I’m writing from a Jetblue flight from Austin back to Silly Valley, it’s a great chance for me reflect on what happened in the last few days at SXSW and sober up both from last night’s party and the excess of stimuli –they both require some detox. First of all, this is the type of event people love talk about when they’re there, but those who aren’t there may find the noise excessive. I’ll try to boil down the key things I observed, caveat, this is just one person’s perspective, leave a comment with your experience.
SXSW, Bigger Than Ever
Attendance was up, many rumored that it was up around 30% over last year, which was also growing. There were so many events and panels that even spilled out of the traditional convention center to neighboring hotels some as far as 6+blocks up hill at the Sheraton. The attendees trend a similar look: often younger than older, stylish glasses, blinking device in hands, the occasional ironic tattoo, and glossy shimmer of sweat from last night’s drinking binge.
Panel Content: Hit or Miss
While I didn’t attend many panels, several folks mentioned to me the quality of content in panels was very hit and miss, often dependent on the quality of the moderator to draw out insights and guide the panel. Because SXSW deploys the scalable way of voting up panels to determine who will speak this leads to panels that have popular speakers (but that doesn’t guarantee the best speakers) or topics that are liked by the mainstream. Fortunately, given the vast assortment of panels, the opportunity to find niche topics is available, providing you can easily get to the physical location. Colleague Susan Etlinger blogs how Deb Schultz lead an insightful session on the ‘manners’ of the internet and social web. I think it was Robert Scoble who said that the best content at SXSW will just appear on blogs later, so Ill continue to keep a watch out for the panels that were a “hit”.
Yet Parties, Events, and Dinners Galore
There were many, many parties and events, even during the day. During the evening there were several events, parties, and dinners all happening consecutively. In particular, the Social Business crowd was assembled around the All Hat (pics) even held by David Armano and Richard Binhammer off campus, the Corporate Social Strategists and those that serve them were present, this was the market I serve, and was glad to see them all. To me this was the best event, as it was off campus, a mixture of dialog, meet and greeting, and good food and music, great mixer. I heard that the SocialMedia.org (formerly SMBC) event was a great mix for Corporate Social Strategists who glean a lot of value from peer to peer interactions.
Influencer Outreach: Samsung, Chevy, AMEX, Apple, Pepsi.
One of my mottos is to ABR (Always be Researching) and I did just that for clients. In fact, several brands were present, and sought to reach this influencer and early adopter crowd, notables include:
Samsung hosts bloggers, and showcases electronic products. I spent time in the Samsung blogger lounge, which was well attended by influencers, and featured product demos and their tweeting fridge. One nice treat was Guy Kawasaki was giving away signed books, Enchantment, (which I read and recommend) at the blogger lounge. Also, Samsung brought the social media space to their own devices and worked with Jess3 an information design firm to showcase hand-selected curated tweets in their large airport-styled screens for passerbys to see what the zeitgeist was of the event. I even was a panelist in an impromptu “unpanel” on the topic of curation.
Chevy doubles down on this influencer market. Last year, Ford had a strong presence at the event, which likely drew the interest of General Motors, who I learned was the sole exclusive sponsor for the show, I’d estimate that buy out certainly be in the millions as they had integrated branding, product demos, charging stations, sponsors of the Techset party, and had inter-city rides available to anyone using their vehicles. Ford was not present this year, nor other auto-manufactures. See Twitter exchange between myself and Scott Monty who commented on spending, here, here, and here. (Update: Chevy’s Mary Henige has updated me that Chevy has a 3 year exclusive sponsorship with SXSW for the automotive category)
American Express seeks WOM. I learned from Jennifer van Grove of Mashable how American Express has launched a form of a loyalty program that encouraged users of their credit cards to receive money credited to their account after purchases after they shared it on foursquare. This form of social commerce initiates advocacy at point of sale –increasing spread of the service. Very smart integration.
Apple pops up a store in downtown. Apple assembled a “pop up” store in downtown where lines went around the block to purchase the iPad 2 and hours extended to the wee hours of the night. The store was a former Gold’s gym, and was assembled virtually overnight to serve this specific market. I saw several proud owners of this shiny device with colored covers touting their purchase at a variety of venues, it was the hot physical product (see friend David Berkowitz with his orange topped one). I experimented with it and believe the features to be evolutionary, but not a major upgrade, that being depending on new software to emerge to take advantage of the cameras such as augmented reality gaming, or new forms of video conferencing.
Pepsi tells their story. Other notable brand out-reach booths was Pepsi’s touchdown station that let people recharge and learn about the variety of products. Clearly an influence play, as Pepsi as a lifestyle brand isn’t directly related to ‘interactive’ that SXSW sports.
No Technology Winners –Although “Intimate” and “Hyper Local” are Trends to Watch. I was at SXSW when Twitter, Foursquare ‘broke out’ in previous years, yet this year there were no clear winners our ‘breakout technologies’ that I saw from the space. Why? There’s an over saturation of products due to low barriers to entry –while innovation certainly isn’t stifled the number similar or ‘like’ products is hard to swallow.
The closest to it was SMS chat tools with a small social group of friends like GroupMe and Beluga were being used by this early adopter crowd, even the press picked up on some of these trends (thanks Julie Viola for the link). Secondly, I asked my network what technologies to watch for and saw some adoption of local Q&A tool LocalMind (screenshot from iPhone). This tool allows you to ask very specific question “where are the cleanest restrooms in this hotel?” and it shows it on a localized map.
In both of these new toolsets, they are less about mass broadcasting to your network like Twitter and blogs, but are more about intimate discussions with your most immediate circle and localized content down to the building that you’re present at.
So that’s my perspective: This year, SXSW was great for networking. New technologies trend towards smaller personal networks and hyper localized content, but I didn’t see any clear winners, at least from my limited perspective.
Please leave a comment or link to your experience so we can share what we heard.
I agree – especially on the point of panels being hit or miss. It was frustrating how some sessions were “sold out” a good 30 minutes before they were due to start. A great panel not attended by many was Sunday at the Hilton – “Whither the Female Tech Founder” that was brilliantly moderated by Jessica Vascellaro of the WSJ. Low point for me was the session on Saturday by the authors of “Content Rules”
Nice summary. Bigger does not = better.
Totally agree with you on panels being hit or miss. As a first timer at SXSW this year, once I got past the initial overwhelm the most valuable way to spend my time was small group drinks, private dinners, smaller parties–and I don’t think I’ll even buy a conference pass next year. Agreed with Shelley’s comment here, Content Rules on Saturday was the first session I attended and speakers weren’t prepared at all which was shocking to me given that I really like their book and what they’re doing. Set the tone for other lackluster sessions. Blogger’s Lounge was useful too.
One of the highlights was not business at all: Hearing Rainn Wilson (The Office’s favorite Dwight Schrute) talk about his new movie Super. Didn’t think film would be wrapped into the Interactive sessions like that. Pleasant surprise.
As Social Media continues to explode, it only makes sense that events like SXSW would explode – in attendance – and not quality. It’s basically just another excuse to get away and party with like-minded people and maybe learn/see something cool. I think for the younger generation – anything that has a social/creative/music theme that used to be known more by WOM offline and somewhat exclusive to outsiders – is now becoming more mainstraim with the viral sharing through Twitter and Facebook etc. Similar examples that come to mind are Cochello and Burning Man. With the huge viral affect of Social Media – awareness has increased across the globe and demand for tickets and attendance has also increased. I’m curious about the more intimate social tools coming out – as I think people will begin to realize more friends/followers is not important – and actually connecting in smaller, intimate groups is way more interesting and valuable. Thanks for sharing your insights – always good stuff. Cheers.
I agree that the the Interactive part of SXSW has gotten too big. I really started to feel that way last year. That said, I think organizers did a good job arranging transportation via buses. Also, this year, I found out that pedicabs are your friend during the crowded traffi times.
Agree that the panels are hit or miss… on thing I thought worked really well was simulcasting the keynotes across the Convention Center, the Hilton, the Hyatt and other buildings. Next year, I’d like to see them simulcast more panels. Makes them more accessible and could also help limit the overall number of panels (which I think is also necessary next year).
As you said, the networking opportunities are unparalelled… sure was great to see you around downtown as well my friend.
Sincerely,
Lionel
I agree that the the Interactive part of SXSW has gotten too big. I really started to feel that way last year. That said, I think organizers did a good job arranging transportation via buses. Also, this year, I found out that pedicabs are your friend during the crowded traffi times.
Agree that the panels are hit or miss… on thing I thought worked really well was simulcasting the keynotes across the Convention Center, the Hilton, the Hyatt and other buildings. Next year, I’d like to see them simulcast more panels. Makes them more accessible and could also help limit the overall number of panels (which I think is also necessary next year).
As you said, the networking opportunities are unparalelled… sure was great to see you around downtown as well my friend.
Sincerely,
Lionel
This was my first SXSW and I was generally disappointed with the speakers and panels (agree the Content Rules panel on Saturday was awful). Yet, I spent most of my time at SXSW networking and personally connecting with the “elephants” in the industry that I and @thomasmoewe wanted to meet. But, my biggest disappointment was not meeting and chatting with @jowyang.
I’m based in Hong Kong so attending these events is a bit of a stretch. Thanks for the post and all the comments – I will follow the links and get an idea of what I missed.
Very interested in how this conference has exploded, and how perhaps there’s more value in smaller ones. Here in HK the social media is scene is just getting started. We participated in Social Media Week this year, it was the first SM focussed event ever in HK.
I’d be most appreciative of your comments on whether we could or should start a SM conference here? At the moment we have a monthly meet up for social media folks, that’s the extent of the offline activities.
Jeremiah – I share your sentiments on the inconsistency of the panels. My biggest frustration was that they were SO spread out – the idea of hopping from the Convention Center to the Hyatt across the lake, then to the Sheraton up on 11th was absurd. Also, the SxSW organizers seem to think that magazine and newspaper journalists make for good panel moderators – WRONG. Every single panel I attended that had a journalist “moderator” suffered from horribly phrased questions that begged for ambiguous, non-insightful answers.
The parties, I believe, are becoming more and more important because of their small nature and their implicit exclusivity. I also thought the AllHat party was the best venue for meeting, greeting, and reconnecting (I saw you deep in conversation in the corner picnic table, so I didn’t say hi). Additionally, the Klout/Whrrl party was well done, and had the feel of an L.A. type industry party, with many connections being made there. That party, too, was during the day. The Mashable House, for all its hype, was a great place to “play”, even if it was unbelievably hard to get into the first night.
All in all, I think, for first-timers, the SxSW badge is a worthy investment for the panels alone. However, after a couple of years, I have changed my equation for SxSW ROI: 4 good panels + 4 strong “connecting” parties (that require a badge) = worth the cost. Breakfast, lunches, and late cocktails is where all the connections are taking place. Do you agree with that equation?
Jeremiah – I share your sentiments on the inconsistency of the panels. My biggest frustration was that they were SO spread out – the idea of hopping from the Convention Center to the Hyatt across the lake, then to the Sheraton up on 11th was absurd. Also, the SxSW organizers seem to think that magazine and newspaper journalists make for good panel moderators – WRONG. Every single panel I attended that had a journalist “moderator” suffered from horribly phrased questions that begged for ambiguous, non-insightful answers.
The parties, I believe, are becoming more and more important because of their small nature and their implicit exclusivity. I also thought the AllHat party was the best venue for meeting, greeting, and reconnecting (I saw you deep in conversation in the corner picnic table, so I didn’t say hi). Additionally, the Klout/Whrrl party was well done, and had the feel of an L.A. type industry party, with many connections being made there. That party, too, was during the day. The Mashable House, for all its hype, was a great place to “play”, even if it was unbelievably hard to get into the first night.
All in all, I think, for first-timers, the SxSW badge is a worthy investment for the panels alone. However, after a couple of years, I have changed my equation for SxSW ROI: 4 good panels + 4 strong “connecting” parties (that require a badge) = worth the cost. Breakfast, lunches, and late cocktails is where all the connections are taking place. Do you agree with that equation?
Jeremiah – I share your sentiments on the inconsistency of the panels. My biggest frustration was that they were SO spread out – the idea of hopping from the Convention Center to the Hyatt across the lake, then to the Sheraton up on 11th was absurd. Also, the SxSW organizers seem to think that magazine and newspaper journalists make for good panel moderators – WRONG. Every single panel I attended that had a journalist “moderator” suffered from horribly phrased questions that begged for ambiguous, non-insightful answers.
The parties, I believe, are becoming more and more important because of their small nature and their implicit exclusivity. I also thought the AllHat party was the best venue for meeting, greeting, and reconnecting (I saw you deep in conversation in the corner picnic table, so I didn’t say hi). Additionally, the Klout/Whrrl party was well done, and had the feel of an L.A. type industry party, with many connections being made there. That party, too, was during the day. The Mashable House, for all its hype, was a great place to “play”, even if it was unbelievably hard to get into the first night.
All in all, I think, for first-timers, the SxSW badge is a worthy investment for the panels alone. However, after a couple of years, I have changed my equation for SxSW ROI: 4 good panels + 4 strong “connecting” parties (that require a badge) = worth the cost. Breakfast, lunches, and late cocktails is where all the connections are taking place. Do you agree with that equation?
Hi, the above comment is mine, accidentally posted under an org I tweet for.
Hi, the above comment is mine, accidentally posted under an org I tweet for.
Hi, the above comment is mine, accidentally posted under an org I tweet for.
I live in Austin and am vicariously experiencing SXSW through all the blogs (and I did attend one party). Just downloaded LocalMind. Appreciate your recap for those of us on the fringes.
I don’t know that SXSWi is too big. Perhaps its gone to a bad place. It’s an over-the-top corporate show fest. Big brands doing anything possible to get your attention, and attendees hyper concerned about getting on the in-list to exclusive parties for brag sheet of where you went and who you met. It does not appear to be a crowd sourced festival of innovation & interactive communication.
Before I left I found myself in a small bar with an incredable band. Around this small bar were a few large corp parties. Eventually the great music pulled in a crowd, and a real unsponsored party of music lovers came together organically. And that is the true spirit of SXSW and what is missing from the Interactive portion. Unfortunately there’s was not a lot organic, inspiring, or innovative at SXSWi this year.
I don’t know that SXSWi is too big. Perhaps its gone to a bad place. It’s an over-the-top corporate show fest. Big brands doing anything possible to get your attention, and attendees hyper concerned about getting on the in-list to exclusive parties for brag sheet of where you went and who you met. It does not appear to be a crowd sourced festival of innovation & interactive communication.
Before I left I found myself in a small bar with an incredable band. Around this small bar were a few large corp parties. Eventually the great music pulled in a crowd, and a real unsponsored party of music lovers came together organically. And that is the true spirit of SXSW and what is missing from the Interactive portion. Unfortunately there’s was not a lot organic, inspiring, or innovative at SXSWi this year.
Thanks, Jeremiah. A great summing up for those of us who didn’t feel like trekking to Austin.
Jeremiah – great read and points. Although there wasn’t any huge tech winner this year, I definitely find those trends interesting and potentially game changing moving forward. Specifically the trend towards more personalized/localized networks for connecting, sharing and learning. I think people are trending that way as well because they’ve experienced firsthand the noise pollution problem that the larger networks, and many of the ‘v1’ social products, end up having.
To your point, there’s been a lot of companies jumping on the social bandwagon who are on v1 of their product and haven’t yet thought through the innovative ways for reducing the noise and creating that personalized experience via more relevant recommendations.
One of the other trends I’ve heard some about at this year’s conference was around gamification. Would love to hear if you saw this as a trend as well and any thoughts??
Jeremiah – great read and points. Although there wasn’t any huge tech winner this year, I definitely find those trends interesting and potentially game changing moving forward. Specifically the trend towards more personalized/localized networks for connecting, sharing and learning. I think people are trending that way as well because they’ve experienced firsthand the noise pollution problem that the larger networks, and many of the ‘v1’ social products, end up having.
To your point, there’s been a lot of companies jumping on the social bandwagon who are on v1 of their product and haven’t yet thought through the innovative ways for reducing the noise and creating that personalized experience via more relevant recommendations.
One of the other trends I’ve heard some about at this year’s conference was around gamification. Would love to hear if you saw this as a trend as well and any thoughts??
Hope to meet you soon Stephanie thanks!
Hope to meet you soon Stephanie thanks!
Thanks Meredith.
Thanks Meredith.
Agreed, this is why the smaller events, like Allhat seemed to be a better quality ratio.
Very sorry to hear that you thought our book reading was a low. I’d love to know more about why you felt that way because of course we always want to improve.
Because it was a book reading and not a panel we were instructed to read from our book for 10 minutes and then do 10 minutes of Q&A. We believed that no one would want reading from the book so instead spent the entire 20 minutes doing the Q&A which we received a lot of positive feedback on, but I’d love to know why it wasn’t for you.
I’m at cc.chapman@gmail.com and would love your honest feedback. Sorry for letting you down.
Kathy, I’d be curious why you thought we were not prepared?
Our session was a book reading and not a session. SXSW instructed us as such that we should read from our book for 10 minutes and then follow it up with Q&A for another 10 minutes. Because of this we did not do the usual presentation format that we typically do for an audience because the event organizers didn’t want it.
We assumed many of the people in the room would have read the book and instead of rehashing what they would know, spend as much time answering the questions as possible.
I’d love to hear more feedback if you have it. I’m at cc.chapman@gmail.com
Kathy, I’d be curious why you thought we were not prepared?
Our session was a book reading and not a session. SXSW instructed us as such that we should read from our book for 10 minutes and then follow it up with Q&A for another 10 minutes. Because of this we did not do the usual presentation format that we typically do for an audience because the event organizers didn’t want it.
We assumed many of the people in the room would have read the book and instead of rehashing what they would know, spend as much time answering the questions as possible.
I’d love to hear more feedback if you have it. I’m at cc.chapman@gmail.com
Shannon: I appreciate the feedback here. But again — it was a book reading and not a panel. We thought of reading from the book as directed, but that seems impossibly lame. Like C.C. said, I’d love to hear anything you’d like to share.
This was my first SXSW Interactive and while I met some nice and smart people and did hear some great speakers, way too many of the panels were disappointing. There was often too much similarity in the experience of the panelists (eg, they’re all in the exact same industry or took the exact same approach to solving a problem) or too much agreement. I don’t want argument for the sake of argument but a variety of perspectives would have been helpful and more thought-provoking. I wanted ideas I could use for my business, I wanted to be challenged in my assumptions; but too often SXSW felt like Consultant Training School. Maybe I just had bad panel karma.
Did they, C.C.? Did your attendees read the book in advance?
I wonder if there are some subject areas that just didn’t go as well as they should have? I concentrated on the UX sessions this year. Most of them were good, several were superlative. A couple of the business sessions were awful. Just because it’s a conversation doesn’t mean you should have a crappy opening speech.
SXSW seems to do well when it’s presenting its subject matter for people outside of that field. For me as a UX weakling, the sessions were at just the right level. For me as a nominally expert developer, I generally find the development sessions very weak and unsatisfying.
For the most part, I don’t see SXSW as a leading edge technology conference. But they do assemble people doing interesting things with technology. I find those people inspiring. That’s what makes it special.
C.C. I personally think you and Ann handled the session well, and I think it was a good idea to field Q&A. But what I think some people were doing was coming to the day cafe and just staying there. I got there for David Merrman Scott’s session and was in the back of the room. I assumed that at the end of his session the crowd would change, and then I could move to the front of the room. Almost no one left the room, it was all the same crowd. So I’m wondering how many people were there for each session, and how many were there for simply the Day Cafe?
But if I had already read the book (which I have), I would have rather had more focus on Q&A than rehashing the content. I think you and Ann had to do a bit of guessing as to the proper format, and think you made the right call.
Ann this is my guess on what happened, and I mentioned this in my comment to C.C. I think most people in that room were there for the day cafe, moreso than the book readings. I say this because there was VERY little turnover from David Merrman Scott’s session before yours. And who can blame them, you have nice seats there, and drinks and snacks are just a few feet away. And David did a powerpoint deck for about 15 mins, and then took a couple of questions. Which was PERFECT for me, because I hadn’t read David’s book, and it got me excited to buy it.
But I’ve read Content Rules, so if you and C.C. had followed the same format as David, I personally wouldn’t have liked it as much. I think you guys had to guess a bit at the format of the event, and I personally think you both made the right call.
Jeremiah thanks for the recap, especially noting what companies and brands were doing in Austin, that’s always fascinating. I agree with you that #AllHat3 was a true gem of the event, as it always is. Richard and David have created a wonderful chance for us all to meet and chat in a very low-key atmosphere which is perfect for noon on a Sunday. Sorry we didn’t get a chance to chat, but there was just too much happening. Hopefully next year!
I stayed home here in Santa Cruz, California, and value blog posts like yours to give me the info I need in digestible form. Great report.
I stayed home here in Santa Cruz, California, and value blog posts like yours to give me the info I need in digestible form. Great report.
Thanks for this insight Mack. I’ll be honest that I was wondering why it was
such a packed room for little old us and now I know why some of the people
were there.
I guess the lesson learned for me is that next time we should start off with
“how many of you have read our book?” and if it is a minority in the room
that we do a little show and tell first to set up what the book is about
before diving into questions.
Funny thing was that Ann and I thought about doing it as an old fashion
reading. We were going to dress in black, put on some berets and get a set
of bongos.
Jeremiah – Great to finally meet you on Thursday night at the Dachis after-party. I appreciate your insight about social media boutiques and where you see things moving.
Did many of you check out the Trade Show leg of SxSW interactive? As an exhibitor, it seems like the rest of the schedule was so busy that the majority of interactive badge holders didn’t check out the Trade Show.
Was told by some clients the trade show didn’t open till Monday, is that true? If so, that seems nearly after the fact, as many start leaving around then. I left Monday AM. (was there 4 nights)
Hi Ann, CC.
Thanks for stopping by, Loved your book, I cracked it open and have been reading it, great tips if I ever get into a content lull. It’s also great for marketers that are new to the publishing space. Valuable desktop reference.
TYPO: “In fact, several a few brands were present…”
thanks, fixed.
That’s correct – the trade show opened 11am Monday and runs until 6pm tonight (Thur). It’s a real shame that SxSW scheduled it this way – many of the people that matter didn’t stop by.
While Mack Collier seems to want to rationalize the negative comments for you, I think it’s always best to consider the negative feedback and take it at face value rather than seeking justifications. I, along with others, were not there for the “day cafe,” but were there to hear you and CC speak. I also have your book and while most of my time at SXSW was spent not in sessions but in face-to-face networking, I was very interested in attending your particular session. It did appear (whether true or not) that you two were maybe not prepared, as when you came out you instantly handed it off to Q&A and there was no microphone for participants to speak into, so we couldn’t hear anything being said or asked (we were standing in the back of the room). After about 5 minutes of not comprehending what was being said we left. Love your book, but wish the session would have been presented differently.
Thanks for the feedback. We do appreciate hearing it.
Seems that myself (and other authors) need to talk to SXSW so that they clearly communicate to people how the Book Readings are different then Panels.
We were specifically instructed to read from the book and then answer questions. We felt the reading part would have been boring and jumped right to the questions. We could have easily done a presentation and filled the time, but we were not asked to do that.
Sorry you didn’t get what you hoped to from it. Glad to hear you enjoyed the book thought.
Thanks for the feedback. We do appreciate hearing it.
Seems that myself (and other authors) need to talk to SXSW so that they clearly communicate to people how the Book Readings are different then Panels.
We were specifically instructed to read from the book and then answer questions. We felt the reading part would have been boring and jumped right to the questions. We could have easily done a presentation and filled the time, but we were not asked to do that.
Sorry you didn’t get what you hoped to from it. Glad to hear you enjoyed the book thought.
There are more people are like to use the SXSW 2011 technology. They got more comfy to use this and they can do more work by help of this technology. This is big achievement for our technology.
Now we get more effective network and i know every one are like this. To get more better technology such kind of effective network system is more helpful for us.
This is correct headlines and i believed that technology can play an important rules in our life. I hope day by day such will be so more familiar for us.