Community Exchange NewsCommunity Exchange News is the Newsletter of the Cape Town SANE Community Exchange System (CES)
| Community Exchange News |
| No.6, 10 December 2003 |
Community Exchange News is the Newsletter of the Cape Town SANE Community Exchange System (CES) |
Contents:
News: We are now the "Talent Exchange"!
At a recent meeting of the Steering Committee it was decided to rename what has up to now been called the "CES" to the "Talent Exchange". There is a general feeling that this is more descriptive of the CES and plays on the name of our 'currency' the Talent.
While CES still applies to what we are, the 'official' name is now the "Talent Exchange".
A month ago the ability to make donations to the CES Administration was implemented. In that month T762 was donated. As a percentage of T17,694.25 traded during that period, this represents just 4.3% of the total, less than the 10% requested. Many members have ignored the request for donations.
While the Administration is satisfied with the 'income' generated by the donations we may in the coming year have to implement a 'transaction charge' or 'service charge'. The CES Administration has great plans for next year and the 'income' it earns is going to be invested back into the Talent Exchange by calling on its members to provide services.
The CES Administration account is a public account. This means that it is completely open for you to monitor what the Administration is spending your donations on. You can see the full statement of account when you look at the CES Administration member record.
Talent Exchange: New Logo Required
New logo designs submitted by members are now available for viewing from the web site. Please have a look at them and submit your comments to admin/at/ces.org.za. If you have any designs of your own please send them to this same address.
The new logo will appear on the web site and on all 'official' publications and documents of the Talent Exchange. It will also be displayed by vendors who accept Talents in payment, much like the Visa and MasterCard logos.
A new CES group has been started in the Garden Route area. The new group, called appropriately "Garden Route", will cover George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay etc.
Another new group is planned for MacGregor in the early new year.
Pretoria and Johannesburg groups have been adding new members consistently, though trade has been somewhat slow. Pretoria is beginning to show some signs of 'take off'.
There has been a query from Groblersdal in Mpumalanga which the Johannesburg administrator, Rory Short, is following up.
We hope to have inter-group trading set up by the end of the year. This means that you will be able to trade with any member in any other group. This is really going to open up the Talent Exchange!
Big trading events are planned for the new year, the first of which will be held on 24 January. We have grown large enough to stand on our own, and this event will be the first where we will not be a mere participant at another event. The idea is for this to be a trading/social event where members can trade and get to know each other. There will be more to follow.
Let's make the Talent Exchange web site a collective effort. On the internet many projects are 'open source'. This means that many people work on a program or application to bring it to perfection. The same could be done with our web site. There are many ideas for improving it but this amounts to an enormous task for one person, who has to do it all in his spare time.
So if you are into programming get in touch with the Administration at admin/at/ces.org.za and let us know how you can help.
The "Talent Exchange" is now accessible using the address www.talentexchange.org.za
The following addresses also work:
Site statistics: Steady Growth Continues
As at 10 December 2003:
Sales 2003:
Month Sales Talents Total February 3 295.00 295.00 March 8 394.00 689.00 April 9 1,768.00 2,457.00 May 21 2,802.02 5,259.02 June 80 6,091.82 11,350.84 July 113 10,493.65 21,844.49 August 194 19,949.01 41,793.50 September 263 26,404.88 68,198.38 October 179 35,284.47 103,482.85 November 151 18,504.75 121,987.60 December 56 (10 days) 6,987.00 128,974.60 Total 1,077 128,974.60
Many people complain about lack of custom. As we have pointed out many times before, the CES 'market' is a very different one to the Rand market. Ours is a small, closed group of near 400 people and they are 'in here' for different reasons than they are 'out there'. Many members have offerings that only make sense in a business environment. There are very few businesses in the CES and most are small and not in need of high-powered business services.
Have a look again at what you offer and ask yourself this question: "Do people in the CES really want what I have to offer?".
If you are not getting custom, consider some of the following:
Accommodation (temporary, holiday)
Bulk buying (and then selling some of it for Talents)
Christmas cakes/puddings
Christmas crackers
Christmas shopping!
Christmas presents
Clothes repaired
Entering CES trades
Freezer meals
Internet access using your computer (email, CES etc.)
Marketing/selling other people's products
Second-hand children's clothing
Second-hand children's toys
Sewing
Story telling/reading
Tax advice/forms
Hiring:
Bicycle
Boat
Cameras
Camping/hiking equipment
Computer
Data projector
Do-it-yourself tools (drills, scredrivers, saws etc.)
Domestic appliances
Garden tools
Household items (blankets, sheets, pillows etc.)
Motor vehicle tools
Party items (cutlery, plates, bowls etc.)
Slide projector
If there is something that you want from the CES and it is cheaper in the CES than 'out there', why not pay for it by purchasing goods with Rands that you know will sell in the CES. You may have access to a good bargain and you could sell the Rand-purchased goods in the CES for a 'profit'. This way you could benefit twice.
SANE CES Administration
admin/at/ces.org.za