Tag Archives: SXSW

19 Tips for Getting the Most Out of SXSWi

Posted on March 7, 2012 by | 3 Comments

South by Southwest Interactive gets better – and bigger! – each year, and 2012 is no exception.  PR Newswire is sending a large team to the event, and I’ve been sharing some tips for navigating SXSW with some of our newbies.

Planning your SXSW experience:

Get organized:  Before you go, spend some time with the SXSW schedule and identify the sessions of most interest to you.  Then, note whether they are being held in the convention center, or one of the hotels. It can take some time to travel between venues, and many sessions fill quickly.  Simply put, you won’t be able to leapfrog between venues.  My best advice – picks a venue and stay there for several sessions. Our manager of blogger relations, Tom Hynes, agrees, noting, “Last year I found success in trying to stick to one track. For me it’s the journalism/media/publishing track. By not trying to do too much, I feel I was able to get a richer, albeit more focused experience.”

Don’t focus on just the big names:  As my colleague Vicky Harres, our director of audience development and a fellow SXSW veteran says, “There are treasures in the trenches.”  Some of the best sessions we’ve attended featured speakers that weren’t big names, but who had unbelievable experience to share.  Hearing from the people who get down and dirty with development, implementation and making things really work is fascinating. Don’t skip a session just because you’ve never heard of the speakers.

Get out of your comfort zone: It’s tempting to focus on the sessions that align closely with your interests.  But do yourself a favor – spend some time exploring concepts that are foreign to you. SXSW features some of the brightest minds – take advantage and learn something new from the very best.

Flirt with serendipity: Did you miss out?  Go find a session nearby that’s not full. You’re still going to learn something.  Many of my best experiences at SXSW have been happy accidents.

Smile and say hi: You will meet interesting people everywhere.  The person sitting next to you on the bus or standing next to you in line might be launching a start up, looking for business partners, or hosting a party.  Smile and say hi! You never know who you’ll meet.  A couple years ago I offered some people hanging out waiting for the show shuttle bus a ride downtown in my rental car.  It turned out that one of the people who took me up on the offer was someone I had been communicating with via Twitter for more than a year.  As big as SXSW feels, it can be quite a small world!

Getting around Austin

The logistics of SXSW can be challenging, especially if you are staying at a hotel that’s not right downtown.

Grab a hotel shuttle:  Many of the outlying hotels are on an SXSW shuttle line.  Take advantage of the shuttles to ferry you back and forth.

Rent a car: This is not as crazy as it sounds, and is the way to go if you’re at an outlying hotel that’s not on the shuttle line. I rented cars several years running, and had no problem finding reasonably-priced parking downtown, about 4 blocks from the convention center.

Ride in a pedicab and pay those folks generously:  A battalion of very fit folks driving pedicabs (bicycle-cab thingies) abound and they are willing to haul your tired self to bars, parties or back to your car.  They are so worth it, and if you tip generously, you might be handed a business card and wind up with a guy that’s willing to come pick you up.

Apps to download:

SXSWGo:  The official mobile app for SXSW, lets you build your schedule and stay up to speed with news and events.

Foursquare:  Even if you’re not into recording your every move in “real life” it’s fun to do so in Austin. Special badges are usually deployed for SXSW, which are often amusing.  And Foursquare is a great way to see where your friends are.

GroupMe: Group texting.  Essential if you’re part of a team.

Localmind:  An app that lets you check out what’s going on at your favorite bar or restaurant before you even get off your couch.  They’ve loaded SXSW party info into the app, so you can find out where people are (and how ridiculous the lines are) as you traverse Austin.

A QR code scanner: I’ve used I-nigma for a few years and it’s worked well for me.  Lots of information is available via QR code and the scanners are useful.

What to bring

Communications gear:  I will be taking two mobile phones (work and personal) and iPad and my laptop.  I don’t plan on lugging the laptop around during the day, but you never know.  Staying connected is crucial – and fun!

Back up power, and all of your chargers:  You will want to take every opportunity you can to replenish your batteries.  Backup power is also important.

Multiple pairs of comfy shoes.  Tom Miale, our director of multimedia engagement, notes “You will be on your feet for long periods of time. Substance trumps style here!”  My own advice – bring multiple pairs of shoes. You will be putting so much mileage on your feet that even old favorites might rub.

A water bottle.  Between racing around the event and staying up past your bedtime, you will need to stay hydrated.

An umbrella. Rain is in the forecast.  Texas needs rain so we are not complaining.

 Mints.  You’ll be in close quarters.  ‘Nuff said.

Have fun at SXSW!  To stay in touch with the PR Newswire crew, follow our PRN @ SXSW Twitter list, and keep an eye on our Tumblr page for photos and quick hits.

Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media, and is the author of the free ebook Unlocking Social Media for PR.

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged ,

Who Do You Trust? 10 Tips For Vetting Content

Posted on March 2, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Fifteen minutes after the first Tweet stating that the US military had found and killed Osama Bin Laden, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was struggling on air. Blitzer could only react to what he (and everyone else) was reading on Twitter. For an excruciating amount of time Blitzer repeatedly explained that they couldn’t verify the reports. At last he confirmed what everyone had known for 20 minutes, that indeed Bin Laden had been killed. Social media has changed how we get our news. Today it’s fair to say that Twitter breaks news and television covers it.

Social media however is just that. It’s social. While news organizations use social media, citizen “journalists” and “reporters” fill the vast majority of Twitter streams and Facebook posts. Is Jon Bon Jovi dead or alive? When did Joe Paterno die? What exactly did Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum say at the latest stop on the Republican presidential primary tour?

Author Tony Uphoff is CEO of UBM Techweb.

Vetting the accuracy of the information on social media is challenging to say the least. Company and personal brands can be enhanced and extended via social media. They can also be destroyed. We will be addressing these topics in upcoming panel discussions at SXSW and the Poynter Institute’s  Creating Credible Content conference.

Hopefully you can join us at one (or both) events.  In the interim here are 10 things to consider about vetting in the age of social:

1.         Brand Matters. Ironically the rise of social media has driven a renewed interest in branded content. People and brands you can trust and that you rely on for your news and perspective. Regardless of the level of importance of the news, people want to trust their sources.

2.         Know the Difference Between Gossip and News. The water cooler is digital today. Don’t overreact to fun, gossipy information that is passed around on social networks and hold it to the same standards as news.

3.         Beware of False Prophets. In any gold rush there are legions of consultants and advisers that appear, providing expert analysis and advice on the trends shaping the market. Social media is rife with them. They will give you social media advice for a fee about developing trust, creating followers, curating content and generating “likes” and “recommendations”. Some of this advice can be valuable. Much of it is not.

4.         Trust is built over time and erased in a moment in the digital world. The “trust wars” tend to take place in public with commenters taking sides.

5.         Trust has become tiered. Do you trust the author, the brand and transparent relationships to the topic covered? All three need to be aligned and reinforce one another.

6.         Brand to Brandividual. Trust can follow the trusted source and leave the brand behind

7.         The Shift from Search to Social.  What you read on the issue is increasingly built on following trusted links from social networks, not SEO based discovery.

8.         Beware Anonymous. Automated and autonomous commenting on articles has been over-gamed to have little meaning.

9.         Community Engagement. Writers have to work as hard at building social communities as they do at creating content. They need to engage the audience throughout the story’s life.

10.   The Role of Video. Video is emerging as the favored trusted source. You can see an interview taking place which is hard to fake as opposed to text which is fungible.

The impact of social media has been profound for journalists, media companies and consumers alike. How to leverage the extraordinary power of social media and at the same time vet the who, what, where, when and why continues to be a challenge however. Let me know your thoughts on vetting in the age of social.

Author Tony Uphoff is CEO of UBM TechWeb, which, like PR Newswire, is a  United Business Media company.  He is an innovative media executive with a unique track record of building, growing and leading B2B media businesses in highly competitive markets and has been at the forefront of media innovation and transformation for the last 20 years.  Follow Tony on Twitter, and add his blog, Uphoff on Media, to your blogroll.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Tools & Tactics

Tagged , ,

Interview – Vetting in the Age of Social Media: Who Do You Trust

Posted on September 1, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Vetting content today is a difficult thing to do with so much content being created and distributed today.   On August 18th, we wrote a post on why we believe that Vetting in the age of social is such an important topic.   It’s the reason that we have submitted this topic to be considered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference for 2012 in Austin, TX.

Vote for Vetting in the Age of Social Media

The panel we have submitted to talk on this subject includes:

- Amy Webb, CEO of the WebbMedia Group

- Tony Uphoff, CEO of UBM Techweb and author of Uphoff On Media

- Alicia Stewart, Senior Producer at CNN

- Shelli Whitehurst, Managing Dir. & Digital Brand Strategist at Code Name Max

I am really looking forward to moderating this panel discussion on such an important topic today.   I had the opportunity while in San Francisco at the offices of UBM Techweb to speak with one of our panelists, Tony Uphoff on this subject.

If you agree with us that this is an important topic, please vote for our panel at SXSW.  The voting ends tomorrow September 2nd!

Author Michael Pranikoff is PR Newswire’s director of emerging media.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Online Influence

Tagged , ,

SXSW Panel Picker: Vetting Content in the Age of Social

Posted on August 18, 2011 by | 1 Comment

Content credibility in the social age. Who's vetting it? A proposed panel for SXSW 2012. Click the image to access the SXSW Panel Picker and cast a vote for this panel!

Update!  Our panel was picked!  Add it to your SXSW 2012 schedule:

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP9214

 

We all know them – the inveterate forwarder of e-mail “news.”   They dutifully forward prayer requests for grievously injured children or animals, histrionic political diatribes and proven hoax after proven hoax.  Despite your best efforts, they refuse to visit Snopes or make any effort to verify the veracity of the messages they forward to their entire address book.

I have a family member who I believe is one of the leading sources of e-mail spam,  so prolific is she in spreading email missives.   Where does she get this stuff?  Who is she believing?  Who is influencing her behavior?

Her friends.

Let’s face it.  As much as we love our family and our friends, a lot of people we know aren’t terribly judicious in the content the like, share and forward.   They don’t check the truthfulness of or question the biases in the information they share.  They aren’t skeptical.  They seem to inherently trust the information they find online, believing that there’s safety in numbers. They reason  if 10,000 other people liked or shared this tidbit, it must be accurate.

Sharing news and information on social networks is popular.  But as Facebook, Google+ and other networks refine their user experiences, they’re enabling us to create walled gardens around ourselves.   We can quite literally choose to hear (or read) only what we find appealing or agreeable.

Information – especially that we receive from people we trust- influences our behaviors, helping us determine what to buy, to which organizations we should donate, and for whom to vote.  Herein is the reason why the uncertain outlook for news media is so disconcerting.  Without professional journalists to ask tough questions and sniff out stories, society will suffer.  Who will look into dark corners and find out what’s going on behind the closed doors of local school boards, civic governments or corporate boards?  As a whole, as a society, we’ll be less informed.

These are just some of the reasons we’re proposing to delve into the vetting of content – either by friends or professionals – at South By Southwest Interactive next Spring.

Titled “Vetting in the Age of Social: Who do you trust?” and featuring a panel of media experts, including  Tony Uphoff, CEO of UBM TechWeb, and CNN’s Alicia Stewart,  the session proposes to delve into what makes trusted content, and implications for brands.

We think this is an important conversation communicators need to have, and there’s no better forum than SXSWi.   If you agree, please visit the SXSW Panel Picker, and give this panel the thumbs up.

Link: SXSW Panel Picker 2012

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Five Key Elements of Community Management & Crowdsourcing

Posted on April 19, 2011 by | 8 Comments

Daniel Honigman and Len Kendall of the The3six5 Project.

“A great tool for community management is guilt.” - Len Kendall, Better Crowdsourcing: Lessons Learned from #the3six5 Project, SXSW 2011.

When Len said those words, I reached for my iPad.  A new tool, I thought. Then the room started laughing and I froze. Ah, guilt! As in that very traditional tool used by mothers everywhere for thousands of years.

Len went on to explain that he didn’t mean badgering people, but simply making sure that people understand that the  community is depending on them. They can’t let the community down.

Having participated in The3six5 project in 2010 I knew exactly what he meant.

The3six5, nominated for a 2011 Webby Award, recorded the year 2010 with 365 stories told by 365 different writers. I penned April 23rd. The only rule was to tell about your day from your perspective, rather than some general news report. The results were varied and fascinating to read. In a way, the3six5 recorded history in a much more authentic way than history books will ever aspire to.

Responsibility
Len and his brilliant partner on this project Daniel Honigman were quite successful in giving each participant, or community member responsibility for their day. I can attest to having felt a great sense of responsibility over my assignment. Others were counting on me to do my small part to make this project work.

Tight Deadlines
I heard something similar at a SXSW panel for Star Wars Uncut. The community managers for that project, which assigned 15 second scenes from the movie to fans around the world for re-filming in their own creative ways – a monumental undertaking –  said they managed by keeping people to tight deadlines and impressing upon individuals that the project was depending on them.

One Emmy later and there is no question that Casey Pugh, Jamie Wilkinson, and Annelise Pruitt succeeded in managing a ‘very’ large community. If you haven’t checked out their project you should.

Credit
June Cohen of TED, who also presented about crowdsourcing and community at SXSW said something that should ring as ‘duh,’ but is oh so worth a reminder. She said you have to give people credit for their work. Not only is it the right thing to do, but people will also take greater pride and have a deeper sense of responsibility over their contribution when their name and a link to their personal site is provided.

Clear goal
Perhaps most important, June reminded us that to gather a community and inspire contribution, you have to have a clear goal that people will get excited about.

Engagement
Another thing I remember distinctly from being part of the3six5 community is that Daniel and Len kept everyone talking. Now and then one would direct message me on Twitter and ask if I would help promote another writer or would reach out to thank me for promoting the project.

In short, they kept me engaged the entire year of the project and I’m sure they did the same with others. Clever!

I would love to hear your thoughts on good community management practices and crowdsourcing.

Author Victoria Harres is PR Newswire’s director of audience development.

→ 8 Comments

Posted in Tools & Tactics

Tagged , , , , ,

Saying It Short: A ‘Less Is More’ Guide to Effective Writing

Posted on April 12, 2011 by | 2 Comments

There’s an old quote by Mark Twain that says, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you this long one instead.”

Anyone who has ever tried their hand at writing knows this can be true. Spilling your guts is easy. Being concise takes time. Recently, Helen Klein Ross took to the microphone at SXSW Interactive – briefly, of course – to extol the virtues of “saying it short” and remind the audience that when it comes to effective writing, less really is more.

These days, Ross is best known for her blog, Ad Broad, and she tweets under the handle of Betty Draper, the wife and mother from the hit show Mad Men … somehow with AMC’s permission. (Very cool, AMC!) But before all of that, Ross made her name in advertising. It was there that she realized “the less you say, the more likely people are to remember.”

For example, an effective billboard is said to have six words or fewer. In a commercial, that number swells to sixty. For Ross, the same is true in social media. “You can’t say 10 things and have people remember what you say.”

Ross says having a limit can actually help creativity. After spending 20-plus years working within the constraints of the advertising industry, 140 characters felt spacious to her. But even Ross points out that “just because you have 140 characters, doesn’t mean you have to use them all.”

Social media, she says, isn’t about writing a paragraph of information. “It’s not about telling it all,” Ross says. “It’s about telling it right.”

Ross also cautioned against writing and, more importantly, publishing too quickly. She suggested taking a moment before hitting send.

“Before you tweet, breathe,” she said. For as she reminded the SXSW audience, “getting something off the internet is about as easy as getting urine out of a pool.” An unfortunate visual, but an evocative and effective one nonetheless. Much like the whole of Ross’s talk.

Of course, there’s more to say on the topic. But we’ll wrap it up before we lose your attention.

Author Tom Hynes is PR Newswire’s manager of blogger relations.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Tools & Tactics

Tagged ,

The Gods of Context Say Social Media isn’t for Marketing

Posted on March 22, 2011 by | 2 Comments
@garyvee gary vaynerchuk

Gary Vee telling it to the SXSWi audience.

One idea from SXSW has continued to gnaw away at my conscious since returning home with a head full of new information and ideas.  Many of those revolve around a recurring theme I seemingly couldn’t escape: social media isn’t for marketing campaigns.  Some speakers, like Gary Vaynerchuk, were very direct, stating that push marketing had no place in social channels.

“There’s no such thing as a social media campaign,” Vaynerchuk noted. “Those are just one night stands.”

Angela LoSasso, who heads up social media marketing for Research In Motion, makers of the ubiquitous Blackberry, was more subtle, describing real time presence as being in the right place, at the right time, namely, when the customer wants you, not necessarily when you want to be there.

Anglea LoSasso of RIM shows off some analog marketing gear promoting the new apps for Blackberries now available

Context was the common denominator panelist after panelist mentioned, and no wonder.  Context is the nexus of interest between a brand and its customer, and brands can use data to develop context around their content.  And doing so doesn’t need to be difficult. Simply watching what sorts of questions people ask about a brand can be a rich source of information, LoSasso pointed out, noting that incoming questions are used to guide content curation.   Riffing on this theme, LoSasso advised, “You need to be proactive and curate the questions you get and the answers you give.  Optimize FAQs and create video how-to’s that answer the most common questions.”

The folks at FourSquare take data use a step further, blending time and location data of a subscriber with their friends’ checkin histories to create a real-time recommendation engine that is designed to be useful at a specific moment.

“There’s a lot more context we can take into account,” said Siobhan Quinn, who manages products at FourSquare. “Real time marketing can help customers on the ground. If your venue (business) has a lull on a rainy day, real time marketing can help business owners drive specials proactively. Real time marketing is proactive and provides discovery to audiences who might not even be looking for something.”

Rob Garner from iCrossing offered perspective from the operational side, inviting his audience to think information dissemination as a stream that ebbs and flows, and acts like a digital organism. Many brands, he noted, are thinking of social media as a channel, rather than as a continual presence flowing through everything.

I wasn't the only one listening with rapt attention to iCrossing's Rob Garner talk about real time marketing

“It’s network reach, not just a channel,” he said, before challenging his audience. “You might be connected – but is your brand alive and present?

“It’s not about social media or social networks,” Garner continued. “It’s about the fact that society is networked. Society is wired. Communicating therein is simply communicating in a social environment.”

Vaynerchuk offered a poignant analogy, comparing social networks to cocktail parties.  One mingles, dipping in and out of conversation.

“We are living in the first time ever of consumer interaction,” he said. “Twitter lets you get into the conversation – and it’ acceptable!”  But he’s quick to caution those who are too eager to jump in, noting that companies try to close sales immediately at the mere mention of a product, barraging people with coupons, shipping deals and other spam.  Doing this ignores the context of peoples’ conversations.

“If content is king,” Vaynerchuk said, “Context is god.”

And therein is the disconnect with most social media marketing campaigns. The messaging is pushed by the company into the network. The message is most likely written from the company’s perspective, and goal of the campaign is to get attention and elicit response.  However, the real opportunity to connect with a larger audience depends upon building the contextual connection with your audience, communicating to them that your brand gets it, that you understand their needs.  Folks like Vaynerchuk, LoSossaso, Garner and Quinn would all argue that this is best achieved by creating an authentic presence for your brand in networks, and using your audience as a guide to content creation and interaction. Garner summed it up nicely.

“Use market research, study your audience and know who you’re talking to,” he advised.  “They will tell you what’s on their mind; they’ll show you what language people are using and others who are asking the same questions. It’s really an obligation any more. It’s an obligation to listen and act on that data.”

So what do you think?  Do marketing campaigns have a place in social networks?  Can you create lasting value marketing to your audience?

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s VP, social media.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Online Influence

Tagged , , , ,

Gallery

SXSW Video Recap: TnT TV Episode 4

Posted on March 17, 2011 by

With bags packed and under their eyes, Tom Miale and Thomas Hynes take to the scenic Austin waterfront to recap their final day at SXSW. It was another busy day, and their final roundup discusses the power of social media, … Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

SXSW Video Recap: TnT TV Episode 3

Posted on March 16, 2011 by | 1 Comment

After another long day of sessions and panels, Tom Miale and Thomas Hynes take to an empty auditorium at the Austin Convention Center to recap day 3 at SXSW.  They had a busy day, and their recap discusses the evolution of social TV, and how the conversation on the ‘second screen enhances the viewer’s experiences; building relationships in blogging communities; transparency in social media and how Pee Wee Herman used FourSquare to promote a Broadway show.  All that, in five minutes.

Stay tuned for more TnT TV from the Toms, reporting live from SXSW!

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Digital Content

Tagged , , ,

SXSW Video Recap: TnT TV Episode 2

Posted on March 15, 2011 by | 1 Comment

In order to keep tabs on all the SXSW happenings, Tom Miale and Thomas Hynes have been recapping their experiences at the end of each day. Watch them drive the points home as they try not to crash their rental car.

And stay tuned for more TnT TV from the Toms, reporting live from SXSW!

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Digital Content

Tagged ,