PiKE | New Marketing and, seeing a need for skills, also set up The Digital Academy- the first ever to be accredited by Google.

He knows that the analogue world has been replaced and marketing has changed. That people in this 'always on - always connected' world learn things, find things, connect, collaborate, organise and buy things in a new way. He thinks, writes, talks and teaches about brands in this new world.

On the leading edge of the new world he thinks differently. His talks are entertaining, engaging and thought provoking and presented clearly with conviction. You may disagree with what he has to say, but you can’t ignore it.

The world is changing and @walterpike is part of that change.

Will you also be on 29th June?

RSVP to Telana on onematchstick@gmail.com or call 0837302979!

onematchstick Henna Tattoo Picnic Party

2011-05-19T13:44:00.000+02:00

Date: Saturday 1 October 2011
Time: midday till sunset
Where: A spot of grass in the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens by Emmarentia Dam
Street: Olifants Rd. Emmarentia

What:

Help me get closer to my office to help entrepreneurs

By RSVPing to this Springtime Picnic Party

And pre-buying a henna tattoo that you will receive at the Party

Why is the party only in October?
So that it'll be warmer and you can show off your henna tattoo for the few weeks that it'll last!

What's the cost?
Just R75.75 if you want to be one of the 20 people who get a tattoo. Payment has to be made now (so that I can trade up sooner) and it’s a first come first served basis for the tattoos!

What to bring?
Picnic stuff: baskets of nibbles and drinks, blankets to lie on, frisbees, friends, sunscreen, funky hats and good cheer!

Background:

Nikita is a Freelance Journalist, Photographer, Mehndhi Artist and onematchstick fan who has made me an offer for some of my T-shirts, in one of my 3-way trades for my onematchstick project.

She is offering a 20 person henna tattoo party with photographs (which will be saved to disc and given to the host a week after the party and you’ll get to tag yourself on facebook). This means that she will do one henna temporary tattoo per person for up to 20 people at a party.

This offer has a total value of R1515, which is what it will cost for 8 of my Springleap T-shirts, which is what Nikita wants in return for doing the 20 henna tattoos. It’s all part of my tenth trade for onematchstick.

That's a cost of just R75.75 per person!

So let's get ready for Summer and start planning our Springtime Picnic Party

All are welcome to attend.
Only 20 tattoo's though to first 20 people who contact me and pay for their tattoos!

If you want a tattoo then email me on onematchstick@gmail.com or tweet @telana or sms 0837302979.

Otherwise just RSVP here on Facebook and we'll see you on that patch of grass in October! :)

Matchstick Mania Monday AGAIN! :)

2011-05-08T22:23:00.000+02:00

Did you see my friends (Steve, Sonja and Jody) and I handing out matchsticks on Monday morning in Fourways, on William Nicole?

Why were we doing this?

Because I am trying to turn a matchstick into offices (read the full story and explanation here, or watch the short movie about it here). I will be using the offices for startup entrepreneurs to help them.

And right now, for my next step, I need to find 87 more people who will help me.

I am on my tenth trade which involves 375 Springleap T-shirts, and I have sold 288 already. I just need to find 87 more people to trade with. 87 people – who I know are out there somewhere – who will buy one of the remaining 87 funky, designer, limited edition T-shirts.

So are you one of those 87 people?

If so, all you need to do is buy your T-shirt online through Springleap.com, using the code onematchstick (so that we can track it) and email me your order number.

Here is how to trade with me by buying your T-shirt(s) and make them count towards my onematchstick trade:

1. If you haven't registered yet on www.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. You can even choose a Gift Voucher (and use it in a few weeks when there are new designs to choose from, if you cant find a design you like now.)
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! This is how Springleap tracks that it is a trade with me, and it costs you nothing.

6. Choose your delivery options, then click the "confirm and pay" button.

7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by credit card.

8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finalised trading with me, and your T-shirt will be delivered to your door by courier in about 3 days.

9. Email me your order number so I can add it to my list of trades, and thank you.

And there are other ways you can get involved too to help me.

HOW ELSE YOU CAN HELP?

1. Change your profile picture on Facebook to a matchstick on Monday, and let your friends know why, and direct them to onematchstick.co.za. There are some pictures to use here.

2. Be one of the 87 people I still need to meet even if you don't want a T-shirt. To still support me, consider one of these 3-way trades where you get a product or service (ranging from diamonds to pilates classes) instead of a T-shirt.

3. If you are gay and single, attend the Exclusive Gay Singles Party for enter the onematchstick Gay Bachelor. Join the event on Facebook here.

4. Join the onematchstick page on facebook.

It's time now that I finish this T-shirt trade. And I will. I just need to keep finding ways to reach those last 87 people. Can you help me please?

THANK YOU so much!
Telana

Aka 'matchstick girl
0837302979
@Telana
onematchstick@gmail.com

Applications for the onematchstick Gay Bachelor

2011-04-19T16:55:00.000+02:00

Ok, so a while ago we came up with the fab idea of running "The Bachelor, onematchstick Edition" to help me trade my last T-shirts. That grew into the onematchstick Bachelor, Ian and the Bachelorette, Laura which was held at an Exclusive Cocktail Party for Singles in March!

After some nudges from others, I've tweaked the idea even further, and now I am looking for another Bachelor!

So… applications are now open to find the onematchstick Gay Bachelor.

If you meet these criteria, send in your application:

You are single, male, gay and in Johannesburg
You are looking for love
You are comfortable being talked about online and being in a youtube video or two
You are available to, and will attend the Exclusive Gay Singles Party on Saturday 28th May at the Meat Co, Melrose Arch
You are willing to mingle with the other guests, and choose out of those who participate your top 5 guys to go on dates with
You are willing to go on those dates, and then choose a winner to take on a winning date of your choice, at your cost

Applications close by midday ~~Monday 16 May~~ Monday 23 May 2011 (we extended the deadline).

Once we have our Gay Bachelor, I'll be sharing information about him with the world. Then the guys that would like a date with the onematchstick Gay Bachelor, will be attending the Exclusive Gay Singles Party on Saturday 28th May at The Meat Co in Melrose Arch.

We'll be throwing the Singles Party for some mingling to take place, helped by some fun FastDate sessions too, and then the Gay Bachelor will choose who - out of all those who bought one of my T-shirts to come meet him at the party - will then get to go on a date with him.

So: who wants to apply to be the onematchstick Gay Bachelor? You never know, besides having some fun and making some new friends, you just might find love...

To apply:
Tell Serina of FastDate and I, in just a few paragraphs, why you should be chosen as the onematchstick Gay Bachelor, and send your applications with a photo to onematchstick@gmail.com or facebook me.

Remember, applications close at midday on ~~Monday 16 May~~ Monday 23 May! Good luck!

DREAM!

2011-04-17T22:40:00.000+02:00

On Saturday I dressed all in white. I embraced the rain and cold with my friends Nuren and Sonja, and we headed to the Orlando Towers in Soweto.

We walked into the dilapidated Turbine Hall and were delighted with the graffiti on the walls, the plants growing where they shouldn't, and the sound of the rain dripping in puddles on the floor as we followed the arrows to met up with Stacey and all the other dreamers.

We all met to be part of a historic portrait taken by New York photographer Justin Tellian, as part of the DREAMERS project. As we celebrated our power to dream, so Justin captured that energy in a series of photographs.

He and his team have been travelling around the world in a spirit of collaboration, capturing portraits of dreamers and spreading the message of: DREAM!

And dream we did!

Onematchstick is a dream I have of helping entrepreneurs to get their dreams of their businesses off the ground. It’s part of my bigger dream for us all, that we can find ways to express our inner potentials through our own personal creations, in whatever expression we choose – from entrepreneurs creating their businesses, to writers writing their words, to parents raising healthy and happy children, to managers uniting teams to reach targets, to singers elevating their voices, to runners breaking their personal best records, to artists sharing their art, to us all expressing our love to those dear to us.

Justin has been capturing dreamers in photos in Brooklyn, Mexico-City, Berlin, Black Rock City and Tokyo. Johannesburg was the last international city before he takes one last portrait in New York, and then shares the photos with the world in October this year.

Jose and Justin share with Sonja and I their message behind the DREAMERS Project, and it's a message worth sharing:

(view youtube video here)

Dreamers unite! Fly the flag and tell us, what is your dream?

the onematchstick Story Scarf

2011-04-17T22:29:00.000+02:00

Stacey Rozen is an inspiring woman. She has a vision of connecting girls in Africa through using story telling through scarves.

She started a not-for-profit organization with a founding group of teen orphan girls in Soweto, called Story Scarves. The group of girls would spend Saturdays together with Stacey, sharing stories, being mentored and encouraged to express themselves creatively through making scarves and decorating them. These scarves then got distributed to other girls, each one with the story of the maker of the scarf. The girls who received the scarves then returned letters and photos of themselves. Through this creative expression and exchange, goodwill is being spread all over Africa and barriers are being broken.

Stacey got in touch as she has made an onematchstick story scarf, and has offered it for a three-way trade, for one of my springleap T-shirts.

Whoever takes up this offer, will be asked to pass on the scarf to a young girl, sharing the story of Stacey and Story Scarves, and of onematchstick, so that the inspiration and goodwill can be passed on.

The story depicted in this scarf is about how one matchstick, with some love, can turn into many matchsticks!

So, if you'd like to help pass on this beautiful story scarf, then it will cost you just R219.

You'll get the onematchstick story scarf and the joy of passing this onto a young girl.
Stacey will get a Springleap T-shirt.
I'’ll have traded on one more of my T-shirts.

So CALL ME: 0837302979 and let's trade and spread some creative goodwill!

Buy two and get another two free!

2011-04-17T21:29:00.000+02:00

During some matchstick madness Sonja Kruse aka the UBUNTU Girl, came up with the idea of running the onematchstick Jokes Competition.

We had quite a few entries, and some of them were:

While lying together in the box, the one matchstick said to another " ... hey skinny, I hold a flame for you..." by Raphael Wyngaardt

What did the onematchstick say to the other?
You also sticking around? by Martijn Vreugde

What did the Onematchstick say to his matchstick boss? "What are you going to do, FIRE ME?!!!! by James Strickland Jr

The winner, chosen by Alon who sponsored the prize of a Springleap T-shirt was Jolandie Rust’s joke:

What did the matchstick boy sing to the matchstick girl on Valentines? .... Come on baby light my fire!

Jolandie has now donated her Springleap T-shirt that she won, and has also given one of her sponsored T-shirts from Gravel Clothing and a cap with her slogan "Dream with your heart" on it. She's going to autograph both the cap and Gravel T-shirt and I bet they will become collectors items when she finishes her adventure and becomes the first woman to cycle around Africa solo!

With donating theses T-shirts and the cap, she has suggested that they go to whoever would like them, for the cost of two of my Springleap T-shirts, as a way to help me finish my tenth trade.

So what this means is: if you would like this offer, then

- when you purchase two of my springleap T-shirts,

- you will get another Springleap T-shirt voucher to choose any T-shirt of your choice,

- plus the autographed Gravel T-shirt (ladies, size Large) and a special white cap!

That's four T-shirts and a cap for just R402!

So, if you keen, get in touch and let's trade!

My home run

2011-04-11T22:34:00.000+02:00

I'm on the last stretch- the home run! I have only 92 Springleap T-shirts (at the time of writing) left to trade, and then I'll have finished my tenth trade.

I've done a few things over the last year and a bit to help trade the T-shirts on, including throwing Africa's first SWARM Party, doing three-ways, handing out matchsticks with my blog written on them in the traffic, giving talks to companies, holding joke competitions, and even begging on my knees! (Yes, someone said they would trade if I begged- so I did. #IWillGetToMyOffice!)

Most recently I tried my hand at match-making and we had the onematchstick Bachelor and Bachelorette at an exclusive cocktail party for singles.

Well, the last idea got some attention, and so after receiving a few nudges and chatting to quite a few people, and with some planning done and some more still to do, for my "home run" to help trade the last 93 T-shirts I'll be hosting, together with Serena of Fastdate, another exclusive cocktail party. And at this cocktail party we'll be hosting the onematchstick Gay Bachelor!

I'm finalizing the details, and will be announcing it all as soon as possible!

For now though, I'm continuing with the three-ways, and have a reverse three-way offer to put out there- reverse in that it's a request and I need to find someone with the item requested:

My friend Grant wants to get to London for a holiday, so has suggested that if someone has a flight, or lots of voyager miles, and would like to be "paid" in return with Springleap T-shirts for the flight, he's willing to do the trade through me to help move some more of my T-shirts.

So if you just happen to have a return flight to London lying around your house, and don't have any T-shirts and would like about… say… 35 new T-shirts, then give me a call!

Seriously.

If you have tons of voyager miles and would be willing to swop them for a lot of T-shirts (and you can get vouchers for T-shirts too to give as gifts to friends and family) then get in touch and let's see if we can give you a new wardrobe and put a smile on Grants face. And I'll then have a reverse-three-way to add to my story!

Super fly!

Mini photo shoot 3-way trade

2011-03-10T18:24:00.000+02:00

Another awesome 3-way Trade offer on International Awesomeness Day! (yes, there is such a day and it is today- so BE AWESOME!)

Hello Telana,

We have something to trade!

I would like to trade a QUICK SHOOT/MINI SESSION worth R500.

Our quick shoot/mini-session consists of the following:
*Outdoors shoot or Studio shoot
*30 minutes
*All high resolution photo’s taken on a CD

Love,
Celeste & Carina - cilla bloom photography

Celeste and Carina are offering this quick mini photoshoot session for just two of my Springleap Tshirts! That means it'll cost just R402 to get R500 worth of professional photos taken!

Check out their beautiful style on their blog here, and then CALL ME on 0837302979 if you would like to have some photos taken professionally!

You'll get R500/half an hours worth of professional photos on a CD for R402
Celeste and Carina will get Two springleap Tshirts
And I'll get closer to finishing my tenth trade!

Exclusive Cocktail Party for Singles - onematchstick style!

2011-03-08T22:29:00.000+02:00

Join us for cocktails and flirty fun at the stylish new FTV Cedar Square with its impressively chic decor and delectable menu!

--Invite your single friends via facebook here!--

Here's a fantastic opportunity to socialise and meet new trend setting, upcoming professionals and fashionistas!

It's the potential to meet a partner, or just make some new friends! You can network, have a laugh and increase your social circle.

At this event will be The onematchstick Bachelor Ian and Bachelorette Laura, and you can enjoy their charms and charming them, and perhaps even win dates with them and the prizes that are up for grabs!

Guaranteed to have a fun evening and meet new people that could lead to new network contacts, new friends or even finding your soul mate ;)

Plus by attending you are supporting Telana's onematchstick project, where you get a Springleap designer T-shirt of your choice and help her to develop start-up Entrepreneurs.

Entrance is booked and prepaid and is R219pp (for the T-shirt and delivery, profits towards onematchstick.co.za)

RSVP by Friday 11 March 2011 to get on this exclusive guest list!

Email: onematchstick@gmail.com
Call: 083 730 2979

Thank you to our Sponsors:
* FTV Cedar Square
* Fastdate
* GirlsOnly.co.za
* Dance Junxion
* Lapa Fo, Emmarentia

Matchstick Mania Monday

2011-02-28T05:38:00.000+02:00

Did you see my friends and I this morning on the corner of Grayston and Rivonia Road in Sandton? Handing out matchsticks?

Why were we doing this?

Because I am trying to turn a matchstick into offices (read the full story and explanation here, or watch the short movie about it here). I will be using the offices for startup entrepreneurs to help them.

And right now, for my next step, I need to find 105 more people who will help me.

I am on my tenth trade which involves 375 Springleap T-shirts, and I have sold 270 already. I just need to find 105 more people to trade with. 105 people – who I know are out there somewhere – who will buy one of the remaining 105 funky, designer, limited edition T-shirts.

So are you one of those 105 people?

If so, all you need to do is buy your T-shirt online through Springleap.com, using the code onematchstick (so that we can track it) and email me your order number.

Here is how to trade with me by buying your T-shirt(s) and make them count towards my onematchstick trade:

1. If you haven't registered yet on www.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. You can even choose a Gift Voucher (and use it in a few weeks when there are new designs to choose from, if you cant find a design you like now.)
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! This is how Springleap tracks that it is a trade with me, and it costs you nothing.

6. Choose your delivery options, then click the "confirm and pay" button.

7. Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by credit card.

8. Just follow the prompts and you will have finalised trading with me, and your T-shirt will be delivered to your door by courier in about 3 days.

9. Email me your order number so I can add it to my list of trades, and thank you.

And there are other ways you can get involved too, so check out this page for more info on what buying one of my T-shirts will get you, and also the other ways to participate.

THANK YOU so much!
Telana

Aka 'matchstick girl
0837302979
@Telana
onematchstick@gmail.com

Learn to dance like this?

2011-02-27T15:27:00.000+02:00

Here's is another superb 3-way Trade for those who want to support me and don't want one of my T-shirts. Perhaps you'd like a private Argentine Tango lesson?

Erik has just made the following offer:

Hi Telana

To support your matchstick mania for one Monday, in exchange for a t-shirt I will offer a private one hour Argentine Tango lesson at my studio Tango la Plata, in Bryanston. One lesson costs R350, but will be exchanged for one t-shirt. The lesson is for either a single person or a couple. Offer limited to one lesson per person/couple, but they may buy gifts for friends.

Let me know how best to promote this.

Regards
Erik Peers

Here is Erik dancing with Natasha- so you can get a taste of this beautiful dance.

How Three Way Trades work:

An item or service is offered to me, for one or more of my T-shirts.
You then decide you want that item or service (in this case the Tango lesson),
and then pay for the relevant number of T-shirts (in this case one Tshirt, which is R219)
which are sent to the person who offered the item or service (in this case, to Erik)
The person (Erik) then delivers the item or service to you.
Simple!

So, if you would like a private lesson for yourself, or for you and your dance partner, it will cost you just R219 (the cost of one of my Springleap T-shirts)!

All you need to do is CALL ME 0837302979 or pop me an email onematchstick@gmail.com so we can finalise this 3-way trade!

You'll get a private Argentine Tango lesson from Erik in Bryanston, Johannesburg
Erik will get a Springleap T-shirt
I'll be one T-shirt closer to my offices

Sweeet!

(PS- for the list of all the 3-way trades currently on offer, check out this page)

Africa's first MP3 experiment

2011-02-26T19:08:00.000+02:00

After I took part in Africa's first No Pants train ride in January, I found out about Charlie Todd of improveverywhere.

He started the No Pants ride 10 years ago, and was heading to South Africa to give a talk at the Design Indaba in Cape Town. And the most exciting part – he was going to run one of his MP3 Experiments! I just had to take part!

So I booked my flight and last weekend flew to Cape Town to surprise George, and then take part in the MP3 experiment, and got to meet Charlie.

All I knew before taking part in the MP3 Experiment was that:

I had to be in a park in Camps Bay on Sunday 20 February in the afternoon,
with a specific MP3 downloaded onto my iPod,
my watch synchronised,
wearing a red, yellow, green or blue T-shirt (of course I wore the official onematchstick red T!),
with a deflated balloon,
ready to hit play on my iPod and do whatever Steve, the voice I would hear, told me to do!

At 15h00 I hit play and for 45 minutes had the most fun I have ever had with over 400 strangers!

We had thumb wars, hugged trees, high-fived passerby's, danced like it was 2020, took power naps, played human twister, hugged, played tag, had moments of freezing then jumping, square-danced, made a human dartboard based on our coloured T-shirts, had an Epic Battle using our balloons as weapons, and ended with a meditation!

Here's my video as a participant, with a bit with Charlie explaining what it's all about.

(Youtube video here)
And for the official video, go here, and spectator photos go here.

Now I wish I had my own jet plane because I heard that Charlie is organising a Freeze today in Cape Town, and I would so love to go and take part!

Seeing as though I don't have a jet plane, I guess I'll just have to envy Cape Townians who can take part, and start planning a Freeze for us here in Joburg (hey Charlie- you keen?).

So if you are keen to know about this kind of wackiness, then make sure you follow me @telana or on Facebook to find out about the next one.

It's super fly fun!

2437 kilometers later...

2011-02-26T17:12:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I flew down to Cape Town to surprise George Scola.

He had been walking the distance of 2300 km's from Beit Bridge, in the far north of South Africa, to Cape Point, in the far south over the last 6 months to raise awareness for the Stroke Survivors Foundation.

Rod the Frog, Jonathan, Marli and I joined him on the N1 highway and walked 14 km with him, through Cape Town. I take my hat off to George because he averaged 18 km every day for 6 months, and I was exhausted and starving after just 14 kms. (Thank goodness George introduced me after our walk to Jack at Cape Town's best pizza spot: Ristorante Posticino).

George finished this walk, a massive 2437km today and is celebrating at a banquet tonight. Jolandi, Mongezi and I share our wishes for him here.

(view youtube video here)
Rod joined George and Ray Chaplin (his support vehicle driver) for quite a bit of his walk- so you can read about his adventures with George on his latest blog post here.

The Stroke Survivors Foundation is playing a vital part in helping survivors with their recovery, adjusting to life and staying informed, motivated and positive. They are creating a national network that provides the much needed post-discharge rehabilitation and support for stroke survivors, their families and caregivers.

If you would like to support George on this mission, then please get in touch!

Matchstick Mania for one Monday

2011-02-24T14:31:00.000+02:00

I have about 2000 matchstick ready.

They are for my next idea to find the now 117 people I need to still meet, who will trade with me by buying one of my Springleap T-shirts. This idea happens on Monday 28 February.

My fab friends Jolandie and Genevieve will be joining me – together with whoever else wants to join in (contact me if you keen!) – and we will be standing on the busy intersection of Grayston and Rivonia Road in Sandton, Johannesburg. We're going to be there early, and catch the rush hour traffic as people make their way to work.

Amongst the hundreds of people who will pass us, we will be handing out matchsticks, hoping to find at least a couple of dozen more people who will help me. My mom helped create the shoebox full of matchsticks stuck to my web address, and Jolandie and I have been writing hundreds of my "business cards", and I have a few more boxes to still write in time for Monday morning.

So if you pass us by, give us a wave, and help spread some matchstick love!

HOW ELSE YOU CAN HELP ON MONDAY

1. Change your profile picture on Facebook to a matchstick on Monday, and let your friends know why, and direct them to onematchstick.co.za. There are some pictures to use here.

2. Invite friends to this event on Facebook here.

3. If you live in Sandton, Johanneburg and pass us by on Monday, give us a wave, and cheers us on! Also take a photo and upload it to twitter and facebook.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP ME

4. Be one of the 117 people I still need to meet and buy one of my T-shirts (you buy them online at springleap.com and just use the coupon code onematchstick (one word, lower case) so that we can track it), and email me your order number to onematchstick@gmail.com.

5. If you don't want a T-shirt, but want to support me, consider one of these 3-way trades where you get a product or service (ranging from diamonds to pilates classes.

6. If you are single, enter the onematchstick Bachelor (for the single girls) or Bachelorette (for the single guys). Join the groups on Facebook too:

The onematchstick Bachelor - Ian

The onematchstick Bachelorette - Laura

7. Enter the onematchstick Joke Competition and you could win a Springleap Tshirt.

8. Join the onematchstick page on facebook.

It's time now that I finish this T-shirt trade. And I will. I just need to keep finding ways to reach those last 117 people. Can you help me?

Are you one of them?

Joke Competition

2011-02-22T23:05:00.000+02:00

I am still looking for people who will trade with me for one of my T-shirts, and I have just 119 more people to find!

Sonja aka the Ubuntu Girl had started a onematchstick joke Competition and is looking for the best joke about matchsticks by the end of the time- that's by Friday 18 March!

She is offering the winning joke a Springleap T-shirt of your choice!

So tell us your joke! To get you going, here is one Sonja came up with:

What did onematchstick say to the other matchsticks?

Buy a Springleap T-shirt!

So what joke can you come up with? Post it as a comment on this blog, or onto the onematchstick facebook page and enter to win a Springleap T-shirt!

May the funniest joke win!

Prizes to win!

2011-02-16T14:58:00.000+02:00

There are fabulous prizes that have been sponsored for The onematchstick Bachelor and Bachelorette virtual reality endeavours!

The lucky lady who the Bachelor, Ian, chooses for the winning date, will get a lovely nine bead necklace worth R900, which can be made up in red or blue depending on the winner’s choice and has a snake braid necklace with a clipped fastener, sponsored by Louise van der Bijl of GirlsOnly.co.za .

GirlsOnly are also throwing in a Spa Bath Soak to help the winning lady get ready for her date, together with some crystal Stars to make her shine!

The Bachelorette Laura, with her lucky guy, will have their date at Lapa Fo in Emmarentia, and Percy is sponsoring their pizza- arguably the best pizza in Joburg!

And then both couples –that's The onematchstick Bachelor Ian and his date, and The onematchstick Bachelorette and her date, will also win a tango dancing lesson with Richard Carlsson of the Dance Junxion!

They will get to embrace the art of Argentine Tango and step into a world of dancing drama, passion and excitement!

(view video of Richard tangoing here)

I would like to thank all those who have sponsored prizes, to help make The Bachelorette and Bachelor even more exciting! You all rock!

To enter The onematchstick Bacherolette and meet Laura, click here.

To enter The onematchstick Bachelor and meet Ian, click here.

Entries close ~~4 March 2011~~ - extended to 11 March 2011!

I need help. Please help?

2011-02-10T09:52:00.000+02:00

So I need some help. Really. I do.

And no, not necessarily that kind of help- I might be a bit off the wall, but I'm ok... I think... ;)

What I reallllly need help with is to find the 134 people that I haven't met yet who I know will trade with me by buying one of my Springleap T-shirts, or doing one of these 3-way trades with me.

I know that there are 134 more people out there in the world that will trade with me gladly, but I just haven't met them yet. I know this. Absolutely!

So this is where you come in- please help me to reach those 134 people? Pretty, pretty pleeeeez?
I have two ideas:

1) If you have already traded with me and now own a funky Springleap T-shirt, wear it on Fridays until I finish trading the 134 T-shirts (I'm aiming to finish soon, so it will just be for a few Fridays!). You're bound to get comments about the T-shirt, and then you can mention onematchstick.co.za and how they can trade with me to get their very own Springleap T and help me get to offices.

2) Change your profile picture on Facebook and Twitter to one of a matchstick (a few samples to use are below, and alot more here on this page) and let your friends know why. (I got this idea from the Ubuntu-Girl who did just this on Facebook, and got her friends to guess why- it was fun too!)

So will you please help me find those 134 people?

Please?

THANK YOU!
Telana
aka 'matchstick girl!

Entry requirements are now easier!

2011-02-08T09:13:00.000+02:00

I'm a feedback junkie!

Yeah really! I'm serious!

I mention this when we get to the section on feedback during my Communication Excellence course that I present, and the participants usually laugh!

However it's true! I love feedback! And with my training as a coach, I've learnt to get the most out of any form of feedback, even what is perceived as harsh criticism.

So after launching the onematchstick Bachelor and Bachelorette and hearing some of the feedback, we've decided to make it easier for people to participate.

So: Now to enter Phase One of these virtual-reality-projects, and get to attend the Cocktail party of the year at the fab FTV Cedar Square, all you need to do is go and buy one of my Springleap T-shirts (using the coupon code onematchstick) and send in a sentence of two about yourself, with a photo. You can even use a pseudonym if you are that shy ;) It's that short, simple and easy!

So the process has been updated, and you can read all about it here:

Single ladies, check out The onematchstick Bachelor – Ian here, or join his facebook page here.

Single guys, check out The onematchstick Bachelorette – Laura here, or join her facebook page here.

Any questions, or feedback (because now you know I love feedback) let me know!

555Tshirts

2011-01-25T22:11:00.000+02:00

I'm on a mission of note to finish my tenth trade by the end of February, and the ideas have been flying in of how to reach the 158 people I still need to meet to trade with, for my last 158 Springleap T-shirts!

You'll have noticed the "Stash or stack the Castles" idea, and the onematchstick Bachelor and Bachelorette reality-internet-projects that are underway, and today onematchstick took part in 555Tshirts. I've got a few more ideas up my (t-shirt) sleeve, and those you'll see taking shape over the next few weeks.

Today though is about Jonathan Kapelus wearing a 555Tshirts' T-shirt sponsored by onematchstick. I'm experiencing such support of my dream, that it is always a privilege to be a part of someone else's dream (and I do so enjoy it too!)

555Tshirts is a "socially responsible marketing experiment". Jonathan will be wearing five hundred and fifty five sponsored T-shirts over the next 2 years, and will be giving away over R3 million to worthy causes! Each person or business that sponsors a T-shirt, gets to have what ever they want on the T-Shirt for the day, and Jonathan will also be promoting whatever the sponsor wants for the day. The sponsor also gets to nominate a charity for the day, which gets exposure too, and its share of funds raised through 555Tshirts.

I managed to nab T-shirt number 002! And so Jonathan has been wearing a T-shirt with onematchstick on it all day. He's also been handing out my matchstick business cards, and tonight is at the Silicon Cape networking event to help me find more people who will trade with me.

The Charity that I nominated is the Stroke Survivors Foundation, which my friend Ray Chaplin (Adventurer, campaigner and educator) introduced me to. Ray is the support for George Scola, one of the founders who is walking 2400 km's for his "Bring it on" campaign. George has survived a stroke, and has now walked 2000 km's of his goal to raise awareness for the Stroke Survivors Foundation.

Rod the Frog (my second trade) even joined George and Ray for a few weeks and on his trip he helped them with a few fundraising ideas and he found his soulmate, Antoinette.

If you'd like to sponsor one of Jonathan's T-shirts, then get in touch with him via his website or twitter!

The Bachelorette – onematchstick Edition

2011-01-23T23:57:00.000+02:00

If you're looking for an active, intelligent and lovely date who enjoys the outdoors - then you're going to want to meet Laura Tyrer, The onematchstick Bachelorette.

Laura has a background in journalism and editing in the South African mining industry, and now works for the WWF helping to spread information about climate change. She makes people dress up in panda suits at rock concerts to create awareness, and then blogs at global events like the recently held UNFCCC negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, where she tracked the South African delegation on behalf of tcktcktck's Adopt-a-Negotiator project.

When Laura's not looking for ways to make a positive difference to people's lives and the world we share, you will find her hiking or rock climbing in the mountains, or maybe even splashing around in mountain pools. While in the city she salsas to the rhythm of Latin American music or centres herself in a yoga pose.

Laura is fond of good literature and stimulating conversation and can just as easily change gears and unwind and be mischievous!

In this video I chat to Laura so you can get to know The onematchstick Bachelorette a bit more.

If you would like to be a part of The onematchstick Bachelorette, and get a chance to meet Laura in person and possibly win the final Date with her, then here's what you need to know:

How The Bachelorette – onematchstick Edition is going to work:

You need to sign up to meet The Bachelorette, Laura, by buying online, for yourself, one of my Springleap T-shirts (with beers) (R183 plus R36 for delivery = R219) and sending in a photo and a sentence or two about yourself, (or for the more daring, a 30 to 45 second movie clip introducing yourself). (Note: you'll need the T-shirt for step 3). Entries close ~~Friday 4 March 2011~~ - extended to Friday 11 March 2011.
You can interact with Laura via her Facebook Fanpage, and ask her questions to get to know her.
Then you'll attend a cocktail party on Saturday 12 March 2011 at the fab FTV Cedar Square (dress code is Springleap T-shirts), to meet Laura in person, and make your impression.
At the cocktail party, Laura will be choosing 10 lucky entrants to go on dates with, (and we might make a little movie clip about you).
At this party you will also get to mingle with all the eligible ladies who enter into The Bachelor ;)
If you're one of the lucky top 10, you will have to think up a date to take Laura out for - your choice: anything from a coffee, to a dinner or the theatre! Whatever you choose, to allow you and Laura to get to know each other some more.
The ten dates will take place over the 2 weeks after the cocktail party.
The ten finalists will then attend another cocktail party after all the dates, where Laura, The Bachelorette, will then announce her choice, and invite the winning entrant for the Winning Date to be spoilt with her at Lapa Fo, Joburg's best Pizza restaurant, in Emmarentia. And there are other prizes to be won!
And who knows, maybe you'll make a new friend or find the love of your life! Anything is possible!

How to sign up:

Buy your Springleap Tshirt. Here's how:

If you haven't registered yet on Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.
When you are logged in, choose the T-shirt you want. You can choose ANY design. (If you cant find a T-shirt you like, then choose a Gift Voucher that you can use later when new designs become available.)
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".
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.
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 to track your purchase as a trade with me!
Click the confirm and pay button.
Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by Credit Card.
Just follow the prompts and you will have finished your order, and your T-shirt will be delivered in a few days.
Email me your Springleap Order number on onematchstick@gmail.com to finalised this part of your entry, and make sure your name is on the guest list for the cocktail party.

Something about yourself:

The mimimum to enter is to atleast send in a sentence or two about yourself, and a photo. For those more daring, you can send in a video clip instead. Get a friend to help by holding your phone, or set up your camera to make a short, 30 to 45 second movie clip to introduce yourself to Laura, The Bachelorette. It can be as simple as you want, or as creative as you can imagine. We're not looking for professionalism in the cinematography, but just a few words so that Laura can have a sense of who you are.

And yes, your few lines about yourself or your video will be made public on the internet! This is a reality–internet–project after all ;). Pseudonyms allowed. So you might have to get out your comfort zone to take part- but it'll be well worth it!

The few lines or the video can be uploaded directly to The Bachelorette's Fan page on Facebook, or to YouTube and the link can be added to the Fan page on Facebook or emailed to me to add.

If you have any questions, then get in touch!

So, what are you waiting for? Enter now to be part of The onematchstick Bachelorette!

The fine print aka T & C's:
By entering you give onematchstick permission to blog about you, video you at the Bachelorette related events, and have full usage rights of all the material.
And if something out of our control comes up, we reserve the right to change any of the dates or the process of this project.

The Bachelor – onematchstick Edition

2011-01-23T23:36:00.000+02:00

"Published socialite, inveterate gentleman, successful young professional who enjoys the finer things in life with a stylish demeanour that appears to be a dying art in our time."

That's how our Bachelor, Ian van der Colf, described himself in his application to be The onematchstick Bachelor.

Ian is a hopeless romantic who enjoys fine dining and socialising. He knows lots of people, enjoys meeting new people, and when time permits has fun exploring new places as he travels.

Ian is known to write about his escapades and adventures, and the latest hot cocktail bars and restaurants around our country- and especially in Johannesburg - keeping his readers colourfully entertained. You can read more and see his latest tumble with a sand dune on his blog, entitled "recesses of a disturbed mind".

Ian's love for technology and people comes together in his prolific use of social media where he is known as 'samuraibunny' and professionally in his pursuit of a career that combines both financial and technological aspects to drive success in any business entity, where he is known as a hard working, analytical team player who's on top of his game, in work and play.

All in all, our Bachelor is a fun-loving guy that probably likes partying just a bit too much ;) Here's a video of him, where I ask Ian more questions so you can get to know him a bit.

If you would like to be a part of The onematchstick Bachelor, and get a chance to meet Ian in person and possibly win the final Date with him, then here's what you need to know:

How The Bachelor – onematchstick Edition is going to work:

You need to sign up to meet The Bachelor, Ian, by buying online for yourself one of my Springleap T-shirts (with beers) (R183 plus R36 for delivery = R219) and sending in a photo and a sentence or two about yourself, (or for the more daring, a 30 to 45 second movie clip introducing yourself). (Note: you'll need the T-shirt for step 3). Entries close ~~Friday 4 March 2011~~ - extended to Friday 11 March 2011.
You can interact with Ian via his Facebook fanpage, and ask him questions to get to know him.
Then you'll attend a cocktail party on 15 March 2011 at the fab FTV Cedar Square Johannesburg, (dress code is Springleap T-shirts), to meet Ian in person, and make your impression.
At the cocktail party, Ian will be choosing 10 lucky entrants to go on dates with (and we might make a little movie clip about you).
At this party you will also get to mingle with all the eligible guys who enter into The Bachelorette ;)
If you're one of the lucky ten chosen by Ian, you will have to think up a date to take Ian out for - your choice: anything from a coffee, to a dinner or the theatre! Whatever you choose, to allow you and Ian to get to know each other some more.
The ten dates will take place over the 2 weeks after the cocktail party.
The ten finalists will then attend another cocktail party after all the dates, where Ian will then announce his choice, and invite the winning entrant for the Winning Date to be spoilt by him at his favourite restaurant. And there are other prizes to be won, including a necklace!
And who knows, maybe you’ll make a new friend or find the love of your life! Anything is possible!

How to sign up:

Buy your Springleap T-shirt. Here's how:

If you haven't registered yet on Springleap.com, now's the time to do so.
When you are logged in, choose the T-shirt you want. You can choose ANY design. (If you cant find a T-shirt you like, then choose a Gift Voucher that you can use later when new designs become available).
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".
When you've finished adding your T-shirt to your shopping cart, click on the shopping cart icon on the top right hand of the screen.
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 to track your purchase as a trade with me!
Click the confirm and pay button.
Check your details, and then you can choose to pay by EFT or by Credit Card.
Just follow the prompts and you will have finished your order, and your T-shirt will be delivered in a few days.
Email me your Springleap order number to onematchstick@gmail.com to finalised this part of your entry, and make sure your name is on the guest list for the cocktail party.

Something about yourself:

The minimum to enter is to atleast send in a sentence or two about yourself, and a photo. For those more daring, you can send in a video clip instead. Get a friend to help by holding your phone, or set up your camera to make a short, 30 to 45 second movie clip to introduce yourself to Ian, The Bachelor. It can be as simple as you want, or as creative as you can imagine. We're not looking for professionalism in the cinematography, but just a few words so that Ian can have a sense of who you are.

And yes, your few lines about yourself or your video will be made public on the internet! This is a reality–internet–project after all. ;) Pseudonyms allowed. So you might have to get out your comfort zone to take part- but it'll be well worth it!

The few lines or your video can be uploaded directly to The Bachelor's Fan page on Facebook, or to YouTube and the link can be added to the Fan page on Facebook or emailed to me to add.

If you have any questions, then get in touch!

So, what are you waiting for? Enter now to be part of The onematchstick Bachelor!

The fine print aka T & C's:
By entering you give onematchstick permission to blog about you, video you at the Bachelor related events, and have full usage rights of all the material.
And if something out of our control comes up, we reserve the right to change any of the dates or the process of this project.

Stash or Stack the Castles?

2011-01-21T13:04:00.000+02:00

I have a whole lot of cases of Castle Lagers sitting in my cupboard. Yes, lots of beers. Which if you know me well, is rather unusual… or not?!

And with those beers are all my lovely dresses that I haven't been able to wear this summer so far, because on the 27 August last year, I pledged to only wear Springleap T-shirts until I trade all 375 of them on with 375 people.

So I've worn T-shirts everywhere, from boardroom meetings to tango dancing, from client sessions to book launches, from rock climbing to networking events. Soon I'll even be wearing a T-shirt to a formal wedding (unless I finish trading all the T-shirts before next Saturday)!

Back to the beers though- You may recall my friend Charl offered to sponsor two beers with each T-shirt to help me trade on the T-shirts, which lead to the SWARM Party idea.

Well, as you can see I still have lots of Castles left over to go with the T-shirts I still have to trade. I have also set the self-imposed deadline of finishing trading all these T-shirts by the end of February 2011, and as it turns out, even the code to track my trades through Springleap expires on that date!

The count-down has begun, and I'll be counting down (rather than up!) the number of T-shirts left to go, to reach the total of 375.

Now that you know the admin and background details, and that your deadline to trade with me is the end of February 2011, you better keep in touch and take note. I've got a few exciting things coming up, including "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" – onematchstick Editions (news of that later!).

I've also come up with a fun idea with the 2 beers per T-shirt and it's going to go like this:

If you trade with me for one of my T-shirts, you get two Castle Beers for free with each T-shirt (Thanks to Charl of SAB!). Now you can decide to either keep the beers, or to donate them on to the next T-shirt, thereby increasing the number of beers with the next T-shirt and making the incentive greater for the next trader. That next person can decided to either keep all the beers or some of the beers (i.e. to stash them), or donate them on (i.e. to stack them), and so it goes.

Since coming up with this idea, I had 161 T-shirts left to trade. Jonty traded with me for T-shirt 161, and he donated his 2 beers on. Dion traded with me for T-shirt 160, and decided to not keep the 4 beers, but donate them on too. So T-shirt 159 had 6 beers with it, and one of Adin's 3-way trade offers was taken up by Jelena resulting in Adin taking T-shirt 159. He decided to donate on this 6 beers as well.

We are now on T-shirt number 158 with 8 beers for free, and the next person who trades with me will have to decide if they want to stash all 8 beers (or just a few) or if they will stack on the beers to T-shirt 157.

So- who is going to be trading with me for T-shirt number 158 and get 8 Castle Lagers?

To make it more exciting, I will be allocating the beers as per who stashed or stacked them, to the relevant T-shirt number by using the consecutive Springleap order numbers. So you might think that you will be getting T-shirt 158 with me, but will only know if you are the next trader or if someone else beat you to it, by sending me your Springleap Order number, so I can work out who is next in line.

Summary:

You can find the details of how to trade with me on this page.
The number of beers allocated per T-shirt will be determined by the Springleap Order numbers, and will be confirmed with you as soon as I receive your Springleap Order number.
You get to decide if you want to stash or stack the beers!

Who's it going to be? Who's going to be T-shirt Trader number 158 and get the allocated 8 beers that have been stacked onto that T-shirt? And what are you going to do with the beers: stash or stack them?

If you don’t want one of my Springleap T-shirts…

2011-01-17T21:59:00.000+02:00

... and you do still want to be a part of one matchstick and support me….

then maybe you'd like one of these items or services instead:

The onematchstick Story Scarf with lots of goodwill for R219 (1 T-shirt)
Get 4 Tshirts and a cap signed by Solo Adventurer Jolandie Rust for R402 (2 T-shirts)
Mini-Photoshoot for R402 (2 T-shirts)
20 person henna tatoo party with photographs for R1515 (that's R75 per person) (8 T-shirts) - JOIN THE HENNA PARTY AND BE ONE OF THE 20 PEOPLE: see the Facebook event here for details.
One hour inspirational talk by international speaker Sonja Kruse, otherwise known as the Ubuntu Girl for R402 (2 T-shirts)
Social Media consulting by Adin van Ryneveld, the No Money Guy R219 per hour(1 T-shirt per hour)
Three hours of Recruitment Consulting Services for R219 (1 T-shirt)
A guided hike up Table Mountain for four for R768 (that's R192 per person) (4 T-shirts)
~~A three hour Photo Shoot in Johannesburg~~ ~~for R1515 (8 T-shirts)~~
~~A copy of Rembrandt's self portrait- oil painting – R402 (2 T-shirts)~~
~~Baobab balls for decoration –for just R402 (2 T-shirts) (valued at R800!)~~
A Hypnosis session to stop smoking –for only R585 (3 T-shirts)
A one hour Hypnosis session for weight loss, breaking habits, overcoming phobias, improving performance in personal and business life –for only R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
A diamond - 0.297 Carat with certificate valued at R1200, for only R951.00 (5 T-shirts)
The writing services of a Reporter and Freelance Writer, Abed for R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
Artwork - Dancing Girl OR Hula limited edition prints by artist Tuesday Houston valued at R900 each for only R402 (2 t-shirts) each, or both for only R585 (3 T-shirts)
One Payroll Workshop in audio and workbook format valued at R399.99, for only R219.00 (1 T-shirt)
A years website hosting plus the development of a wordpress website if you need it, for just R1327.00 – that's R110. 50 per month for 12 months for a website! (7 T-shirts)
4 Private Pilates Classes with David in Fourways, Johannesburg valued at R720 – for only R585 (3 T-shirts)
~~Private Argentine Tango lesson with Erik Peers, for just R219 (1 T-shirt)~~

These are items or services that fab people have offered me for which they are willing to be "paid' in Springleap T-shirts. All we need is you to put up the cash for the item or service, and then we have a 3-way Trade!

How Three Way Trades work:

An item or service is offered to me, for one or more of my T-shirts.

You then decide you want that item or service,

and then pay for the relevant number of T-shirts

which are sent to the person who offered the item or service.

The person then delivers the item or service to you.

Simple!

All you need to do is CALL me on 083 730 2979 if you want one of the above items and then you will be helping me get to my offices, to help start up entrepreneurs.

And there are beers involved too – but that's coming up in the next post.

Applications for the onematchstick Bachelor & Bachelorette

2011-01-14T15:00:00.000+02:00

Ok, so a while ago we came up with the fab idea of running "The Bachelor, onematchstick Edition" to help me trade my T-shirts. That Bachelor has since found romance over the holidays, before we got to get it all going.

I've tweeked the idea a bit more and now I am looking for another Bachelor. And it seems there is interest in there also being a Bachelorette! So applications are now open to find the onematchstick Bachelor and Bachelorette.

If you are a single guy or gal in Johannesburg looking for love, comfortable being talked about online and being in a youtube video or two, willing to buy one of my Springleap T-shirts if you are chosen (it'll cost you R219), and want to take part, apply asap. Applications close by midnight Tuesday next week (18 January 2011).

Once we have our Bachelor and Bachelorette, they will need to trade with me for one of my T-shirts, and then I'll be sharing information about them with the world. Then the guys that would like a date with the Bachelorette, and the girls who'd like a date with the Bachelor, need to get in touch with me and trade with me for one of my T-shirts, plus make a 30 second video of themselves, to get to meet the Bachelor or Bachelorette.

We'll be throwing a cocktail party for some mingling to take place (dresscode will be Springleap T-shirts, of course), and then the Bachelor and Bachelorette will then choose who - out of all those who bought T-shirts to come meet them at the cocktail party - will then get to go on the date with them. It looks like I might even have the date with dinner, champagne and candle light sponsored at Joburgs best pizza spot- (tbc asap)!

So: who wants to apply to be the onematchstick Bachelor? And which lucky girl will be the onematchstick Bachelorette? You never know, besides getting a new T-shirt, having some fun and making some new friends, you just might find love….

To apply: tell me in 140 characters or less why you should be the onematchstick Bachelor or Bachelorette, and send your applications to onematchstick@gmail.com or tweet me at @telana or facebook me. Remember, applications close at midnight on Tuesday 18 January!

Tuesday's art

2011-01-14T14:12:00.000+02:00

One of the Three-way trades that I have going on is some artwork from Tuesday. She offered me these prints when she attended the Cape Town Première of the movie about one matchstick.

"Tuesday Houston is a contemporary South African artist making a significant impact on the local art market."

She's been arty since – well forever! She's even dabbled in welding metal into gorgeous jewellery and is very into fashion and stuff like that, especially fashion for kids.

She's offered me TWO limited edition lino prints (about A4 in size) which are very popular, and unframed go for R900 in a Gallery.

All she wants is two T-shirts in return for one of the prints, or three T-shirts for both prints, and we can even post the print to you if you are not in Jozi! What a sweet deal!

So if you want one or both of Tuesday's limited edition lino prints- CALL ME! 0837302979
It'll cost you just R402 (the cost of 2 t-shirts) for one of the prints, or R585 (the cost of 3 T-shirts) for both of the prints.

You'll get the gorgeous artwork
Tuesday will get the T-shirts
I'll be closer to finishing this T-shirt trade :)

Social Media Consulting up for offer

2011-01-13T22:38:00.000+02:00

Did you know that Facebook is the most visited site in the world, overtaking google?

Do you use it as effectively as you could? Or does it just frustrate you and you cant see what all the fuss is about? And what about that other one called twitter?

Or do you know someone who would like to improve their social media knowledge, and you don't have the inclination or time to show them?

Well… Adin van Ryneveld to the rescue!

Adin is the No Money Guy, and he has offered me an hours worth of top notch Social Media consulting in exchange for one of my Springleap T-shirts.

He's living without money for 5 years by bartering, exchanging, gifting and with the help of sponsors- he's even giving his right arm to live without money! Se-ri-ous-ly! And his main means of doing all this is through social media.

So here is a great chance to boost your own social media skills on the platforms of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, with your own personal consultant, aka Adin, to guide you around and show you all the shortcuts and nifty applications that make it all easier. He’ll also share some tips on keeping your followers engaged and broadening your reach and influence on these social networks, for either your personal or business needs.

So if you are keen, or know someone who would benefit from an hour to two or three of this consulting, then CALL ME! 0837302979. It'll cost you just R219 for one hour of expert advice! And if you want another hour, it'll just be another R219!

So, contact me and become a whiz at Social Media, especially Facebook, the worlds most visited website!

You'll get 1 hour of social media consulting for R219
Adin will get a new T-shirt to add to his sparse wardrobe
I'll have another T-shirt traded!

Matchstick Girl caught with her pants down ;)

2011-01-11T00:16:00.000+02:00

I was caught with my pants down, but still wearing my Springleap T-shirt!

Ten years ago seven guys started, as a prank, what is now the No Pants! Subway Ride in New York. This year, the annual event took place on 9 January in 50 cities in 24 countries, with an amazing 3500 people taking part in New York alone! And it took place for the first time in Africa, right here in Johannesburg.

The celebration of silliness requires that participants take off just their pants, and keep a poker face while they go about their normal routine on the train.

Ben Pienaar heard about this craziness and decided that he'd get the event going here in South Africa too, and created the event on facebook.

The transit flash mob drew my attention, drew over 100 other peoples attention, and drew the attention of the media (radio and newspaper) even before it took place. I'm a fan of flashmobs, having participated in a few already, and then organising Africa's first online flashmob. So naturally a no pants adventure got me to dig out my CK hotpants and pitch up at the Rhodesfield Gautrain Station at the designated time, along with some rockstar friends.

We boarded the train, and as we headed towards the next station we got the signal and casually de-panted. We then carried on reading our books and chatting away. Security seemed to have doubled by the time we got to the Sandton station, but they just stood by and watched as we went up the escalators and back down to the platform to head back to Rhodesfield, making comments and appearing to be enjoying the silliness with us.

Once we were back at Rhodesfield, security cornered us and informed us that we were being arrested for "public indecency". Being an active participant myself, I can vouch that nothing other than a few laughs and smiles from fellow passengers occurred, and no one was indecent at any point.

It actually was fantastic how calm, cooperative and cheerful we all were, considering we ended up being taken to the police station handcuffed to each other, in a 6-van-siren-and-flashing-lights-convoy. The charges were changed to "illegal gathering" and then dropped, and the only thing left that the humourless Security Officials could do was issue us with a fine (a big shout out to Neville from Minnie Attorneys for helping out!)

Having done nothing illegal, there were no grounds to have detained us, and we got another ride back to the Rhodesfield Station, this time in a 3-van-siren-and-flashing-lights-convoy. (Yes- they needed 6 vans to take the 36 of us to the police station, but only 3 to take all 36 of us back in cramped style- go figure!)

Similar events took place all over the world in cities including Zurich, Washington DC, Madrid, Chicago, London, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney, Milano and no arrests were made.

Africa's first No Pants event has made news all over: Rapport, The Times, MSN, Die Beeld, Sowetan, The Star, Jackaranda FM, Highveld Stero, 5FM, Talk Radio 702, ETV News, Eyewitness News, The Daily Maverick, and the web and overseas, Radio Taiwon International, . , Korea Herald. I wonder though if the event would have got as much exposure as being just another No Pants train ride among the many happening all over the globe, if we weren't arrested?

I wonder if, without the handcuffs and jail time, if we, as a country, would have been able to take a step back and have a laugh, at the silliness of a few daring people who went pants-less for an hour…?

Maybe we'll get to find out at next years event. :)

Impossible is nothing

2010-12-20T20:09:00.000+02:00

So here I am a few weeks after setting a record for Africa at the SWARM Party, and my calculations leave me with 160 Springleap T-shirts left to exchange with 160 more people, to finish my tenth trade.

My ability to create ways to reach more people who will trade with me keeps getting stretched beyond my belief. And somehow I keep expanding boundaries that are self imposed and those imposed by others and society, and now I have a few more ideas that I'm planning already.

After all, if I believe that everything is negotiable, and that anything is possible, it's just a matter of time and energy being invested into finding the possible ways and making the necessary negotiations.

Plus I keep daring myself to challenge my comfort zones, and my status quo! An example to this end is I finished my negotiations with the rockstars at Drifters Adventure Centre, and bartered for a pair of fantastic new rock climbing shoes!

Then today a friend points me in the direction of this Adidas advert with Muhammed Ali- and the words ring so true for me as a few more dots are joined. The dots being: adventure – daring – potential – belief – our own power.

(link to youtube video here)

As Adidas says:

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to
live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to
change it. Impossible is not a fact. It is an opinion. Impossible is not a
declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.

So a big thank you to Drifters Adventure Centre for not only being the specialist they are in all outdoors and adventure gear, but also living the adventurous part by engaging with me so that I could challenge what others were saying about what's possible and what's not. Their seeing value in bartering with me helped me stretch a boundary again, and step once more into believing that impossible is nothing.

Oh- and now I have no excuse to not go rock climbing more often, and so to yet again continue in another way to exercise my belief in my own personal power to climb what seems like impossible walls of rock in front of me, to reach new heights!

Yeah! :)

An Inspirational Talk on offer

2010-12-10T16:53:00.000+02:00

Want to end off the year on a positive note for your team?
Or start 2011 with a spash of inspiration and possibility thinking?

How about having the international speaker Sonja Kruse come and give one of her inspirational talks about her year long adventure as the Ubuntu Girl? All it will cost you is R 402 before the talk– the cost of two of my springleap T-shirts- plus giving a short testimonial after the talk!

Sonja has offered me a three-way trade opportunity: one of her hour long talks for just two T-shirts. Yip. She will inspire the audience, and that audience can be anywhere, but this offer excludes travel expenses.

More about Sonja:

Sonja Kruse is an extraordinary woman, blessed with a well developed sense of
adventure and enormous faith in humanity. She has recently completed a year long
solo trip around South-Africa on foot and by thumb. She set out with a 33lt
backpack, a camera and a R100 in Oct 2009 with an open heart and an open mind.

Her aim was to follow her dream; to remind South-Africans of the
good things that also happen in this country on a daily basis; to bring to light
the stories of hope and love that is omitted from our newspaper headlines; to
show the other side of the coin.

Without means of supporting herself, she depended on her fellow South-Africans for all her daily needs. She reached her goal through the kindness and hospitality of her fellow South-Africans: Staying with 150 families of 16 different cultures, spanning 114 towns across all 9 provinces.

Sonja is busy writing a book about this Epic adventure, to spread the message of goodwill. Whilst on the journey, Sonja discovered that people are hungry for such messages, as she was approached by several companies, charities, schools organizations etc who requested that she share her experiences. She discovered that by sharing the story of hope and love, others can be inspired as she was. She also realised that the nature of her adventure was so varied, that she could cover a range of topics with ease, engaging the audiences with her warm and witty approach. Invariably allowing them to relax and relate in her company.

Topics covered in talks:
Taking the first step: Following the dream
South-Africa positive
Ubuntu- myth or reality?
Creating our own reality
Focusing intention (what is it that I'm trying to achieve)
Falling in love with Einstein (possibility bar pushing)
Return on Investment (mentally, spiritually and emotionally)
The power of visualisation (seeing the end result before you
begin)
Smashing preconceived ideas.
FEAR- It's a choice
Audiences to date:
Forum at the COP16 in Mexico, Old Mutual; Department of Correctional Services; Joe Public Advertising Agency; The University of Johannesburg and numerous schools around South-Africa

So CALL ME on 0837302979 to book Sonja for your end of year function, teambuilding event, charity event, seminar or wherever there is a need for some uplifting.

You'll get an hour long talk by an International Inspirational Speaker for just R402
Sonja, the speaker, will get two Tshirts
I'll have traded some more Tshirts

The Bachelor - one matchstick Edition

2010-12-07T19:07:00.000+02:00

It started off as a joke. Well, Mark Francis suggested it to me as a joke.

But now maybe he knows me a little better to know that when someone suggests an idea to me, it often leads me to come up with some further idea and… Voila! We have the next three-way trade offer.

Well, two three-way trade offers happened almost simultaneously with Mark.

He was listening to 5FM and heard me chatting about the SWARM with Simon Dingle and Grant Nash. He then got in touch with me and offered me a laptop for a T-shirt (yes- one fully functional laptop- but before you get too excited, that trade has happened already) and then made this joke "I was gonna offer myself as a date… but I guess that is my imagination running wild".

Well my imagination only runs wild! ;)

I thought I would see how daring Mark is and take him up on the offer. And he came through- "Why the hell not? I think that will be fun and not a bad idea to increase my social networking."

So here it is: Mark has offered to take you on a date in exchange for one of my Springleap T-shirts. You get to go out with Mark in exchange for putting up the R219 to give Mark one of my T-shirts, and help me finish my tenth trade.

And this offer is nothing risqué . This one matchstick project has turned out to be all about people. I would never have got to where I am, and I wont get to my office space, if it weren't for the people I have met who have supported me, and the people I have yet to meet who will help me get to my end goal.

And so Mark is now one of those awesome people who is supporting me and helping me get to my office by offering to meet some new people in a fun way, and in the process help me trade some more T-shirts.

So ladies in Johannesburg, what an awesome opportunity to meet this fabulous guy! Really! I've chatted to him quite a bit and met him today, and besides being so generous, he has a presence and is full of smiles and manners and an interest in life.

Mark is also pretty sporty: he plays cricket, soccer, squash, volleyball, golf, and also enjoys kick boxing and snow boarding. He writes (you can see some of his deep pieces here) and is a romantic, believing in "love and all that jazz" (his words too!). He enjoys travelling, socialising and dancing, and he even has a thing for cooking! He spends his day as a Systems Manager for one of our big banks, and Batman is his favourite superhero because of his car.

So if you are in Johannesburg, and are interested in meeting Mark, give me a call, or pop me an email or inbox me on facebook, even tweet me, and we can finalise the details :)

You'll get to meet Mark for just R219
Mark will get a new Springleap T-shirt
I'll get to have one more T-shirt traded!

So come on, make Mark and my day- CALL ME 0837302979

PS- The laptop Mark offered was a fully functioning second hand one, and Sonja Kruse (aka the Ubuntu Girl) was sitting with me when the mail came through, and jumped at the opportunity! So sooooorrry for youuuuuu! ;)

Wanna Rock the Cradle with Civil Twilight in a three-way?

2010-12-02T15:03:00.000+02:00

After having such fun chatting on 5FM with Simon Dingle and Grant Nash, I got this email from Roxanne of Live inc.

Hi Telana

My sister Joni and I just heard you on 5fm, we are interested in making a trade with you...

Two Civil Twilight tix for the gig in Pretoria on the 22nd Dec 2010 for two t-shirts.

Let us know if you find this suitable as we from Live incorporated would love to support your cause.

Regards
Roxanne

Live inc are an interesting company, in that they specialise in marketing fine wines and in taking all the hassle out of booking live bands. They are all about helping people and making things happen – and I believe them because now they are trading concert tickets for T-shirts! :)

Civil Twilight originally came from Cape Town before they made it big and became international, and moved to America (South African music rocks!). Their music has been on TV, on the "Sarah Connor Chronicles", "House" and "one tree hill" and they were also in the music complication CD "NOW 55'. I'm a fan of them, especially their song "Letters From The Sky" – here's a live recording of it from Chicago:

Civil Twilight are taking a break from their North American tour, and are coming to Pretoria for a one off concert on 22 December 2010 at 19:00! Their support acts are the awesome Wrestlerish - Werner Olckers and Dance, you're on fire! The concert is taking place at Stone Cradle, Rietvlei Pretoria.

And best of all Roxanne has offered me two VIP Tickets to this gig! VIP gets you golden circle access, plus you can mingle with other VIP’s in the bar and dining areas and the massive balcony that wraps around the venue!

So- who wants these 2 VIP Tickets?

I'm quite tempted to trade with myself (if that's possible?!) and take them up myself, so be quick before I change my mind! It'll cost you just R407 to pay for the two Springleap T-shirts that Roxanne wants in exchange for the two VIP Tickets (worth R440!)

Call me on 0837302979 if you want to trade with Roxanne and I in this three-way trade!

You'll get two VIP Tickets to this gig for R407
Roxanne will get 2 T-shirts!
I'll have traded another 2 of my T-shirts

Calling all entreprenuers and designers!

2010-11-29T09:37:00.000+02:00

Entrepreneurship has always been around me.

My father and grandfather started their own engineering firm out of a cow shed, and I can remember as a young child visiting the mines and the factory and helping with counting the cents for the wages.

My mother and grandmother started a home industries shop, and I remember helping to deliver the thirty chocolate cakes and dozens of sausage rolls every day.

My work history has involved quite a few start ups, and ground-breaking projects which were the first of their kind.

So it's not much of a surprise that I find entrepreneurship so fascinating, and ended up starting my own business seven years ago. Then the one matchstick project followed, with the aim of not only helping my own business with some office space, but also with the ultimate and more important goal of helping other entrepreneurs to get their businesses off the ground, by offering some of the office space to them.

This journey has led me to meet many more amazing entrepreneurs. Two of those entrepreneurs who I traded with for 375 T-shirts are Eran Eyal and Eric Edelstein of Springleap.com, who provide a platform for up and coming designers. And my story also reached Allon Raiz, an entrepreneur who runs Africa's only unfunded for-profit business prosperator, touching many other entrepreneurs lives by helping them develop and grow their businesses (including my own).

"Entrepreneurship is not just about business. It's about the birthing of an idea, the tension between fear and hope, and the ability to live in the space between what could be and what is." – Allon Raiz

Why I mention these three entrepreneurs here is because of how our paths have crossed- again. Allon, together with Eran and Eric are now running a competition to find a T-shirt design that encapsulates entrepreneurship. How exciting!

And they are giving the winning designer R10 000 (US$1250) in cash, an inspiration pack and worldwide exposure. Wow!

So I'm calling all designers and entrepreneurs: here's an opportunity to have some fun! All you need to do is express your understanding of this phenomenon called entrepreneurship in a black and white design, and submit it by the 8th December 2010, and you could win!

For all the details and rules and dates and suggestions, check out the "I am an entrepreneur" competition page.

Have fun, and let me know which design is yours, I'd love to check it out and possibly vote for it to win!

Henna Tattoo or Bridal Mehndhi 3-way Trade

2010-11-22T23:21:00.000+02:00

A while back I was vuvuzela'd by Nikita Ramkissoon. Now I might get henna tattooed by her! Nikita is a Freelance Journalist, Photographer and Mehndhi Artist who has made me an offer for some of my T-shirts, in one of my latest 3-way trades.

She is offering a 20 person henna or Mehndhi party with photographs (which will be saved to disc and given to the host a week after the party). This means that she will do one henna temporary tattoo per person for up to 20 people at the party. This offer could also be used by a Bride for her Bridal Mehndhi (simple, both hands and feet) and then the offer can be topped up (with some cash) to include Mehndhi for the Bride's family and friends. This offer has a value of R1515, which is what it will cost for 8 of my Springleap T-shirts. If the party or Bride is more than 15km outside of Greenside, Johannesburg, travel costs may need to be added. Henna (also known as Mehndhi) is a natural product with no side effects that has been used for centuries to dye skin, hair and fingernails. I had the privilege to go to Mumbai for a friends wedding, and as part of the 4 day celebrations that I was invited to, I had my hands henna’d:

So, would you like to throw a henna party? It's ideal for a hen party! Or just some alternative entertainment for that large dinner party you're planning? Or a crazy team building activity? Or are you a Bride-to-be and want to trade with me for your Bridal Mehndhi? If you are interested in 20 henna tattoos or one Bridal hands and feet package, give me a call on 0837302979 to take this 3-way trade! You'll get the henna for R1515 Nikita will get 8 Springleap T-shirts And I'll have 8 T-shirts less to trade on!

We did and didn't do it! :)

2010-11-20T15:54:00.000+02:00

We unlocked the SWARM Badge (50 people) on Foursquare!

For the first time in Africa!

Yayyy!! Wooohooo!

But unfortunately we didn't get to the Super SWARM Badge (250 people). That we'll unlock at the next SWARM Party.

Thank you to all who got behind the one matchstick SWARM Party, especially our sponsors:

SAB - Castle Lager
Jolandie Rust
Glow Bangles
Distro Tech
Poken
Rabin Harduth of Comic Revolution
Stan of the Bluesroom

Must get some sleep now, after all that celebrating and listening to the awesome bands!

You know you want two!

2010-11-20T12:26:00.000+02:00

Tonight we are SWARMing for the first time in Africa. We're attempting to be the first to unlock the Super SWARM badge of foursquare.com. It's your last chance to get VIP Tickets and get two free Castles and a Springleap Tshirt - call me on 0837302979!

And to think this all started with a conversation at a party with my friend Charl in January this year. He offered me two Castle Lagers for each T-shirt I trade as part of my tenth trade. I needed a way to distribute the beers, and so thought of throwing a party.

Then I heard of crowd swarming, and foursquare, and since then the one matchstick SWARM party has evolved.

And it's here… Tonight.

Can we unlock the Super SWARM Badge? We'll see in a few hours!

It is with so much gratitude in my heart that I thank you Charl for your belief in my vision, and for your offer that has sparked us off on our SWARM tonight! You rock!

Introducing the SWARM MC: Rabin Harduth

2010-11-17T16:36:00.000+02:00

The brilliant stand up comedian Rabin Harduth has delightfully agreed to be our MC for the evening of the SWARM. It's not only going to be a fun evening, but a funny one too!
Will you be joining us?

(youtube video here)

Event: one matchstick SWARM Party
Date: 20 November 2010
Venue: Bluesroom, Village Walk, Johannesburg
Time: 19:00

Tickets:
VIP tickets for R183 include a Springleap T-shirt, two Castle Lagers and entry to the SWARM Party.
General admission is R40 at the door.

RSVP, tickets and enquiries: Telana on 083 730 2979 or onematchstick@gmail.com

The headline act at the SWARM Party: Mantis Moon

2010-11-17T16:28:00.000+02:00

Mantis Moon started off as the duo "The Little Black Hats" with guitarist Michael Sadie and violinist Waldo Alexander in 1993. They claimed first place at the Andy McGibbon's Acoustic Arts Duo Competition for their awesome song Firefly (which you’ll hear at the SWARM Party- yayy!)

Recently they had a chance meeting with the drummer Clement Benny, and through his efforts the new band was formed in February 2010 along with bass player Giom Mouton and guitarist Dugal Harris.

Join Mantis Moon in unlocking the Foursquare Super SWARM Badge on Saturday at the Bluesroom. They are the headline act, and will be keeping us entertained along with comedian Rabin Harduth our MC, and the other awesome bands Broken People, Book of Thieves and Finding Noah.

(youtube video here)

What is a SWARM Party?

2010-11-15T14:38:00.000+02:00

I asked South Africans what a SWARM Party is- this is the response I got:

(youtube video here)

Details about South Africa's first SWARM Party here.

See you there?

The Bluesroom - where the SWARM is happening in 7 days

2010-11-13T11:08:00.000+02:00

(youtube video here)

The Bluesroom - Village Walk, Sandton.

Meet us here on Saturday 20 November at the one matchstick SWARM Party

We'll see if we can set a record for Africa!

Finding Noah is easy!

2010-11-12T17:52:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting here doing a blog on Finding Noah, but just realised that you don't have to find Noah, because I know where they will be. ;)

Finding Noah is a three piece rock group with Jacques Du Bruyn on lead guitar and vox, Dale Paulson on bass and Josh Roscoe on drums! They are newly reformed, with new songs and a new hair-do for the lead singer!

You'll remember their hit from last year, that made it to number on on Highveld Stereo in Augusts 2010, called "This is your moment".

So to find Finding Noah, and hear them live for the first time in their newly formed band, come to the SWARM Party on 20 November at the Bluesroom.

Here's a little interview I had with them, and a bit of that hit "This is your moment" to tantalise your ears!

(youtube video here)

VIP Tickets include entrance, a Springleap T-shirt and 2 Castles- book with me.

For more info check out the invite here.

Will we set a record for Africa on 20 Nov?

2010-11-10T08:28:00.000+02:00

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 is hosting South Africa's first SWARM Party where she has organised four of South Africa's up and coming bands to play at the Bluesroom in Village Walk. The bands are Broken People, Mantis Moon, Finding Noah and Book of Thieves.

Event: one matchstick SWARM Party
Date: 20 November 2010
Venue: Bluesroom, Village Walk, Johannesburg
Time: 19:00

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 rapidly.

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

Businesses can make use of foursquare to engage with their increasingly mobile customers by offering discounts and prizes to their loyal customers when they check-in virtually at their venue. They can also track how their venue and specials are performing with the free analytics.

This one matchstick SWARM Party is an opportunity for South Africans to play Foursquare and unlock the hard-to-get Super Swarm Badge. It is an offline event where at least 250 people will be getting together to take part in an online Foursquare flashmob at the designated time. They will be part of the Crowd Swarm, and all 250 people who check-in on Foursquare at the venue, within the same hour, will get points and be awarded the coveted "Super Swarm Badge" on their profile.

Simpson is going for a record of this SWARM Party attempting to be the first 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.

What is one matchstick about?
Simpson traded a matchstick for a pen, which she traded for a toy frog, and the toy frog 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 Springleap T-shirts. She believes she will get to her office after three or four more trades.

Tickets: VIP tickets for R183 include a Springleap T-shirt, two Castle Lagers and entry to the SWARM Party. General admission is R40.

RSVP, tickets and enquiries: Telana Simpson on 083 730 2979 or onematchstick@gmail.com or http://www.onematchstick.co.za/

Broken People are SWARMing too!

2010-10-28T21:51:00.000+02:00

I'm grateful for my GPS on my phone. It helps me find my way through all the road works and detours on the highway, as I head south in the dark of night to find Broken People.

The blue line in the map on my phone finally ends at my destination, a church on the far side of town from where I grew up. I get out my car and the melody rocks it's way from their jamming session inside, all the way out into the parking lot. I move to the beat as I get my camera out, turn it on and start filming...

Broken People is a 5-piece melodic rock band consisting of Chris "Chuck" Naude, Justin Lawrence, Rob Band, Shaun Stols , Stephen Ghandi Scholtz and Vic Vermaak.

Their hope is to make music that lands at the doorstep of people's hearts, making it all the way there without being bullied by all the stuff that people put in the way.

Their songs are written from personal experience about life, love, being real and are meant to make you think. They also intend to inspire you to focus on what is really important. Oh, and to get you moving!

I ask them about their name. Justin explains that everybody has a brokenness about them from different events in their lives. The band is a bunch of broken people trying to live out what they feel is in their hearts and what they believe. They're about brokenness being ok. They're not perfect, and are going to be what they are- flawed from the start, and hope that their audiences can relate to them better.

I'm at ease in their warmth and genuineness, and laugh at their witty sense of humour. I leave with a feeling of acceptance that their message and music brings, a melody lingering in my mind and with some clear directions on how to find my way home. Directions that help be get back to the highway, where the road works have me doing a few figure of eights until I find myself back on the road heading north towards home.

And I smile - because Broken People are going to be playing at the SWARM Party.

Come listen to their tunes too- Saturday 20 November at the Bluesroom in Village Walk.
VIP Tickets include entrance, a Springleap T-shirt and 2 Castles- book with me.

For more info check out the rocking Facebook event or the meetup event.

Who'll be our MC for the SWARM Party?

2010-10-28T17:03:00.000+02:00

The one matchstic SWARM Party is coming along nicely. Over 120 RSVP's and many many more maybe's!

And Jolandie recently organised and donated a whole stack of Glow Sticks for us to SWARM with! Thanks Jolandie, you rock!

image from glowsticks4less.org

We've also got 4 awesome bands lined up:

VIP Tickets include 2 free Castle Lager beers and a Springleap T-shirt! (book with me asap)

With all the activities of swarming and listening to the bands and lighting up the room with glow sticks, I think we need a funky, funny, fabulous MC for the evening. Don't you think so too?

So I'm asking if anyone would like to step up and be our SWARM MC for the night? Anyone?

Get in touch (call 0837302979) and we can chat about the details if you are keen :)

Thanks!
SWARMer T

I'm this serious about SWARMing

2010-10-27T14:31:00.000+02:00

Jolandie and I got up to some mischief on the weekend. Serious mischief ;)

And our mischief making has got some international attention.

YES- I am that serious about this SWARM party and setting the record of being the first to unlock the Foursquare Super SWARM Badge on the African continent. And trade all my Springleap T-shirts in the process.

So if you ever doubted that we would pull this off, I hope this mischief making dissolves those doubts. ;)

My fellow Mischief Makers were Mongezi and Jolandie. Jolandie Rust graffiti'd about her upcoming "Stuck on a Bike" event to raise the funds she needs to become the first woman to circumnavigate the African Continent on a bicylcle and solo.

Yip. Solo- no support vehicles.

And yip. On a bike- pedal power!

Her event is starting on the 5th November at the Tyger Valley Shopping Centre in Cape Town, where she will be literally on a bike for 48 hours to raise awareness and funds for three different causes. You can support her by popping by during the 48 hours (and especially between midnight and 4:00 in the morning- she will realllllly appreciate the company ;) and making a donation of R100. You'll get 2 CD’s by the awesome SA musician and motivational speaker - Verity Price.

And even if you are not in Cape Town, you can support Jolandi by still making a donation. Check out the info on her blog or the facebook event 'Stuck on a Bike'!

So... se-reee-oooss-lyyyyy!

Jolandie and I are THAT serious about reaching our dreams and goals, that we would not only sit on a bike for 48 hours, but would also spend our Sunday graffiti'ing about our events.

So who's serious enough to support us and join in the fun? Give me a call 0837302979 or email.

Book of Thieves will be swarming- will you?

2010-10-25T15:21:00.000+02:00

The SWARM is getting closer, and so far we have 103 people RSVP'd as a definite YES to attend via Facebook , with 231 maybes (mmm, wonder what it's going to take to convert those maybe's to definite's!?) and on meetup another 7 yes's and 2 maybe's.

That makes it 110 definate's! YAYY!!

And so we are 140 people away from setting a record for the African Continent of being the first to unlock the Super Swarm Badge on foursquare.com on 20 November at the Bluesroom.

Maybe if those maybe's were to listen to this sneak preview of one of the four bands, being "Book of Thieves", they might be converted to definate's? What do you think?

"Book of Thieves" consists of brothers Kyle and Ryan Engelsman (who've recently had birthdays: Happy Birthday guys!) and friends Jonathan Eva, Gareth Bertolani and Carl Seytler from the East Rand. They are a contemporary alternative band with a blend that appeals to a broad market. And they have a distinctly diverse sound that every time I've heard them, I cant help but tap a foot or my fingers or jive around! With influences from progressive 70's rock, reggae, blues and country, there is no doubt in my mind that the "Book of Thieves" will be taking us on an easy listening but refreshing journey as we SWARM on the 20th November.

"Book of Thieves" formed in December last year, and have just recorded their debut album which will be released soon. They're even planning their first overseas tour to Australia! Having had the privilege to have spent some time with the band, I have to agree with the music journalist Shawn Greyling that their album "will be blowing away the local radio scene soon and taking over the country with great hurricane effect"!

So join me at the party of the year and get to enjoy "Book of Thieves" live! After all, how can you not be intrigued to hear these 5 guys live when Greyling describes them as:

"... a romantically divine comedy of brilliant sound. The conversation between the vocals and musical instruments form a choir of sound that can outstand, outwit and outlast any international act that has been brought to the table." --Shawn Greyling – music journalist, 2010

Do you have a size 9 foot?

2010-10-20T22:30:00.000+02:00

Two weeks ago I got my one minute of fame on DJ Fresh's show on 5 FM- super fly hey! I had literally one minute to explain one matchstick and the SWARM Party. I must have managed to get my message across in those few seconds, because I got a few calls and an email from Werner.

Werner said I caught his attention. He's also an entrepreneur, and is busy setting up his own fashion lifestyle brand based on simplicity and innovation. Before this, he worked for Nike SA, and with the job came the perks of receiving some merchandise and super deals. Like the one deal where he bought a pair of Nike Chuka's because they only had a couple of pairs and he didn't want to miss the opportunity, being into fashion and all.

So he wore the shoes from his car to the lift and into his flat. He then placed them back into their box, and they've been there ever since. He has only taken them out the box to take these photo's of them:

Werner is now willing to trade these white chuka's for one Springleap T-shirt, as his part of helping me get to my office space. So how's that for an exciting offer for someone who has a size 9 foot?

Werner says the chuka's have a retail value of R1000, and he's happy to get a T-shirt from you for R219 (that includes delivery of the T-shirt).

The shoes are with Werner, and Werner is in Cape Town. So if you are keen for the size 9 white, never been used other than a walk from his car to his flat, pair of Nike Chuka's, then you'll either have to collect them from him in Cape Town or arrange to have them delivered to you at an additional fee.

So if you are interested in this three-way trade, CALL ME 083 730 2979!

You'll get a brand new white pair of size 9 Nike Chukas with the box.
Werner will get a T-shirt
And I'll be one more T-shirt closer to my offices

I've been caricatured!

2010-10-17T22:11:00.000+02:00

I wondered if this day would come along.

And so it has.

The 'matchstick girl has been caricatured!

This drawing is part of an article about Twitter that was in today's Sunday Times newspaper. Sarah also mentions the SWARM Party! *grin*

What are you doing to get to the SWARM Party in November?

2010-10-13T13:15:00.000+02:00

Sonja Kruse, the Ubuntu Girl, challenges you to be there at the one matchstick SWARM Party- South Africa's chance to unlock the foursquare Super Swarm badge for the first time.

Saturday 20 November
At the Bluesroom, Johannesburg

Facebook invite here
Meetup invite here

Youtube video here

The SWARM Party is postponed to 20 November at Bluesroom

2010-10-09T10:50:00.000+02:00

Due to circumstances beyond my control, we have had to move venues for the SWARM Party.

Due to moving venues, we have had to move dates too.

And due to moving dates we have a new exciting line-up of bands.

I've always wondered what could possibly have been happening behind the scenes when someone says "due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to change everything."

So I suppose the next saying that comes to mind is "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" because for this event, I have had first hand experience that has led me to be in the position to say, "due to circumstances beyond my control, we have had to change everything about the SWARM Party- except the swarm part."

And then another saying comes to mind. Those closest to me who have been watching me zoot all over Jozi and make plenty of phone calls in the last 48 hours to find a new venue, have been saying: "it'll probably work out for the better!"

And it looks like it is doing just that. *sigh of relief*

The news is:

The one matchstick SWARM Party is still on- it's just been postponed to Saturday the 20th November 2010.

The venue is now the awesome Bluesroom in Village Walk, Sandton.

And the line-up of bands: I am busy finalising this, so you'll find out in the next few days, but it is looking super fly! Really! It is exciting!

So look out for the details to follow, and spread the word that we will now be swarming on 20 November at the Bluesroom!

What is Foursquare all about?

2010-10-06T16:21:00.000+02:00

I managed to get Walter Pike away for a few minutes from Ryan Gibson's popular and such fun Joburg Tweetup recently, to ask him a few questions and film him!

Walter shared with me what Foursquare.com is all about, and why the Super Swarm Badge is such an exciting thing to achieve. He also mentions how businesses can be using Foursquare to their advantage. Considering I have heard that foursquare is the fourth most popular app to be downloaded on iPhones right now in South Africa- businesses should take note.

Take a look here at what he had to say:

So if you want to help us unlock the very hard to get Super Swarm Badge- join us on the 20 November at the one matchstick Swarm Party at the Bluesroom!

How many Springleap Tshirts is an Xbox worth?

2010-10-05T18:57:00.000+02:00

A while ago I was asked to share my one matchstick story with 700 of our brightest students at the Student Village Womens Leadership Conference. That led me to trade with Alon and Pepe for my flights to Durban and Cape Town to present at the conference there.

At the Johannesburg conference, Charlene and Krilona from Microsoft were in the audience.

Charlene contacted me a few days later asking if I would share my story again with her, her colleague Vis, and their team at Microsoft. I said "YES! As long as we trade for it!"
They said "YES!" too! And I had such fun chatting to them all :)

So here is the three-way trade between us all:

One Xbox 360 Arcade on offer

I have on offer a super duper brand new Xbox 360 Arcade with 256MB of memory so you can store your favourite games and play more!

Need I say more? For those that need the details, check wiki here.

How this Three-Way is going to work:

Charlene and Vis have given me the Xbox to trade for 5 of my Springleap T-shirts. I need to find someone who wants the Xbox and will put up the cash for the T-shirts.

Now since Charlene and Vis started talking with me, I sneakily mentioned online that I thought I was going to get an Xbox to trade on, and some of my friends and followers have already started contacting me to trade with me for this Xbox! It's in hot demand!

So: even though the team at Microsoft only want five T-shirts for this Xbox, I am going to trade with whoever offers to pay for the most T-shirts for the Xbox. We're going to have a one matchstick Auction (bidorbuy style!) where the currency is Springleap T-shirts!

Bear in mind that this Xbox is worth R2499.00.
Each T-shirt is worth R183 and then there is shipping too (R36 for first 5 T-shirts, and then additional R5 per T-shirt).

So- opening "bid" in the currency of Springleap T-shirts is five T-shirts (which, with shipping, is a value of R951).

Bid increments is one Springleap T-shirt (R183 plus extra R5 for shipping of that T-shirt) which is a value of R188.

Other rules:
Auction opens now, and closes today at 17:00.
Bids must be placed in writing.
Highest bid received by 17:00 today wins.
If two or more people place the same bid, timing takes preference: whoever places that bid first will count.
If the winning bidder defaults, that is, doesn't pay up within 48 hours, then they are disqualified and it goes to the runner up bidder.

Get it?

Opening bid is 5 T-shirts – R951
Next bid would be 6 T-shirts – R951 + an extra R188, totalling R1139
Next bid would be for 7 T-shirts – R1139 + an extra R188, totalling R1327
Auction closes at 17:00 today- that's 17h00 on Wednesday 6 October 2010
Highest bid wins.

So… Uhummmhmm *clearing my throat to get my best auction-ing voice ready*

I have a super duper brand new Xbox 360 Arcade with 256MB of memory.
Opening bid is five T-shirts.
Who will give me five T-shirts?
Five T-shirts?
Going?
Going? To the highest bidder!

To place your bids you need to contact me in writing by:
Tweeting me @telana
Leaving a comment on this post.
Sms'ing me on 0837302979
Emailing me on onematchstick@gmail.com

This one matchstick auction ends 17:00 today! So BID NOW!

Once we've finalised the value of the Xbox, as in how many T-shirts the winning bid is, then:
- the winner will put up the cash and get the Xbox,
- The team at Microsoft will get the Springleap T-shirts
- I'll have less T-shirts to trade on!

Super duper fly!

Introducing Harbourlight- a SWARM Party Band

2010-10-05T16:05:00.000+02:00

Last week I went to check in on ::Harbourlight:: at their band practice with my friend and brilliant motivational talker Alon Joseph. Alon was the driver and camera man (and you can see him sneak in on one scene in the below movie). I was the very tired but super excited (I get quite tongue tied at one point in the interview) fan jumping around to their melodic rock tunes!

::Harbourlight:: is one of the exciting up and coming three bands playing at the SWARM Party on the 16th October! They formed at the beginning of 2006 and this team of five hardworking musicians (Shaun, Craig, Chris, Josh and Ashley) share a simple yet burning desire to share their message of hope and faith through their music in their own city Johannesburg, country South Africa and beyond!

Their debut album Come Home was released in July of 2008 and I have my own copy. It's worth a listen to the 13 original and self produced songs.

They are about to release their second album entitled Mystery Story in the very near future. If we're lucky, they might play a few of their new tunes for us on at the SWARM party

So check out the little video we made to give you a taste of the entertainment lined up for the SWARM Party- featuring ::Harbourlight::!!

And then rush and book your VIP Tickets with me- you'll get a springleap T-shirt, 2 Castle Lagers and entrance to help us unlock the Super Swarm Badge on foursquare- which if we succeed, will be the first time it is unlocked on the African Continent!

Flyer for the SWARM Party on 16 October 2010

2010-10-05T11:29:00.000+02:00

Check out our awesome flyer for the SWARM Party! If you want a copy to email to your friends, just take it from here or email me on onematchstick@gmail.com and I'll send it to you :)

Playing Foursquare

2010-10-04T10:48:00.000+02:00

If you don't want a T-shirt, how about a….

2010-10-01T13:53:00.000+02:00

Plenty of Three-Way Trades still on the go and up for grabs!

So here's a summary of how it works and how you can trade with me in a Three-Way.

What's a Three-Way Trade?

Three-Ways involve three people:

1. Person One offers me an item or service in exchange for one or more of my T-shirts- they want to be "paid" for the item/service in the currency of Springleap T-shirts

2. Person Two wants the item or service and doesn't want a T-shirt, so puts up the cash to trade with me for the item/service. The cash is used to trade for the T-shirt/s so Person One gets the T-shirts.

3. Person Three is me – the one with all the T-shirts to trade.

So, if you want to be a part of one matchstick and help me get to my goal of office space for start up entrepreneurs, but don't want a T-shirt, and don't know what you would have to trade with me- here is an easy option: trade some of your cash for one of these items listed below.

SUMMARY OF Three Way Trades on offer:

Three hours of Recruitment Consulting Services for R219

A full placement of a permanent staff member for R768

A guided hike up Table Mountain for four for R768 (that's R192 pp)

A three hour Photo Shoot for R1536

A Rock Climbing Lesson with Grant for R402

A copy of Rembrandt's self portrait- oil painting – R402

Baobab balls for decoration –for just R402 (valued at R800!)

A Hypnosis session to stop smoking – save 25% for only R585

A one hour Hypnosis session for weight loss, breaking habits, overcoming phobias, improving performance in personal and business life – save 45% for only R219

The writing services of a Reporter and Freelance Writer, Abed for R219

Artwork - Dancing Girl OR Hula limited edition prints by artist Tuesday Houston valued at R900 each for only R402 each, or both for only R585

One Payroll Workshop in audio and workbook format valued at R399.99, for only R219.00

4 Private Pilates Classes with David in Fourways, Johannesburg valued at R720 – for only R585

So if you are interested in any of these offers- CALL ME on 0837302979 and lets do a Three-Way Trade!

Hike Table Mountain for a T-shirt

2010-10-01T13:11:00.000+02:00

Who lives in Cape Town or is going there for a holiday sometime soon?
And would like to have a guided hike up Table Mountain?

Barry Washkansky and Candice Kotze are offering to guide four people on a hike up Table Mountain for the cost of just four of my Springleap T-shirts. That would cost you just R768.00 (that would be just R192 per person for four people).

Barry is an experienced guide and has been hiking and running on the Cape Mountains for the past 12 years, and so I’d say he’d be one of the best people to guide you and three friends, having explored himself the many different trails on the beautiful Cape Mountains. He and Candice offer guided tours of the mountains through HikeCapeTown.co.za

With a myriad of different trails to suit every requirement, whether its an early morning jaunt up Skeleton Gorge or a Full Moon Adventure on Devil's Peak, you can be assured that this Three Way Trade offer will suit your outdoor entertainment desires and energy and fitness levels!

So come on- experience the mountain with an experienced guide!

Contact me and let Barry and Candice show off Cape Town's spectacular mountains in a fun and safe walking environment.

You'll get a guided hike up Table Mountain for you and three friends or family members!
Barry and Candice will get 4 Springleap T-shirts
I'll be another 4 T-shirts closer to reaching my one matchstick dream!

So CALL ME! 0837302979

See you on the mountains...!

Recruitment Services for a T-shirt!

2010-10-01T12:26:00.000+02:00

I'm continually amazed at how the internet is helping me turn a matchstick into an office.

The latest story is about Carl Anderson.

Facebook helped me get back into touch with his sister, a childhood friend that I had lost touch with. She and her brothers are now living in Cape Town, and through connecting with me on Facebook, she got to know of my one matchstick project. After mentioning it to Carl, he got in touch with me and has made me another awesome offer for a Three Way Trade!

Carl is a fellow entrepreneur, and is a partner in the start up recruitment firm in Cape Town called Swift Momentum. He emailed me saying:

I would like to offer our services ideally to a start up however not limited to that. We can either assist a company with the recruitment process guiding them in a consultancy manner. Alternatively we could offer our services for a placement. Either way, if we can be part of your one matchstick initiative – Swift Momentum as a company would love in on it.

Awesome hey?!

So, there are the two fabulous offers from Carl relating to recruitment needs:

OFFER ONE - Consulting Services

Would you like three hours of consulting services, either face to face in Cape Town or via email/Skype/telephone for one of my Springleap T-Shirts?

Carl himself will be delivering the consulting services, and can help with advice on all aspects of your recruiting process. This does not include Swift Momentum actually doing the recruitment and placing of a staff member, rather it is just advice and help to assist you in streamlining your recruitment policies and process.

And these three hours of consulting services will cost you only R219.00 (for his T-Shirt and delivery!)

OFFER TWO - Recruitment Placement

Carl and his team at Swift Momentum will help you find and place a permanent staff member! They are offering the full recruitment process from A-Z for one placement for the cost of just four of my Springleap T-shirts.

They are offering a recruitment package within the industries of Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Information Technology and Finance. By limiting the area’s within which they operate, they are able to provide a specialised recruitment service which is unique within the South African market.

Swift Recruitment is the only recruitment company within South Africa that offers a non-generalised recruitment platform and they specialise in permanent employment positions ranging from entry level employees to high end Directors and C.E.O's.

So if you need to find a super duper new staff member for your business, then consider taking up this Three Way Trade and using Swift Momentum's services for the cost of only R768.00 (that's for the four T-shirts and delivery) for one placement.

Why would you consider taking up one of these two offers as a Three Way Trade with Carl and I? Well, download a PDF here about Swift Momentum to learn more about how Carl offers a distinct recruitment service rarely offered in South Africa. He and his team are able to offer outstanding value and unique packages to suit each of their customer's needs.

Carl, his team, and with me in the background as part of this Three Way Trade, are look forward to dealing with your recruitment requirements efficiently, effectively and with Swift Momentum.

To summarise:

OFFER ONE:
You get three hours of recruitment consulting for R219.00
Carl gets one Springleap T-shirt
I get another T-shirt traded.

OFFER TWO:
You get the placement of a new staff member for just R768.00
Carl and his team get four Springleap T-shirts
I get another 4 T-shirts closer to my goal.

So if you want one of these offers, CALL ME 0837302979

Super fly!

one matchstick SWARM Party- a South African Record

2010-09-30T14:13:00.000+02:00

[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 Photo Shoot Three Way Trade

2010-09-24T18:10:00.000+02:00

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:

The shoot will take place within Gauteng
Vije will provide the best photos and he will not give all the photos that he takes.
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.
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!

Africa's First Swarm Party? 3 Bands, one matchstick, 1 Record!

2010-09-23T15:51:00.000+02:00

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

250+ people.. 3 Bands... one matchstick : Come set Africa's first record at Tanz Cafe...

The one matchstick Swarm Party.

We want you!

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

Advertise to Students: Three-way Trade

2010-09-17T16:41:00.000+02:00

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!

My chat to the No Money Guy

2010-09-14T17:48:00.000+02:00

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.

A Three-Way Rock Climbing Lesson

2010-09-04T16:21:00.000+02:00

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!

Leap into Spring with me

2010-09-02T10:20:00.000+02:00

It's SpRiNg Time!

So why not leap into spring with one of my Springleap T-shirts!

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..

Happy Spring Time!

I'm bartering for a flight

2010-08-17T12:16:00.000+02:00

I've been invited to talk about 'finding your magic' at this years Women's Leadership Conference run by the Student Village this August.

It is being held in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg and my story about one matchstick will be shared with students who are our future leaders!

I am so excited to be able to pass on the spark that Kyle MacDonald ignited in me when I heard his story, and that I see so often light up in others as I share what I am doing with one matchstick.

So you know how I roll- anything to do with one matchstick is traded for.

In order to get to the conference I need to barter something for my flights there. The Student Village has offered to sponsor my flights back from Cape Town and Durban, so now I just need to organise my flights to get there.

So: I will trade some of my time and energy in exchange for the flights to Durban and to Cape Town- I need a one way flight to Durbs, and another one to the Mother City, so we can barter for both flights or just one.

Some of the things I can offer that you might like to consider bartering with me for are:

Personal Life Coaching
Training in the cognitive behavioural sciences of NLP and Neuro-Semantics (great tools on how to run your brain and figure out people)
House Sitting
Designated Driver for your next night on the town, ala the No Money Man
Helping you set up your social media or website or blog
Baby sitting
A talk at your company or team about my learnings and experience as the 'matchstick girl

As you can see it's quite a varied list- so feel free to get in touch and ask more about my offers, or make another suggestion. Everything is negotiable!

I really want to go and share some magic with our youth at this conference! So who can help me do just that?

Call me on 083 730 2979 or send a tweet to @telana or email me!

It’s Women’s Day today in South Africa

2010-08-09T17:28:00.000+02:00

54 years ago today over 20 000 women of all ages and races walked together to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. They went to deliver this petition, which has the closing remarks of:

"We shall not rest until we have won for our children their fundamental rights of freedom, justice, and security."

If I had been born then I would have been walking with those 20 000 women. It was a day many brave women risked being arrested in order to show their frustration with not being able to move freely, and how the pass laws affected their lives and those of their families. The belief in freedom, justice and security must have been so prevalent, and the courage would have been heard in the anthem they sang:

wathint' abafazi,
wathint' imbokodo,
uza kufa!
[When] you strike the women,
you strike a rock,
you will be crushed!

When I look around me today I am inspired by many women who also believe in freedom and love, and are singing their songs to the beat of their own drums, and I am able to stand up today and show them my support. The three who are in my life right now are:

Sonja Kruse
Sonja is 9 months into a year long journey that is weaving the stories of over one hundred families from over ninety towns with over thirteen cultures within one country- South Africa. She is telling the story of love in our country, through finding Ubuntu in every step she takes. You cannot help but be touched when you hear the stories she has to tell.

Jolandi Rust
Jolandi is the first woman to circumnavigate South Africa on her own on a bicycle. It took her 100 days and she finished in January this year. Her next plan is to be the first woman to circumnavigate Africa on a bicycle. She wasn’t to share that big dreams are possible and that we shouldn’t wait to start living them.

Leila Chirayath Janah
I'm going to get to meet one of the Most Innovative Women in Technology who's also an adventurette at the very exciting Tech4Africa conference this week. She is Leila, and is the CEO of Samasource, a social business that connects over 800 women, youth, and refugees living in poverty to digital work. Her application "Give Work" is all about innovative crowdsourcing technology that has been downloaded by over 20 000 volunteers in 75 countries. She believes that the future is about humans and computers working together to get stuff done, and that farmers in Africa could earn more tending virtual farms on a social network. I am looking forward to hearing her story and getting to know her at Tech4Africa.

Happy Women's Day!

Get two Castle Lager's for free!

2010-08-06T10:26:00.000+02:00

Fridays seem to be one matchstick days - I somehow end up making a big trade or move on a Friday. Today is one of those Fridays.

I have finally worked out, and have a plan for, how I am going to make the beer offer that I wrote about a while back work. And the few people I have mentioned my plan to smile and say "awesome!"

So here's the plan:

I've accepted my friend Charl's offer of sponsoring two Castle Lager beers per Springleap T-shirt that I trade from this moment on.

What that means is if you trade with me for one of my 246 Springleap T-shirts that I have left to finish my tenth trade, then you will get two Castle Lager Beers for free!

How will you get the Castles? Well, that's been the tricky bit. So what will be happening is that sometime in the next four to six weeks, there will be a BIG get-together, on a weekend, at a soon to be confirmed venue, where you can come along and enjoy your two beers. (And if friends trade with me from Cape town, I will organise a get-together there too to give you your beers.)

And that get-together is going to have an extra twist to it as well! But until I have set it all up, that extra twist is a secret!

So- now is the time to trade with me for one of my T-shirts.

How to trade with me:

The easiest way is to trade some of your cash- R183 to be precise- and trade it by purchasing any of the Springleap T-shirts, and using the coupon code onematchstick so that we can track it (detailed instructions here). Contact me too to let me know so I can get you on the 'Castle Lager VIP List'.

OR – If you don't want a T-shirt, but still want soem Castle's, then you can trade some cash for one of the many Three-Way Trade offers I have on the go. You can get:

Rock Climbing lesson with instructor Grant - R366
A copy of Rembrandt's self portrait- oil painting – R366
Baobab balls for decoration –for just R366 (valued at R800!)
Hypnosis session to stop smoking – save 25% for only R549
A one hour Hypnosis session for weight loss, breaking habits, overcoming phobias, improving performance in personal and business life – save 45% for only R183
A diamond - 0.297 Carat with certificate valued at R1200, for only R915.00
The writing services of a Reporter and Freelance Writer, Abed for R183
Artwork - Dancing Girl OR Hula limited edition prints by artist Tuesday Houston valued at R900 each for only R366 each, or both for only R549
One Payroll Workshop in audio and workbook format valued at R399.99, for only R183.00
A years website hosting plus the development of a wordpress website if you need it, for just R1281.00 – that's R106.75 per month for 12 months for a website!
4 Private Pilates Classes with David in Fourways, Johannesburg valued at R720 – for only R549

To summarise then:

Trade with me for one of my Springleap, designer, limited edition T-shirts for R183, including delivery to your door by courier, and you will get to help me finish my tenth trade, be a part of the one matchstick story, AND get two Castle Lagers for free at a funky event coming up soon!

Call me - 07837302979
Skype me - telanas
Tweet me - @telana
Or email me

Just get in touch and let's trade! Yayy!

PS- the fine print:
To take part in this offer you must be over the legal drinking age, and remember- drink responsibly! ;)

All my passions in a few days!

2010-07-30T18:26:00.000+02:00

You know, four years ago when I started my one matchstick journey, I knew nothing about social media and the extent of the possibilities of the internet. I knew about emails and bit of HTML, and had just started to hear about blogs.

Then everything changed when I heard of Kyle, and my journey into the world of possibility and Web 2.0 started. Over the fours years I've learnt a lot about blogs, facebook, twitter, myspace, google, websites, etc and the technology that's most useful to manage all this. On the other side I've learnt heaps about negotiation, bartering, resilience, writing, and met the most wonderful people along the way!

And now I get to step up again in my learning and learn from the best in the WORLD about these things, and where technology is heading- especially in Africa.

In two weeks time I will be attending the Tech4Africa conference here in Johannesburg. As I mentioned previously, a lot of what I have learnt so far was applied in getting me to the conference, and now it's just a few days away.

I have been researching all the speakers and topics so that I can squeeze every opportunity out of this conference, and wow is there a line up of fantastic speakers!

Having just upgraded my phone (am I still a closet geek?) to a smart phone, and knowing that Africa has led the way with a few of the applications of mobile solutions (like the example of Nigeria to America, that Clay Shirky shares in this video), I am looking forward to hear Jonathan Snook of Yahoo! talk about the latest stuff with smart phones.

And then there's one of the panel discussions about where the mobile industry is going with applications like banking and weather alerts and more. Also Justin Spratt is going to be talking about wireless and how more of and cheaper communication is coming Africa's way.

I'm especially looking forward to hearing about building a brand on line from Alex Hunter, and all about Social Media from the panel including the likes of Walter Pike, Andy Hadfield, Mike Stopforth and Alistair Fairweather- all experts who I know I'll learn a lot from, having met some of them already!

There is also the key note speakers: Leila Chirayath Janah, the most innovative woman in technology who is combining crowd sourcing and mobile technology to give farmers in Africa work tending to virtual farms in social networks, where they could earn more than ploughing their land. And the Clay Shirky, who says that the internet runs on love!

And then – the cherry on the top of highlights for me is going to be the Q & A session with Andy Budd, Dustin Diaz, Joe Stump, John Resig and Jonathan Snook – For the coach in me this will be fascinating, to hear how they overcame challenges and their personal experiences on their respective journeys.

And then the Bootstrap session with the panel of entrepreneurs- hearing how Brett Haggard, Barbara Mallinson, Gareth Knight, Eve Dmochowska and Andy Higgins think! The theme of the session is that ideas are everywhere, but execution is everything! So true!

So for those that know me, you should by now have an idea of why I am so over the moon about the Tech4Africa conference! It combines all my passions in a few jam-packed days: technology, entrepreneurship, learning, networking, Africa, the Internet, and love!

Gareth Knight- the visionary behind Tech4Africa- says he hopes "to inspire a generation of Africans to go and do extraordinary things with the Web and other emerging technologies" through this confernce.

Well Gareth, so far you've inspired me! Let the extra-ordinary start rolling out!

matchstick girl+ubuntu girl=motivational talk for a Tshirt

2010-07-26T16:13:00.000+02:00

I had such a lovely day yesterday, connecting with amazing people and watching them make connections as well!

Last year my friend Adin- the No Money Man- (and he's still living without money) was telling me about Sonja Kruse. I've been following her journey ever since, as she has moved around South Africa from East London, around the Cape, through the Freestate and now to Gauteng. When I heard she was in Johannesburg, I got in touch with her and had the fortune to spend my Sunday with her.

What a bundle of energy, love and inspiration Sonja is! She stored away her belongings in October last year, packed a few clothes and her camera into her backpack, gave away her car and with just R100 in her pocket started walking. It was finally time for her to act on her vision she had 4 years earlier.

She has story to tell which will be shared through a book, about ubuntu in South Africa. It’s about the generosity and spirit of our nation and it's people, and how very ALIVE it is!

Reading what Archbishop Desmond Tutu has to say about Ubuntu, and Shari Cohen's atrticle about the abundance of ubuntu she experienced during the 2010 World Cup, I realised that Sonja is actually a wonderful example of ubuntu herself! She is open and available to people and generous in so many beautiful ways! And yet she is exploring our country looking for ubuntu- and she is finding it over and over again in the most amazing places and situations!

Sonja's been in 6 provinces so far, in 93 towns and cities, connected with 121 families, and experienced 13 different cultures- and what made this all possible is the one thing all these places and people and cultures have in common: their generosity of spirit which comes from knowing that we can not be human by ourselves- we are interconnected even if we appear "different" because of our culture, skin colour, financial status or house we live in. It's what we call "ubuntu".

But let me not keep trying to explain it here in a few words typed on my blog- the best person to explain this- and she really does it justice in her story telling – is Sonja herself.

And she is willing to do just that: talk about how her many stories about ubuntu in our country have broken preconceived ideas, how they have touched not only her soul but many others, and how she has experienced generosity that many of us cannot even imagine exists in our world today. You cannot help but be touched from hearing her stories!

Sonja is willing to give a motivational talk in exchange for a T-shirt.

So- if you have a team you want to inspire, or a company you want to motivate, or a friend who needs to believe in the magic of ubuntu over a cup of coffee with Sonja, then this is an opportunity for you!

All you need to do is call me asap and say you want to experience some ubuntu magic, and all it will cost you is R183 (to get the t-shirt to Sonja as a trade with me!)

If you are in Johannesburg though you need to act VERY FAST- because she is only going to be here for a week to 10 days longer, before she moves on down to Natal.

So if you are interested- CALL ME! 083 730 2979

You'll be touched with Ubuntu magic to share!
Sonja will get a Springleap T-shirt
And I will have traded another of my T-shirts to get me to my goal!

The 'matchstick girl gets to go to Tech4Africa!

2010-07-16T14:05:00.000+02:00

This bartering is sure becoming a way of life with me. It seems whenever I hit an obstacle- especially when it's a financial "I cant afford it right now!" something happens, and I end up trading my way to get where I want to go.

The latest bartering opportunity came along after the last 27Dinner in Jozi, where Gareth Knight was talking about why international viewpoints in the technology and digital arena are relevant and significant to us here in Africa.

Gareth is organising Africa's first conference about web, mobile and emerging technology called Tech4Africa. He's got overseas speakers like Clay Shirky, Matthew Mullenweg, and Dustin Diaz sharing their knowledge amongst some of South Africa's best like Andy Hadfield, Mike Stopforth, Justin Spratt, and even one matchstick traders like Elan Lohmann and Andy Higgins! It's quite a line-up of speakers!

One of the areas where my learning and growth has increased exponentially through the last four years of turning my matchstick into a pen into Rod the Frog into books into wine into a holiday into cash into a hot air balloon ride into a party with DJ Al into 375 Springleap T-shirts to where I am now, is my knowledge of the web, social media and technology. And I have so enjoyed learning and exploring this emerging world.

So when I heard of the line up of speakers at Tech4Africa, I immediately felt a huge desire to attend. I saw it as an opportunity to experience consuming a huge amount of useful information is a short space of time for my hungry mind. Just like Neo did in The Matrix movie (my favourite movie, by the way!) when he downloaded Kung-Fu fighting in a few seconds.

I think Gareth must have picked up on the sparkle in my eye or something, and after a brief conversation and a few emails back and forth, I've bartered my way into the conference! Woohooo! Now I've just got to decide on which speakers and what topics I want to focus on during the conference- they even have workshops to consider! (Any tips welcome- the list of speakers to choose from is so awesome that it's overwhelming!)

So I hope to see some of you there at Tech4Africa on 12th to 13th August, to learn and interact with the best. Maybe you'll too see a sparkle in my eye and end up trading with me for one of my T-shirts? ;)

Soccer Fever!

2010-06-27T13:58:00.000+02:00

The bug got me, or I caught the bug- not sure which way around it goes, but I do know that this is one of the first big world sporting events that has captured my heart. And not just mine. As I look around me at my family, my friends and even just people I pass by on the streets, people have embraced the 2010 World Cup and are making the most of the festivities!

The amount of gees, or spirit, that people have shown for not only being the host of the World Cup, but also for our country South Africa, has been a delightful surprise. Like the person who covered their car with flags! And my mom who decorated her dustbin. And the fans who got dressed up and made makarapa's in their country's style. Even Rod the Frog snuck into a few games with me.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to two games, and then football fortune smiled on me further when Brand South Africa invited me to a third game as a brand ambassador for our country (Thank you Brand SA!).

So, I got to freeze (and I mean freeze with the temperature reaching minus 5 degrees Celsius) while watching Brazil beat Korea DPR at Ellis Park. Then I had a wonderful and warm afternoon in the sun enjoying Argentina's skill on the Soccer City field, as they beat Korea Republic with their fans singing over the drums of Korea and the vuvuzelas of Africa. And Mongezi and I ran around Loftus and enjoyed the spoils of the hospitality suite when we watched Denmark against Cameroon, thanks to Brand South Africa.

Besides the fun of the actual tournament, I've so enjoyed the reports from chatting to visitors to our country of how they are enjoying themselves, the weather, and the friendliness of our people. Ayoba! I've made friends with a Mexican over breakfast, an Indian-from Dubai-who's-a-big-Brazillian-Fan for a few days, and many South African friends for the duration of a game. There's something about a shared experience that unites people!

My hope is that we can remember this team spirit that we all feel for Team South Africa, and carry on being ambassadors of our country going forward for many years after the World Cup has left this beautiful, raw and alive land of ours!

Ke nako!

I need 236 more people

2010-06-18T20:37:00.000+02:00

So I got up to mischief this Youth Day...

My accomplice Carol and I headed out with a boot full of spraypaint and a tin of white paint.

We found a spot on the Graffiti wall and this is our latest masterpiece- (by no means a master Graffiti masterpiece, but for two amateurs, I think we did ok. We've still got a lot to learn!)

This mischief was about helping me to find 236 more people to trade with. That is how many T-shirts I have left to trade to make this tenth trade a reality, and I could really do with all the support and help I can get to move closer to finishing this trade.

I have quite a few exciting offers waiting for me to explore, but I can only do so once I have finished this tenth trade of the Springleap T-shirts.

So, I'm looking for 236 more fabulous people to trade with me, and have their photo up on this page, with the other 139 people who have already traded with me (you're such stars!) so that I would have traded all 375 T-shirts.

If you saw the graffiti and it lead you to this page, and you don't know what I am talking about, then take a minute to read this 2-pager or watch the "one matchstick, the Movie" movie:

To trade with me, all you need to do is go to Springleap.com and choose ANY T-shirt, and put in the coupon code onematchstick (all lower case, one word) so that we can track that you have traded just R183 of your cash with me for one of my 375 Springleap T-shirts. Springleap is facilitating this trade, and will then courier to your door your T-shirt. Then email me your order number so I can track it too!

It's that easy to be a part.

And if you realllly don't want a T-shirt, then consider one of the many Three-way trades I have been offered.

Any questions? Just leave a comment or sms me on 0837302979 or tweet me @telana.

Cool beans.

Baobab Balls for just the cost of two Tshirts

2010-06-18T18:45:00.000+02:00

I met Lindsay Grubb a few months ago when I was asked to be a Director of Young Business South Africa - a great organisation which is developing our youth into strong business leaders of tomorrow. (I'm heading up the Entrepreneur Portfolio - awesomeness! Check them out on Facebook and twitter!). Lindsay is our super efficient administrator, and she keeps things running smoothly at YBSA.

She is also a freelance writer and has just started her own blog- it's all about helping you through the hiccups and sharing in the giggles!

Lindsay has offered me baobab balls.

Yes- 30 baobab balls. She did so on Facebook, here's how she made me her offer:

Now if you're wondering about what baobab balls are, you weren't the only one! Once I saw a picture though, I got a better idea. For those not sure, baobab's are those wonderful and ancient upside-down trees found in Africa- here's a nice little clip about them.

(view the video on youtube here)

Baobab balls are actually the seed pods of these magnificent trees, which ladies from a rural community have decorated in black and white geometric patterns. These patterns vary from ball to ball, making for striking ornaments!

And what is also interesting, is this fruit is very nutritious – it has more calcium than cows milk and more Vitamin C than oranges, so is used in porridge, as sweets, to thicken soups, and even fermented into seasoning!

The baobab fruit balls that Lindsay is offering were actually used at the gala opening event for the Cultural Calabash arts festival held in Taung, North West Province in September 2006. This premier rural arts festival is a year-long event that gives a creative outlet to previously disadvantaged artists. It culminates in a major festival in September, at which these Baobab balls were the centre pieces for the evening. Cool hey!?

These baobab fruit balls can be used as a beautiful and striking accessory to any home, office or event environment. You can use them, or give away some of them to some of your friends as gifts!

There are approximately 30 of them and Lindsay purchased them from a supplier that attempts to uplift local rural communities by purchasing items from local community initiatives.

Lindsay is asking for just two T-shirts for these Baobab Balls- that means it will cost you just R402 to own them all (they are valued at R800!)
(Remember how Three-way Trades work? If not, check out this page here).

So, if you'd like your very own Baobab Balls, then call me on 083 730 2979 or email me. Ta!

You'll get 30 baobab Balls.
Lindsay will get two T-shirts.
I'll be two more T-shirts closer to finishing my tenth trade!

I dont know how to make this offer work- Help!

2010-06-10T21:27:00.000+02:00

I was made an offer a few months ago that I havent found a way yet to make it work... so maybe someone reading this will have a great idea and can help me come up with a way forward.

My friend Charl works for SAB, and we were chatting at a party about my Springleap T-shirt trade. He then offered a few beers- well, nearly 500 beers actually!

Charl said he is keen to see me succeed with trading this matchstick into an office, and his way of helping is to sponsor 2 beers per T-shirt that I trade. So the idea would be that when someone trades for me for a T-shirt, they also get two beers sponsored by SAB.

Fabulous hey! Only thing is the logistics.

You see, Eran and Eric of Springleap are not only trading 375 of their funky T-shirts with me for the Party with DJ Al you Pal, but they are also facilitating my next trade as I trade on each of the T-shirts with 375 people. So far they have helped me trade on 129 T-shirts, leaving me with 246 to go.

What this means is that when you trade with me for one of the T-shirts, you "purchase the T-shirt through the Springleap website, using the coupon code onematchstick so that we can track it's a trade with me, and then Springleap are delivery the T-shirt to your door by courier! Logistics of the T-shirt trades is taken care of.

Now to take advantage of Charls offer of sponsoring 2 beers per T-shirt as an extra incentive to trade with me, somehow I need to get the beers to the trader. The logistics of delivering the 2 beers to each person has become a problem, because we cant courier the beer to each person who trades with me.

When Charl made his offer I came up with the idea of distributing the beers at an event – so if you traded with me, and then went to the event, you would be able to collect your two free beers sponsored by Charl. At the time of Charl making his offer, my favourite South African band was playing in the background at the party, and feeling all inspired by their music and Charl’s offer, I decided to ask them if they would allow me to distribute the beers at one of their concerts.

After a few weeks of putting together a proposal and finding someone who knew the band and who knew someone I knew (I ended up finding three people who I knew who knew someone who knew the band- talk about 6 degrees of separation!), I nervously picked up the phone and called one of the members of the band.

He loved the idea of one matchstick, but after another few weeks of waiting and waiting, he came back to me saying that they couldn't find a way to help me as it conflicted with their existing sponsors of their concerts...What a disappointment! But how awesome that I got to speak with my favourite South African band and have their best wishes for my trading project!

So... here I am... a few weeks later still racking my brain as to how to make Charls offer work.

Maybe you have an idea?

Maybe you know of another band that would be keen to see my proposal? I negotiated a nice deal too that includes a special offer from Springleap for a band, so its a sweet deal.

Or maybe you have an event happening or some other way that I could get the beers delivered to people who trade with me?

If so, please do get in touch and lets chat! I could do with some fresh thinking on this offer, to make it work!

Call me on 083 730 2979 or email onematchstick@gmail.com. Thanks- any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Summary of my three-way's

2010-05-26T23:22:00.000+02:00

I've got so many Three-Way Trades on the go, even I am battling to keep track.

So here's a summary of how it works and how you can trade with me in a Three-Way.

What's a Three-Way Trade?
Three-Ways involve three people:
1. Person One offers me an item or service in exchange for one or more of my T-shirts- they want to be "paid" for the item/service in the currency of Springleap T-shirts
2. Person Two wants the item or service and doesn't want a T-shirt, so puts up the cash to trade with me for the item/service. The cash is used to trade for the T-shirt/s so Person One gets the T-shirts.
3. Person Three is me – the one with all the T-shirts to trade.

So, if you want to be a part of one matchstick and help me get to my goal of office space for start up entrepreneurs, but don't want to trade cash with me for a T-shirt, then make me an offer of an item or service that you have.

If you don't want a T-shirt, but do want to support one matchstick, and don't know what you would have to trade with me- here is an easy option: trade some of your cash for one of these items listed below.

A copy of Rembrandt's self portrait- oil painting – R366

A men's medium limited edition Cycling sleeveless top – R183

A Hypnosis session in Cape Town to stop smoking – save 25% for only R549

A one hour Hypnosis session in Cape Town for weight loss, breaking habits, overcoming phobias, improving performance in personal and business life – save 45% for only R183

A diamond - 0.297 Carat with certificate valued at R1200, for only R915.00

A 360 degree photograph of your venue/ B&B/ hotel/ restaurant etc for R183

The writing services of a Reporter and Freelance Writer, Abed, for R183

Artwork - Dancing Girl OR Hula limited edition prints by artist Tuesday Houston valued at R900 each for only R366 each, or both for only R549

One Payroll Workshop in audio and workbook format valued at R399.99, for only R183.00

4 Private Pilates Classes with David in Fourways, Johannesburg valued at R720 – for only R549

A years website hosting plus the development of a wordpress website if you need it, for just R1281.00 – that's R106.75 per month for 12 months for a website!

The successful Three-Way trades that have happened already were for:

4 personal Life Coaching sessions with Shamillah that Gen took
Two sets of 4 Pilates classes with David that Penny and then Sharmaine took
60 Jumpstart Handbooks that anonymous Angel paid to have donated to the Bookshelf Project
2 listings on Talentfinders.com by Kerrin, which DJ Al and magician Marcel Oudejans traded for
A place at Nikki's Small Business Startup Workshop that Michelle took

So- if you want any of the above, awesome, available three-way trade offers, get in touch with me via my cell 0837302979 or email onematchstick@gmail.com!

Cool beans. Let's trade!

29 year old Rembrandt up for trade!

2010-05-26T21:54:00.000+02:00

I have another three-way trade to offer. And this is for an art enthusiast!

Dawn Nair is an artistic number-cruncher for an internet company in Johannesburg, and she is orginally from America. She paints and sings- and what talent she has! I've been lucky enough to hear not only her recorded music, but also an impromptu song or two!

She takes her inspiration for her paintings from the various countries and cities she has visited around the world, and her paintings are colourful and just lovely. She has chosen one of her paintings to trade with me and we've been talking about it for a few weeks now. So I'm super stoked to be sharing it now.

Dawn says that she "chose to paint this particular portrait of Rembrandt during his 29th year because most of his self portraits show an older man with florid skin, bulbous nose and watery eyes. Here one sees Rembrandt as a young man with the promise of great things ahead."

This copy of Rembrandt's self portrait is painted with high quality oils, on board that is primed according to the old Masters techniques and style.

- Dimensions -
W290 x L370 x D10mm

Dawn is asking for two of my Springleap.com T-shirts for this beautiful oil painting.

So if you don't know yet how three-way trades work, here's how it goes:

If you would like this oil painting, all you need to do is put up the cash to trade with me for two T-shirts (that's just R402) which we give to Dawn, and you get the oil painting.

So, if you're keen to trade with Dawn and I, then CALL ME 083 730 2979.

You'll get this copy of Rembrandt's self portrait at age 29.
Dawn will get 2 T-shirts.
And I'll be 2 more T-shirts closer to finishing my tenth trade!

Hypnosis in exchange for T-shirts

2010-05-15T13:02:00.000+02:00

Time to be mesmerized? Spellbound? Or better yet: Hypnotised by an expert who has a 94% success rate?

That's what my latest 3-way trade involves- and it has the potential to become a five-way trade!

Warren Thackeray studied at the United Kingdom Hypnotherapy Training College under Freddie and Anthony Jacquin. They are the big names in Hypnotherapy.

After that, Warren started his own practice in Harley Street, London. Since moving back to South Africa in 2008 he has continued hypnotherapy sessions on a smaller scale.

I met Warren when he and Fraser of Absolute Magazine challenged me- They said that they would get more views of "one matchstick, The Movie" on Absolute Magazine than YouTube would. And they won – it was a breeze for them! They got 413 views vs YouTube's 168.

Now, a couple of months later, Warren has offered me some Hypnosis Sessions in exchange for Springleap T-shirts – he's keen to trade with me!

So:

Have you ever seen something that you knew you just had to be a part of? Something that just said "You need this in your life now."

PowerfulChange Hypnotherapy with Warren can be the catalyst that helps you get what you want in your life.

Imagine having the courage it takes to free yourself from unwanted habits, doubts or fears. Studies show a vast range of benefits using hypnosis to heal the mind and body.

Warren is offering three sessions for three people (or if you want you can take all three!).

Session One: Stop smoking with hypnosis in one session - (94% success rate!)
In this session you'll finally kick the habit and it'll cost you the price of 3 T-shirts, which is R585 – that's a saving of about 25%!

Session Two and Three: A one hour Hypnosis session
These sessions can be used to:

Lose weight
Improve performance in your personal & business life
Break old habits
Let go of your past
Gain the body you desire
Overcome fears and phobias

Each session will cost just R219 – that's for one T-shirt per session, and a saving of about 45%!

Warren specialises in stop smoking therapy, weight loss and helping people overcome phobias and fears, and is based in Cape Town.

So if you'd like to get what you want out of your life and experience the benefits of hypnosis, CALL ME 0837302979 so we can trade! You can take all three sessions, or just pick the one session you want, and pay the cash to change your life.

You'll get to stop smoking or loose weight or break old habits etc.
Warren will get some funky Springleap T-shirts
I'll be 5 T-shirts closer to my goal.

Everything fast and quick

2010-05-15T12:07:00.000+02:00

I went to the Johannesburg Tweetup last week and got chatting to Elan.

I think I made the fastest T-shirt trade ever with Elan- in that he gave me the cash within two minutes of hearing my trade story.

Now I'm organising to get his T-shirt delivered to him.

Thanks Elan for trading with me!

Anyone else want a fast quick... trade? ;)

How many T-shirts is a Diamond worth?

2010-04-07T10:00:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I met Joe at a dinner party, and he was intrigued by my story so far. He's a prominent diamond dealer, and so naturally offered me what he knows best for a trade- a diamond. Wow!

I went to visit Joe and get a better sense of diamonds, as I'm not much of a diamond girl myself. Gosh, did I learn a lot! And Joe even showed me the latest technology he uses in the process of turning a rough diamond into a cut one! A-ma-zing!

So I now have a certified, beautiful, small diamond to trade with someone for five Springleap T-shirts! It's sparkles, as diamond should, and has a lovely grey hue about it. It's a "point two niner" (I'm learning the lingo!) and is ideal to set into a pendant or a ring.

So, guys, if you have an anniversary coming up, or want to celebrate the birth of your child with a sparkling gift to his/her mother, or are just plain into spoiling the one you love, then consider this:

Trade with me for one beautiful small diamond, valued at R1200, by purchasing five Springleap T-shirts for Joe (which is only R915.00).

The Diamond has a certificate, and the specs are:
Shape: Round Brilliant
Weight: 0.297 Carat
Clarity: SI2
Colour: STW (I) Grey Hue

So if you're interested in this diamond, CALL ME! 0837302979

You'll get this little beauty of a diamond
Joe will get 5 T-shirts
And I'll be 5 T-shirts closer to my goal of offices!

Sparkling (as my friend Shan would say)!

I’m in the Army now

2010-03-28T17:36:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my friends and I had such adrenalin pumping fun! We took part in The Amazing Race for Charity around Johannesburg. We wore some mad hats, debated the clues, blew vuvuzelas, putted golf balls in bars, raced our friends in other teams, ran our laptop batteries dead and ourselves out of breath, played 30 seconds, locked team mates in the car, got shot with paintballs, and laughed so much!

A BIG THANK YOU to Dean Oelschig and his team for organising the Amazing Race for the seventh time, and for giving us the opportunity to support SOS Children's Villages in such a rad, fun way! You guys Make Joburg Great!

The best 'Best Dressed Team' was this ingenious team "In the Army now" – I take my hat off to your creativity! How awesome are they!

Calling all cyclists

2010-03-24T18:47:00.000+02:00

I'm calling all cyclists! And friends and families of cyclists!

For two reasons.

Reason One: to tell you about a ray of sunshine in the form of Ray Chaplin.
Reason Two: to remind you of an opportunity to spoil yourself or a loved one while making my day!

Reason One:

Ray is one of those guys that some people call crazy, others might say courageous, and others inspirational. To me he's all three.

Crazy, courageous, inspirational Ray is about to cycle from Johannesburg to Cape Town on a really old fashioned bicycle- a 1930's replica to be exact, and it has only one speed and a really hard saddle. He's doing this to raise awareness of cycling safely, and how all road users can all use the same roads safely. His trip will also honour and remember all those cyclist who lost their lives in cycling accidents. I'm a cyclist - even though I haven't been on my bicycle for a while - so I believe it's great that Ray is creating this much awareness!

And he's also training himself mentally and physically for his bigger dream of being a crazy, courageous, and inspirational endurance adventurer! Ray has many BIG expeditions all over the world planned. I'm looking forward to following these adventures.

For now though, you can join me in following him on this road trip through his blog or facebook page, and if you are in Johannesburg join me on Sunday morning (28 March) for a coffee and to wish him well (maybe even cycle with him for a few kilometres), or if you are in Cape Town welcome him back on Sunday 11 April (details here).

Reason Two:

And while I have all the cyclists attention, I'd like to remind you of a trade offer I have available still. Maybe you want to spoil yourself, or if you have a loved one who cycles maybe spoil them, with this funky cyclist shirt.

It's a size medium
It's shoulderless (that means sleeveless too ;)
It has a full zip
It's gorgeous
It's one of 5 made so far.

And it's yours for only R183.00 as a trade with me!

If you want this Explore SA Cycling Top or to join me on Sunday then CALL ME 0837302979.

In the news

2010-03-22T22:33:00.000+02:00

Some guys have been talking about me recently... and here is what they have to say:

Ruari Plint wrote a post about me- he's got a think about energy and Microsoft.
>>Read it here.

Marc Forrest and Shaun Trennery asked me some thought provoking questions for their blog Izimvo.
>>Read it here.

Craig Lubbe called me a lunatic!
>>Read it here.

Mongezi shared what he's learnt from one matchstick.
>> Read it here.

Abed Ahmed (who's also offered his freelance services as a trade with me) wrote a nice article and took a pic of me for 8 publications of the Caxton Newspapers.

Thank you all for writing about one matchstick :) You're what my friend Adin calls the "helperazzi"! And you rock!

One T-shirt, 60 books and 750 children

2010-03-17T21:56:00.000+02:00

This must be one of the stories from all my trades to date that has touched my heart the most.

My friend Lewis Khoury and I met through Facebook. He's based in Cape Town, so isn't it amazing how technology has helped make this story happen? We probably would not have met if it weren't for Facebook, and on my next trip to Cape Town I'll get to meet him in person for the first time.

Lewis has a passion to make a difference to our youth, and is actively doing something to live his passion. He is the editor and tireless distributor of a book. This book is a very innovative idea, aimed at high school learners to give them career guidance and life skills in a most colourful and useful way. It's sole purpose is to educate, empower and uplift both the learners leaving school and the teachers who shape them. It is called the JumpStart Handbook.

Lewis contacted me and offered me 60 of these books for one Springleap T-shirt, hoping I could find a way to get the books into 60 children's hands. I was eager too, but had no idea how. Little did I know we'd reach even more than 60 children- way more!

Chris Dykes is a dear friend of mine, who happened to help make a bookshelf one day for a childcare centre in an informal settlement near Johannesburg. From this experience was born the Bookshelf Project, where Chris makes bookshelves and then proceeds to full them with books for the children. His vision is to facilitate a love of reading by making books available to children who would otherwise not have access to them. And his passion goes further too- he also empowers them with skills and the confidence to have academic careers: he helps them learn how to study, and to support each other and younger children with their studies.

He has had me in tears of amazement as he tells stories of the impact he is making, like of how he visited a Bookshelf Project and found an older child reading a story to over 20 younger children, or of how a child has for the first time not only passed her school year, but done well thanks to having access to books after school and the study skills support she got from Chris.

Chris and his Bookshelf Project seemed like the perfect match for Lewis's 60 JumpStart Handbooks. All I needed was someone to help out with the donation to make this trade happen.

Along came the Angel, who wants to remain anonymous. Angel heard of this possible trade, and a few minutes later made the donation.

So what was to be a simple three-way trade, turned into a four-way trade (Lewis, Chris, Angel and me) and then into a five-way trade when Lewis' Springleap T-shirt was delivered and his sister Tessa claimed it for herself.

Actually it's turned into a 755-way trade, as the books are impacting an estimate of 750 children. Because of the way Chris has developed and is running his Bookshelf Projects (there are more than one now- we threw a "Talk like a Pirate Party" last year, me mates and I, and raised funds for Pirate Chris, arrrr) he has been able to distribute the 60 JumpStart books among the centres, and they will be touching 750 children's lives!

*Sigh*

And to think it all started with one matchstick.

Want a 360 degree photo?

2010-03-16T10:36:00.000+02:00

Have you seen a 360 degree photo? They're pretty cool. Actually they are absolutely cool! You get to see everything including the ground and the sky, and all around you as if you were actually there in the spot the photo was taken.

Just like this photo that John Gore took of Ruan Smit as he was cycling down to Cape Town and stopped to chat to some ostriches.

John has offered me 3 separate 360 degree images for 3 separate locations in a trade for 3 of my Springleap T-Shirts. Nice hey!

You can see more examples of 360 degree images on John's website. These images give you a full screen, virtual tour of your location and the images are in brilliant colour HDR (that's just tech speak for making your venue look super duper cool and fabulous!)

So if you have a restaurant, bed and breakfast, hotel or lodge (or know anyone who does) and it's anywhere in the Mossel Bay area, Cape Town or Gauteng (these are the places John will be over the next few weeks), then let me know! You'll get a 360 degree image worth R1000 for just the price of one T-shirt (that's R183). It's a sweeeet deal! It could even be a really funky way of taking a photo of your favourite spot on earth to remember forever and ever...

So this 3-Way Trade is:
Three of you get a 360 degree image each
John gets three T-shirts
I get to trade on another three of my T-shirts

So again, if you have a hotel or guest house or restaurant and are keen for a 360 degree photo for the price of a Tshirt (or know of someone who might be interested) CALL ME 0837302979. Ta!