It’s very obvious to me that I’m getting old. The annual trek to Austin is something that I’m beginning to have a love/hate relationship with.
Great people and great info make the time there really worth attending and it would seem that each year the brands are getting smarter and smarter to court the influence of the tastemakers by bringing out the big guns.
This year went above and beyond. CNN, Pepsi, AOL and Samsung all went to the wall with big offerings. Overall the actual panels and speaking was great – however I thought the panels this year were lacking. During the conference I asked around to see if it was just me or a greater problem. Turns out it wasn’t me, I asked around and we all had the same feeling – many panel speakers seemed unprepared or out of sync with each other, like there was zero prep time.
Highlights and Tips:
Apps, Apps, Apps
I don’t know what the square footage of the Austin Convention Center Exhibition area was but 90% of the booths were hocking an app. It makes sense because Apple has paid out over $2 Billion to developers but none of them really stood out to me. App Developers – How are you standing out?? The secret is not by offering a drawing for an iPad2 (everyone’s doing it!)
Print is not dead
The irony that the largest techie conference uses as much paper as they do is disturbing. Big kudos to the crew at Square Space for their brilliant food truck and use of GREAT print. It was effective and drew me in. Loved it!
Print is still white noise
Making a flyer about your website, new app or product is just silly. Mediocre print is sadly not going anywhere but covered any square inch of space available around the convention center. Interestingly the only people I saw paying attention to the massive flyer covered areas were the people covering them.
Ze Frank blew my doors off!
It’s great find out that the word is bigger than I thought and I’ve got a long way to go. I find it challenging and exciting. Ze walked through several recent projects including Young Me, Now Me and The Chillout Story. I was entranced by his humanity crossed with technology storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a fan of Ze since “The Show” but to hear how these emotion laden one-offs are impacting masses and showing true connection are exquisitely beautiful.
The Mentoring Sessions in Film should be adopted by Interactive
It was invaluable to bounce ideas off of leading filmmakers and executives. I wish this was also done by the interactive side of things. Please SXSW make that happen for next year!
Ditch the Parties and hang out at the lobby bar.
This is the best piece of advice I can give you and I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one thinking it. Most nights I was trying to catch up with a fair amount of people and it was great to just hang out in one place and not have to yell over the thumping bass. The bonus was one night finding Guy Kawasaki and Pam Slim at the next table – I knew it was a good idea!
Talking to 3 different continents during Beth Kanters’ session!
A packed house for Beth’s session on engaging free agents and the best part was talking in real time with new friends in Lebanon and Egypt at the same time. It’s so important for free agents and nonprofits to team up and Beth does an amazing job of making that point. Don’t be a fortress nonprofit and get her book!
Experience SXSW as a team!
I was very fortunate to be with 3 great guys from Out:think Group. I work with these guys everyday and it was great to spend some time with these extremely talented guys without due dates hanging over our heads.
Get some Coulhaus!
I can’t talk enough about this food truck! Just ask Tiffany, we talk about them at least once a week. They’ve got the BEST ice cream sandwiches and Firefox showed how smart they were by bringing them to launch their Firefox Mobile Party. Thanks Firefox!!
Breakfast Tacos and Thunderbird Coffee
Part of my annual trip of SXSW is to see my friend Carrie Graham and hear about all the cool work she’s doing with Mosaic church. This year she took me out for some breakfast tacos and Thunderbird Coffee. The next time you’re in Austin check them out – thank me later.
That’s SXSW for 2011 for me! See you next year!
]]>
Packing up gear and heading to Austin, TX for a weekend of tech, film and general brilliance.
I’m really excited to hear from leading pros around the web about what’s coming up, what’s working, how engagement is happening and general stories of connectedness. Last year was definitely an adventure and this year will be no different. It’s a time where I get to join up with super smart guys like Tim Grahl, Joseph Hinson and Brian Morykon of Out:Think Group. Plus I get to attend great sessions like this one from Josh Kaufman.
Mashable came out with a great list of can’t miss pieces (I will probably miss some of these, however, it’s so much.)
I’m also thrilled to be part of the Twitter peanut gallery at Beth Kanters session on the networked nonprofit. See more about it here. Best part, you can take part while it’s happening just use the hashtag #netnon
Also in the same vein for Nonprofits is a special area hosted by Beaconfire consulting – this is home base for many nonprofit attendees. I’m looking forward to hanging with Eve Simon and Michael Cervino. Check out the lounge here!
This year I’m also attending film events which is going to be intense. As the web landscape continues to provide many distribution tools for indie filmmakers. This is like the OK Corral to the general internet’s Wild West.
I’ll be posting the most interesting tidbits from both types of sessions in the next several days.
Be Safe,
This March I’m joining up with a phenomenal bunch of nonprofit leaders, CEO and supporters for The Ideation Conference. The Ideation Conference is the next step for Idea Campers, the attitude of sharing and improvement is the same but the conference itself steps it up a bit.
This years lineup features a gathering of leaders making a difference in their organization, community and their world.
From the site:
This conference could be called bootcamp, or a shine and polish but bring your team to see the man (or woman) behind the curtain and learn what motivates them, what they’re thinking and what’s on the horizon.
I’m thrilled to be joining this group of movers and shakers and every time I get to see this bunch it’s a great time of joy and lots of laughs – and then I learn something!
Also on the docket for this years lineup:
Aaron Young – Executive Driector of Boys and Girls Club in Santa Monica
Ben Keesey - CEO of Invisible Children
Ben Morrison – Founder of Laugh-Aid, Former Co-Host of Punk’d
Chad Mayer – Executive Director of ShareFest
Charles Lee - CEO of Ideation Consultancy
Chris Heuertz – International Executive Director of Word Made Flesh
Craig Watson – Executive Director of Arts Council for Long Beach
Esther Havens – Humanitarian Photographer
Jeff Shinabarger - Founder of Plywood People
Joel John Roberts – CEO of PATH (People Assisting the Homeless)
JR Kerr – Lead Architect for Aitreni Group
Keith Kall – Executive Director of National Foundation Corporation Development for World Vision
Lee Fox – Founder of KooDooZ
Mark Horvath – Founder of InvisiblePeople.tv
Mike Foster – Co-Founder of Plain Joe Studios
Nikole Lim – Founder of Freely in Hope
Randy Paynter - Founder of Care2.com
Rob Morris – Founder of Love146
Rod Arnold – COO of charity: water
Sam Oh – IT Director for Fresh & Easy
Scott Belsky - CEO of Behance
Sean Carasso – Founder of Falling Whistles
Tyler Marrick - Founder of Project7
For more info on the speakers – Click here
This year Ideation has added a day after the conference for a special session with Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance and author of Making Ideas Happen. I’ve already signed up to attend because The 99% conference was SOLD OUT and I want the inside track to the latest info.. And I think you should know about it too.
In the coming weeks I’ll share a bit more about my workshop. Join me for the Ideation Conference and then stick around for i2i – See you then!
UPDATE: Just got the inside scoop for a 10% discount code. Use IDEA10 when you register and save some cash!
]]>
In 2007, I was made aware of the existence of human trafficking. It was a 12 minute conversation. It was one of those that I can remember all the circumstances – what I was doing, what my initial thoughts were and the jaw dropping reality that would cause me to shift my entire life just 5 months later.
Since the inception of the Idea Camp – I’ve felt it very important to be involved. At previous camps (Irvine, Washington DC) I’ve had the privilege and the pleasure to facilitate workshops, meet incredible people and build strong relationships with many attendees. It’s not hard to rally behind a group of people more interested in solving problems and learning skills with action in mind than another fad. I’m proud that Charles Lee and his team are putting a lot on the line to have conversations and facilitate workshops around the entire porn industry, sex trafficking and Internet safety. If you haven’t seen some of the more recent responses, please check them out to see what I’m talking about.
We’re especially thrilled to be a part of the Idea Camp crowd in just a few short days. Over the past couple years we’ve had the privilege of working with International Justice Mission on the launch of its film “At the End of Slavery” and again blogging about its “5 Weeks for Freedom” this past summer. We’ve also been left so enthralled with the film “Kavi” (8 months prior to the Oscar nomination) that we had to work with Director Gregg Helvey at any cost.
If I were to think about the best place for the PMG brand to show up, my first thought is not the Idea Camp about sex. The “knee jerk” reaction by many in just hearing about this subject matter has been to blast or condemn. This same condemnation could easily affect my company and place the brand in harm’s way.
Truth is, I’ve never wanted to helm an ordinary agency.
My hope is that this Idea Camp is a game changer. I don’t have any doubts about those who will be there (and watching online) – they want to see change and are willing to be the hands and feet to make it happen. I’m fully counting on great networking with many from around the country, sharing laughs and tears that true connection brings.
I hope to see you there!
]]>
A dear friend recently asked me to do the honor of being a judge at the Frebby Awards. Funny name? Yes. Valuable? Also yes. So, just what are the Frebby Awards? The Frebbies are the product of Paprika Studios, and are designed to recognize the “Best of” the web in Fresno, CA. Broken down into six main categories (Inspiration, Commerce, Communication, Action, Connection, Informational) and the just-for-fun category Frebby Favorite, nominees will be judged on creativity, effectiveness, expertise and innovation.
Know an individual or business in Fresno deserving of an inaugural Frebby Award? Nominate them here. The deadline to enter is this Wednesday, September 15.
Frebby. Fun to say. Fun to do.
]]>