Keeping our readers ahead of the curve means checking out what’s next– and what’s next is almost always the focus at South by Southwest (SXSW). On Saturday our intrepid publisher, Merritt Colaizzi, headed down to Austin for the festivities. She’s been blogging the best of what she’s seen and heard, but has also been tweeting @sbosm to keep us all plugged in to what cool finds we’re all missing out on.
So in case you missed it, here’s a quick roundup of her tweets from this weekend’s SXSW kickoff.
Saturday, March 14th
2:01pm: On our way to Austin! Looking forward to reporting from South by Southwest
3:28pm: #SXSW Just landed AUS-now on Texas time. Let the South by Southwest Interactive games begin! Stay tuned for SM news & festival finds.
6:12pm: #SXSW word of mouth (WOM) find: $.75 airport-downtown shuttle. Takeaway: make it as easy as possible for people to find/access your content.
7:25pm: #SXSW at a somehow comforting discussion of luminaries venting SM awkwardness, e.g. how followers know more about us than real life friends.
11:18pm: #SXSW fest schwag bags are spot on. By industry: Interactive=adobe sweat socks. Film=ray bans. Music=trojans. Takeway: know thy audience.
11:36pm: #SXSW festival find: what the twitterati are doing and saying down here. Pretty too! www.pepsico.com/sxsw
Sunday, March 15th
1:08am: #SXSW tchotchke takeaway: more magnets fewer temporary tattoos.
11:07am: #SXSW word-of-mouth score: free breakfast tacos at Whole Foods HQ. Great way to get revelers and geeks alike over to the other side of town
2:01pm: #SXSW Tara Hunt’s “Making Whuffie” session is a treasure trove of community engagement ideas. List-lovers rejoice! Link to come.
2:29pm: #SXSW Innovation find: ask ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if…’ Threadless successfully develops products & services that start right there.
3:40pm: #SXSW find: getsatisfaction.com. A crowdsourced customer service platform for companies like Tide. Relationship based, not transactional.
6:27pm: #SXSW find from Paula Drum of HRBlock. SM ROI should stand for Risk Of Ignoring. Experiment to engage millennials with our brands, or else.
6:39pm: #SXSW truism: no matter what people say, silly costumes still command attention and buzz at trade shows. Even in weirdville.
Late Sunday…or early Monday, March 16th
2:42am: #SXSW at Allen’s Boots, putting the social back in social media. Human interaction trumps all. (Pictured at right, cowboy boots full of flowers– the quirky centerpieces at Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop party.)