Derek Van Dam, e.tv and the eNCA's chief meteorologist probably doesn't own a chair. Why would you, if you never sit still?
You just finished running the 2013 Comrades marathon. Why did you do it and how was the experience for you?
Derek Van Dam: Yeah. Wow.It was hands down the most difficult thing I've ever done. Come on, they call it the "Comrades" for a reason! Ha ha. It was insane. It was really like - you test your body's ability to stretch it to extreme limits. I saw so many people collpase. I saw so many people being treated by medics. I'm not trying to blown my own horn or anything but I'm happy I finished it.
And why did you do it?
Derek: Okay, I ran the Comrades in support of a charity, Compassionate Life Foundation, or CLF which we refer to it as. CLF actually originally brought me to South Africa and Swazilandseven years ago. Without this organisation I would literally not live or work here in this country. I hold CLF really close to my heart because without it I wouldn't be here.
How do you think the online expansion has helped to grow the eNCA weather brand and to keep people more informed 24 hours a day about the weather?
Derek: Our weather page - enca.com/weather has a really unique aspect to it which you can't get anywhere else on the internet and that is an actual personalised weather forecast from an actual human being.
Now you've got to understand the difference, okay.
You can go to any weather website and receive and fullfill your need for weather information, but is that information correct and is there human interaction with "Hey, I live in Rondebosch and it will rain on this side of the mountain but on the other side in the city bowl it won't rain?"
That's the beauty of our eNCA website, we allow that type of human interactions with our weather forecast. It's actually a human driving that information to you.
Not only that, there's also a lot of interactivity to it. People who like a user experience will enjoy it for that.
You can also catch the latest weather bulletin and we're also sharing a lot of our weather tips and secrets and that type of stuff which I think people appreciate because it brings a human side to the weather reporting as well.
We've got our blog that where my team and I cover everything from the meteor shower which came through Cape Town to why did it hail over the weekend in Cape Town, why did we get the tornado in Bloemfontein and why is it so hot in Johannesburg? We answer and try to explain just anything.
I actually wanted to touch on the eNCA weather blog. How difficult is it or challenging? What changes did it necessitate to now also not just focus on doing an actual up to the minute weather forecast but to also have an ongoing conversation during the day online?
Derek: Actually it was quite a natural transition for me and my department because I've been prepping them for a long time. From day one since I started working in this company I said we need a web, and we need a web presence and we need to be there big time. There was a lot of hesitation for various reasons - that's not important - but the point is that when it finally went live we were ready for it. And now eNCA weather is playing in the social media space and very active on blogs and our eNCA weather website is extremely informative and user friendly as well.
If people have questions about the weather, what is the best or the easiest or the most functional way for them to make contact with you guys?
Derek: Just follow me on Twitter. I respond to people all the time. It's @WXmanVanDam. Then there's also my Facebook page - just go to Facebook and search "Derek Van Dam". You can go to our eNCA weather website which is www.enca.com/weather and you can submit a question directly to us - there's a cool submit function. Or send an email to info@enca.com
Editor's note: Derek Van Dam just jetted off to Europe and will be back in a few weeks on the eNCA.
