In case you didn't know, I'm building a company based in Austin, so it's like a home away from home for me. It's also where the South by Southwest 2009 music, film, and interactive festivals will be happening in a few weeks.
If you won't be attending, we'll miss you. However, I'm sure there will be plenty of ways to attend virtually. If you will be attending, here's some information that might be interesting to you.
(This is my first time at SXSW so if you're a veteran, your advice is appreciated.)
- I've created an area map that you might find useful. It's based on my personal experiences as a business traveler to the city over the past six months. I've also asked some locals who have insider knowledge to contribute as well.
- It looks like a lot of interesting people will be around. I'm not sure how useful the my.SXSW interface will be for connecting, so if we've never met, connect with me on Twitter instead so we can exchange DMs and more deliberately cross paths. Also, feel free to leave a comment so I can be sure to keep an eye and ear out for you.
- Speaking of crossing paths, aside from private sponsored events, there are public and semi-public events happening including the "All Hat…No Cattle" tweetup and the Mashable + Blurb party. Looks like Razorfish and Social Media Group are hosting as well.
- And finally, on Friday 13 March, I'm on a panel titled "My Boss Doesn't Get It: Championing Social Media to the Man." Would love to see you there and field the toughest questions you can think of.
See you in Austin!
Pete,
I presented at SXSW a few years ago on social media and brands, and it was a lot of fun. Just get ready for a lot of parties.
Regarding The Man, the elephant in the room is the power struggle between personal employee and company brands. Customers want the former, not the latter. For management, the former seems risky and unorthodox, and the latter is safer. But this is the elephant in the room because there’s not a lot of precedent, nobody talks about it, and there are wins and losses in either situation.
Regards,
Max
This will be my first SXSW as well. Hope we get a chance to connect. I plan on attending your panel as well as Richard at Dell’s field trip đŸ™‚
@LenKendall
Peter, looking forward to meeting you at SxSW. Thanks for all the great information!
@Peter – Great to hear you’re attending SXSW this year. I look forward to meeting you as it’ll be my first time as well. You might be interested in a Wiki that @mediaphyter and myself (@kyeung808) put together for the event: http://sxsw2009.pbwiki.com to help you connect with other folks that are going.
Peter
i hope to catch you at SXSW as well. It’s my second visit from the UK and I have found it to be time well spent!
Rebecca
Hey Peter!
Nice to meet a fellow Austinite at the festival (my profile here http://my.sxsw.com/user/profile/austinstylewatch.) I work for a broadcast news station and you would think, being in the communication industry, that social media is something my company would be more accepting of. Getting our reporters onto twitter was like pulling teeth and trying to explain to them how using things like twitpic could allow us to visually break stories is like explaining quantum physics. We get a large number of our hits from facebook, where many people are now getting their news by friending the news outlets they want updates from. I’m not sure if I’m not clearly expressing the incentives to them and their careers or if I’m speaking too technically to them. I’d just like to hear you speak some specifically to the news industry and how I can wrap their heads around the fact that facebook and twitter aren’t just for nerds, teens and the self involved.
Hi Rachel – interesting, if any industry has been impacted by social technologies, it’s media. For those influenced by social proof, CNN has some of the best examples out there. But companies like the now defunct Boston Now also show that the hybrid social/mainstream business model doesn’t work. Or you could just start showing all of the celebrity, politician, and news outlet Twitter accounts…
Hello Peter, I am looking forward to your talk, this will be my first time to SXSW.
A few steps back from using social media to simply using the web for advertising. How can I convince the “man” that their money is better spent in advertising online to a niche market then through magazines for several times the cost?