Archive for Conversations
SXSW Interactive 2011 Worth it or Not?
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SXSW Interactive 2011 Worth it or Not? I’m still trying to figure that out. As it sits right now I’m nonplussed and mildly amused at the “short on content/long on parties” atmosphere. Check this comic out from the Oatmeal – sums it up perfectly – http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sxsw
I’m not sure what I expected but it sure wasn’t what I experienced. Knowing that some of the best and brightest minds from the interactive world would all be in one place sharing information, case-studies, new tools and beer was the build up but I really only experienced the beer. And I didn’t really even go to many parties and that sure wasn’t my intention but I thought it would be worth a try since some of the sessions were so bad and rudimentary I had to walk out.
I do want to give credit to the major brands that were there. Pepsi, Sony, CNN, Chevy etc. had massive presences at SXSW interactive from massive displays to full building takeovers. It was a contest of who could have the bigger display. CNN took over a Bar & Grill and created their own CNN Bar and Grill sign about 8 foot in diameter and replete with neon and beautiful graphics. Pepsi took over what seemed like almost a quarter of a block of space for “Pepsi Max Lot” which they shared with the cool peeps from Foursquare. The best part about the brands is they didn’t take advantage of a captive audience and charge Disneyland prices for food, drinks and swag. Everything was free and fun – they rocked it.
So should I go next year? Right now I say, No Way. I’ve gotten more info & made more contacts at a small event of 200 people locally than I did at SXSW Interactive 2011. Or should I go to get my party on next year and just forget about learning anything worthwhile. What do you think?
Innovation and Why Your Thinking is Key
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It’s been busy, but a great busy. I find myself feeling antsy if I’m not “connected” in some way to the strategies that are driving creative value on a daily basis. Hopefully everyone gets to experience a point in their life where work is not work and play becomes the puzzle, challenge or game that others might call work.
Being at TEDx today and speaking to Rooly Eliezerov about the Innovation Summit tomorrow was a the type of stimulation and conversation that I love to engage in. Pushing yourself & expanding your thoughts and thinking are key to the the innovative process. It reminds me of the quote “Your BEST thinking has gotten you to where you are today – therefore you are going to need better or different thinking to go further”.
Iron sharpens iron and I look forward to the panel at the Innovation Summit tomorrow in Healdsburg to open up the possibilities of learning more and engaging with some great thinkers. 2011 is almost upon us and the social landscape is changing rapidly with new technologies and a solid foothold in corporate/entrepreneurial engagement strategies. Are you evolving, changing and growing as rapidly as the innovation occurring in the space you are working in? If not, get engaged in meetups, events, conferences and others within your industry. The good news is people all over the world are exposed to more information, tools and resources than they ever have been at any time in history.
We are in a era of innovation, thinking and doing – get engaged, get motivated and go out and get it done while loving every minute of it!
Clay Shirky is a Tim Lincecum – to me anyway
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My 13 year old son wanted to know why I was going to San Francisco last night. I told to him I was going to see the author and social anthropologist Clay Shirky. Typically he doesn’t want to know much more after that type of answer but he was curious and asked – “Why?”
My son is an avid San Francisco Giants fan and loves Pablo Sandoval and Tim Lincecum. So I told him that Clay Shirky to me is like Tim Lincecum to him. He immediately got it, smiled and went back to playing Call of Duty satisfied that I was getting to do something that is coveted, comforting and entertaining.
Clay was all of that last night and more. He extolled the detriments of HR googling potential new hires and trimming the talent pool to getting us to understand that developing countries are developers and are cranking out useful tools for the world (it’s not just silicon valley anymore – so don’t be surprised).
I picked up his latest book – Cognitive Surplus I highly recommend it – the guy is a genius when it comes to relating the social aspects of media today to how we can live and thrive in this three ring circus.
His latest twitter Bio give some insight into what Cognitive Surplus is all about:
Twitter Bio: Bald. Unreliable. Easily distracte
Enjoy!
Conversations, Interactions and Authenticity in Social Media
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I just watched a video, suggested by Francine Hardaway, The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics of Authenticity that “woke me up” to what is happening and what could happen on the internet.
A quote from Mike Wesch about the Video & the research:
Nobody there was blindly optimistic, thinking technology was going to make everything better. They were all continually trying to figure out where we are, where we might be going, and the possible downsides and dangers of new technologies so we can use the new technologies to serve human purposes.
For anyone who is really truly engaged in Social Media or is driving to create meaningful conversations online should watch this video. If you are just online to spam marketing messages, spam comments for backlinks or “game the system: i.e. Google & others” then this isn’t for you. But wait, yes it is…actually it is more for the spammers and “hit and run” marketing message droppers than anyone else.
This is the best 33 minutes I have spent online in long time.
The internet is evolving and so are we as communicators and information-a-holics. Prior to the internet we had the one-way conversation of the TV only. And the shaping it does to our minds, trends and pop culture is unrivaled until now.
I truly believe we will see the internet eclipse the TV because of the interaction, conversation and authenticity that can now flow from one to many or from many to many.
News is not just News anymore online – it becomes a conversation – albeit a vulgar and juvenile one at times but none the less a conversation that can breathe and give life to a story, event or occurrence.
The video by Mike Wesch, of The Machine is Us/ing Us Fame with over 10 million views and counting, really asks some questions that many of us are not considering but should be given that the internet is playing a HUGE role in our lives and the lives of billions around the planet.
Social Media and the internet have a place now and we have personal control of where it goes and how we choose to interact with it and others. We will always have the juvenile and immature behavior online but we also have a chance to really make decisions to be authentic and connect like we have never had a chance to before.
We can now connect without;
- feeling subconscious
- someone laughing in our faces
- telling us that our thoughts or ideas are irrelevant, or worse – stupid
- feeling the repercussions of revealing more than we would normally reveal face-to-face
This opens up huge opportunities to be authentic and supportive of each other thereby creating new conversations and communities that would have never been formed due to the potential for the lack of authenticity from a one-way conversation (TV), a face-to-face conversation or the distance that would normally separate us geographically.
We all now have a chance to create communities and be something more than what we may show, say or act like when at work, home, school or other face-to-face social situation.
Watch the video and then start your journey to be authentic, be real, create new conversations and create new communities. And then we can potentially create a new future of what social media can truly become.
