November 19, 2021
The advancements in technology should not frighten anyone. Without breakthroughs in technology, we would not have the wheel, the steam ship, the light bulb or telephone. (I can just imagine the crazy things Edison was called when he said he could send electricity to a bulb… people must have thought it was witchcraft and doomed to be a disastrous failure, but not Edison)
Just like Thomas Edison, take these modern day advancements in technology seriously and harness them as a way out of your losses from 2020/2021. We have spoken to technology leaders in the region and they are making a go of it in these tough times and helping people in the process.
In fact, firms that survived the downturn of 2020 had one thing in common- They all moved their operations to a digital space where they could operate and serve their customers remotely.
If you are a mom and pop store that means you too. Even grocery stores went digital and used delivery service app’s to help customers who either couldn’t come out or didn’t want to come out. It just made sense.
Now that we are here we have people still wondering if they should use e-commerce platforms and payment gateways to receive payments, even though they are being ran by the same banks they put their night-deposits in. You people never cease to amaze me!
Caribbean Magazine Plus/Arawak Media is a proud COVID-19 business. A black owned, small operator right in the thick of the Caribbean. We had a mandate to bring you information and news about whats happening around the Caribbean and Central American reigion and wider diaspora, but also bring out the talent of these people to the public eye. This is why we endeavour to have as many contests as we possibly can.
As many of you are aware, we had a very successful Poetry Contest this past few months. It was out first ever contest under our brand, and from that contest a book of a selection of the top poems will be published. In fact, the book if finished editing and we are in the process of dragging our graphic designer by the throat to finish the book design so we can send it to the publisher- Amazon, of course.
We will do the same thing with the short story competition we have ongoing right now until January 14, 2022. After we choose the top three, we will take a selection and make a book out of it. With God’s willing, we will do it.
Just to note, we have a speech competition upcoming next year February as well. We have partnered with the District 81 Toastmasters Club of the Caribbean and the speech competition will be conducted in four languages, English, Spanish, French and Dutch. We have native speakers lined up and ready to evaluate the best speeches. So be on the lookout for the launch in February 2022.
Finally we have the TropicSpin Song and Music Competition that we endeavour to launch in March, 2022. We have the date and the venue and it will all be streamed online through our channels and our partner, Caribbean Cyber Stream, we just need more sponsorship to help promote the event. Sponsors is what we need! More details on the TropicSpin will be released soon. Be on the lookout for it.
We have embraced this digital age and decided that instead of crying about it, we praised God and then try make a go of things and see where the Father in heaven leads us.
So don’t you be afraid to take your show online.