Bersama keluarga, teman, sahabat, kolega.

Menjelang datangnya hari yang fitri,

Meski jemari tak dapat berjabat dan raga tak dapat bersua,

Dengan hati yang bersih, kita jalin indahnya silaturahmi.

Membuka keikhlasan di hari kemenangan,

‘tuk memulai lembaran baru dengan fitrah dan kesucian hati.

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1431 H

Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin

* Untuk melihat video ucapan dari Maverick, silakan klik tulisan ‘replay’ pada gambar di atas

What? A quiz? If I want to join Maverick, I just have to take a quiz?

Yes! If you dare to join us and be a part of our super fun team, you can start by taking this quiz. Go ahead and try for yourself, see if you’re Maverick enough!

happy faces of the Mavericks

When was the last time you pushed yourself to try something new and your employer not only encouraged you but subsidized the cost up to one month of your salary!? Ask anyone at Maverick because they enjoy this every year!

At Maverick we constantly challenge our staff not only to provide quality work for clients, but also to develop themselves, broaden their horizons, try new things and generally getting out of their comfort zones. We think that life is much, much more than just work — which you of course have to be good at — but that each individual should explore the full potential of their lives.

That’s why we introduced the concept of a Personal Development Fund (PDF) from the first year Maverick was established. The fund, equivalent to a month’s salary, is available to anyone who’s been confirmed and who has been working with us for a year. You can use the fund, that gets renewed each year, for any course or program that helps you develop as a human being and makes your life richer. The best part is that it has to be non-work related.

Over the past few years Mavericks have used this fund in exciting ways. Shilla, for instance, used the fund to learn how to scuba dive in one year. The next year she used the fund to indulge in another passion of hers – cooking. She went to Hong Kong to enroll in a Dim Sum making course. Indri used her PDF to pursue the art of belly dancing and Adwie used his PDF to sharpen his skills in photography. Hanny is planning to use hers for a course in painting. And Maverick picks up the tab for all of these activities.

This year the PDF got better. We decided to allow our consultants to use it to travel. The only condition is that it must be to a destination that they haven’t been to before, so that they are exposed to new places, idea and people. We think it would be cool if our consultants are able to watch sunset from a different timezone, enjoying exotic food and friendly chat with local people, while not having to worry about the bills.

Paid-for holidays and an opportunity to enroll in any course to indulge your passions? What’s the catch?

Very little, really. You merely have to be very good at your work, push the boundaries of what’s possible and have a zest for life and learning new things.

Meskipun belum mencapai 1,000 tweets seperti yang ditargetkan sebelumnya, Maverick sangat senang dan bersyukur atas kontribusi ini dan memutuskan untukmemberikan satu buah PC untuk ruang kelas SMK Pertanian Garut!

Sebagai ucapan terima kasih, kami hendak memperpanjang gerakan ini hingga satu minggu ke depan, dengan harapan akan lebih banyak perlengkapan yang bisa kita donasikan untuk SMK Pertanian Sarimukti Garut, sehingga ruang kelas mereka bisa terisi penuh.

Untuk informasi saja, saat ini SMK tersebut baru kita isi dengan 6 buah bangku, dan masih dibutuhkan sekitar 20 bangku dan meja lagi, lemari penyimpanan, serta software pendidikan untuk mereka.

Dapatkah kita bersama-sama memberikan kontribusi lewat #somedayIndonesia sehingga ruang kelas SMK Pertanian Sarimukti benar-benar bisa terisi penuh?

Yuk, ikuti @somedayind untuk mengisinya dengan lebih banyak perlengkapan, sehingga adik-adik kita bisa bersekolah di ruang kelas dengan fasilitas yang memadai! Kunjungi site SOMEDAY Indonesia di sini untuk informasi lengkapnya, ya!

In 2003 Lesley Sudiro was invited by Rapp Collins Worldwide, an agency known for its data driven marketing providing, among other things integrated solutions, brand planning and research as well as digital marketing, to set up a new agency in partnership with DDB Indonesia.

She has headed Rapp Indonesia since, running campaigns for clients such as Sony Ericsson. BAT, Bank Commonwealth, Frisian Flag, Ministry of Trade and Dancow Parenting Centre. The program and creative work for Sony Ericsson earned an award at the 2004 Promotional Awards for Asia and qualified for the 2004 Golden Globes.

“Maverick is delighted with Lesley joining us as her experience will considerably strengthen our marketing practice,” said Lita Soenardi, a partner at Maverick. “This is all part of Maverick’s continued efforts to raise the bar on creativity and ideas for our clients who, rightly, want much more of their communications consultancy than just media relations,” she said.

—ooOoo—

Maverick is a communications consultancy that provides strategic counseling on integrated brand communications and the use of social media as well as crisis and issues management. Its divisions also provide a range of services ranging from media monitoring and measurement to web design.

I was determined to outdo last year’s trip to Bangkok, Thailand. My month-long research resulted in 5 destination options. Once the destination had been decided upon, determining when we would be going was another question. When it was announced (finally!) just 2 weeks before D- day, everyone went ecstatic. We were going to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! As for me, it was full steam ahead for me. Imagine trying to secure a hotel that has more than 11 triple rooms, at a good location, with a reasonable price. Add to that having tour agencies to pack a 2-day tour program into 1 day, requesting that the pick-up company adjust its service for us, and coordinating 23 people internally.

Our hotel was small, but it serves breakfast in a rooftop restaurant! Here's a view of Ho Chi Minh City skyline.

All that hard work was paid off when we took off to a new country. Ho Chi Minh City was hot, loud and exotic. Right after we had landed, we went to dinner at Pho 2000, where former U.S. President Bill Clinton had his pho. Pho is Vietnamese noodles, long and lean with a variety of options – seafood, chicken, beef, or vegetarian. The broth is clear and it basically has a clean taste, but that’s the uniqueness of it. Instead of a bowl full of spices, you get to taste the authentic taste of Vietnam.

A bowl of delicious, authentic Vietnamese pho

The next day, we visited Chu Chi Tunnels and went around the city. Chu Chi Tunnels are the incredible underground web of tunnels the Vietnamese to fight against the U.S. during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Parts of these tunnels are now open for visitors, though trying them out is not easy task – these tunnels are narrow, only the size of an average person. Inside, you have to crawl and they were so dark you cannot see anything. Underground, one minute can practically feel like an hour. But being Mavericks, many of us were brave enough to go down of course! Afterwards, we went to the Presidential Palace, the famous post office decked out in grand French style, the Cathedral, and took pictures on the steps of the Opera Hall.

The Chu Chi Tunnels are so narrow, you can barely fit in.

The annual Maverick of the Year Award was given at dinner that night, to our colleague Stephanie. She was commended for her professional as well as personal growth throughout the year. Everyone was so happy for her that none of us realized the restaurant had been closed. Congratulations, Teph! The last day was free for last-minute shopping. Everyone had a great time throughout the trip, that even a 4-hour flight delay that made us stuck at the airport could not dampen our spirits.

Organizing a company outing was a truly enriching experience for me. I learnt how to create fun activities that stayed within budget, liaised effectively, manage a huge group of people, and ensured that everyone was happy, well-fed and on time. Anyone who never realized or had ever undermined a tour operator’s job, I challenge them to take on this task. It was blood, sweat, tears – and at the end, hugs and smiles.

Mavericks taking over Ho Chi Minh City Presidential Palace

The theme for each event is always different to ensure excitement every year. We have had Bollywood, Moshi-Moshi and several others, and this year we chose Masquerade. Yes, with the masks and gowns and tuxedo!

It will be held tonight, Friday, Jan 27, at The Only One Club, 5th Floor of fX Entertainment Center. Our friends from all media houses are more than welcome to join us. There will be hosts from yours truly – the Mavericks, as well as games, prizes, and door prizes!

And, don’t forget to join our Facebook page – Maverick and Friends – for informations about Maverick and our events.

So, will we see you there tonight?

Maverick (http://www.maverick.co.id), one of the most respected communications consultancies in Indonesia, is looking for creative, dynamic, and bright candidates, with attitude, for the following positions:

Senior Associate, Marketing PR
The candidate has at least 5-7 years of working experience in Marketing PR and has excellent skills in Integrated Marketing Communications, strategy development and implementation.  Sharp analytical skills is a must.  Able to liaise with blue chip multinational clients, the candidate will also supervise teams to execute the strategy.  The candidate is fluent in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Business Head, New Media
The candidate has passion, excellent skills and knowledge of new and social media.  The person should be fluent in English and Bahasa Indonesia. Strong management and proposal development skills, together with an entrepreneurial spirit, are mandatory.

Associate, Crisis and Issues Management
The candidate has at least 3-4 years of working experience, either in the communications industry and/or as a journalist. Strong analytical skills is a must. The candidate should also be knowledgeable about business and current affairs. The person is fluent in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Officer, Administration/Reception
The candidate has at least 3-4 years of working experience as administration/reception.  Having good interpersonal skills is a must; and knowledge of finance is an advantage.  The person is good in English and fluent in Bahasa Indonesia.

Send your application letter, resume and an A4 page in English explaining why you’d be good at the position advertised  to maverick@maverick.co.id

He was followed by a tweet from the other well-known social media icon @enda, who aid that “any access to blogs based in Blogger.com using ISP FirstMedia is blocked.” The issue in question arose from a posting in a Blogger.com hosted blog that had a crude cartoon parodying the prophet and a hadith.

The name of Indonesia’s Minister of Information, Tifatul Sembiring, and his Twitter handle @tifsembiring (he tweets regularly and almost daily answers some questions and suggestions posed to him in Twitter) was increasingly mentioned as the understanding among Twitterers was that First Media was apparently complying to an order from the Ministry of Information.

What wasn’t clear was whether the Ministry asked First media to block access to only to offending blog or to the entire blogspot.com platform.

The information vacuum spawned a host of opinions. Some Twitterers speculated that the government was trying to stifle Indonesian online community’s freedom of speech. Other twitters began associating the move with China’s attempt to restrict access to the internet.

Last year’s incident where Tifatul’s predecessor Muhammad Nuh blocked access to Youtube because of the movie ‘Fitna’ was dredged up by the Twitterers as an example of the government’s overzealous reaction to Net content.

The government’s supporters said such moves were necessary because any issue involving Islam was sensitive here, since most of the population are Moslem.

Its detractors, however, were critical and started posing questions to @tifsembiring.

Interestingly enough, the minister himself responded. He asked questions regarding the mass blockage, said he would cross-check the facts and promised that the incident involving FirstMedia would be resolved soon. Later in the afternoon, some tweeters reported the blockage has been terminated.

Reaction to this attempt was also mixed. Some Twitterers see this as a positive development. They say that it is natural for mistakes to crop up now and then. The Ministry’s order to block the blog was such a mistake. First Media’s interpretation to block the entire blogspot.com platform was another.

But what was important to all this, they say, is that Tifatul Sembiring proved that he was listening to the public through Twitter and when he discovered that a mistake was made he undit it and apologized for it.

Others, however, were not so generous toward Tifatul and the government. They say that while it was a good PR gesture on Tifatul’s part the important questions surrounding the incident still haven’t been answered.

“Who actually issued the order to block the website? Did they order FirstMedia to block a specific blog or the entire blogspot.com platform? And is this an attempt to test the waters of what they can censor and what they can’t in the future?” said one of them. For that, the Twitter and others said, the Miniters should be roundly criticized.

So what do you think? Should Tifatul Sembiring be applauded for the way he handled the Blogspot Censorship Incident or should he be criticized for issuing the order in the first place and using Twitter to smooth thing over when it was evident that the online community  wouldn’t stand of any of it?

Sudah sejak dari kemarin (Selasa, 29 September) sambungan listrik di area DKI Jakarta tersendat-sendat, atau bisa dibilang, mati lampu secara total. Mati lampu yang diakibatkan terbakarnya gardu PLN yang berlokasi di Cawang mengakibatkan beberapa seruan kaget “EH LHO, MATI LAMPU?” sampai teriakan histeris “ADUH KERJAAN BELUM SEMPET DI-SAVE INIIIIII!!!” di kantor Maverick. Tentu saja hal ini tidak berlaku bagi teman-teman di Maverick yang menggunakan laptop dan kebetulan baterai laptopnya masih mencukupi untuk menyelesaikan pekerjaan.

Tapi sekuat-kuatnya bertahan di kantor yang mati lampu, lama-lama tidak tahan juga gelap-gelap ria dengan hanya ditemani nyala lampu LCD monitor dari laptop. Akhirnya beberapa orang memutuskan untuk hijrah ke mall. Demi listrik dan WiFi, yeah…

Kemarin akhirnya kami pulang setelah menyelesaikan pekerjaan dengan harapan agar sambungan listrik di Jakarta kembali normal tanpa adanya blackout tiba-tiba. Namun ternyata eh ternyata, baru tadi pagi sampai di kantor dan menyalakan PC, tiba-tiba– *BLEP!*

Listrik mati lagi.

Menurut kabar yang beredar, sudah ada jadwal pemadaman bergilir dan ternyata daerah kantor Maverick mendapatkan giliran pagi ini. Akhirnya setelah berdiskusi, kami semua memutuskan untuk hijrah kembali ke mall terdekat sampai listrik kembali menyala.

Yah, namanya juga ‘numpang’ di kafe demi listrik dan WiFi padahal satu pasukan Maverick semuanya membawa laptop akhirnya terjadilah tumpang tindih kabel laptop di colokan listrik.

Rasanya kalau berbisnis colokan listrik saat musim mati lampu di Jakarta akan cukup menguntungkan, hmmm.

Untung saja saat makan siang, ada laporan dari kantor bahwa listrik telah kembali menyala sehingga kami semua bisa kembali ke kantor dan melanjutkan pekerjaan yang tertunda.

Semoga besok tidak mati lampu lagi yah. Amiiiin