Ferdie Bester – South Africa Office

So I found myself…

I was born in South Africa (in the middle of nowhere so no point disclosing the exact location and went to school in the Free State.

A trip to Zimbabwe and Zambia in my final school year inspired me to explore a bit more before making a decision on what to study. So I was off it was to England. Being a 19 year old South African with a terrible English accent in London was quite an interesting experience.

I quickly realized that there was a huge skills shortage in the IT sector and tried my luck at getting a contract. After two months I landed a contract with a large investment bank Henderson Investors. With my IT skill set I made a huge success of this and saved enough money for my studies and a few adventures.

Europe was my first backpacking adventure, I slept at train stations and parks in Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice etc. After my return to London my flat mate convinced (stole my credit card and bought the airline ticket) to go to Thailand with him. We did island hopping for 5 weeks and heard stories of ping-pong balls, drug dealers in prisons, border patrols in Vietnam from the most interesting characters.

In 2000 I returned to South Africa and started my academic career at the University of Stellenbosch, better know for its Pinotage and wild student life. During my studies I went to New York City (in 2001 and 2002) where I worked at an Irish pub in Time Square. I was amazed with this energetic city and instantly fell in love. During one of these trips I was introduced into the world of online marketing by a gentleman called Stephan Pretorius and started to read-up on this industry.

After completing my B.Comm Business Management course I started working for Shoprite Checkers the biggest FMCG company in South Africa . During this period I worked on finance projects in Namibia and Angola where I learned how to manage uncontrollable and hostile environments.

I grew restless at Shoprite-Checkers and was looking for a more dynamic opportunity.   Mauritz, a long standing friend from the UK, gave me a call and informed me of an open position at Forge (then Team-Affiliate) – Jonathan Miller's company. 2 months later I started my career in online marketing. I have been with Forge for an intensive and exciting 1.5 years.

I have a great interest in the disruptive power and evolution of the internet and love how it's being used to render 100 year old business plans obsolete.

I'm currently busy with my CMA at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and should be complete by end 2006.

One the personal side:

I'm a sailing nut – I currently co-own a 23ft Buccaneer and a dingy. If our area was more conducive to sailing I would have done all my work from the yacht.

To say I love traveling is a gross understatement.

Enough about me.