Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

True confessions here:  I have hardly made it to any South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference panels or speakers this year.  Clearly I haven’t spent time blogging either, since there’s been nothing posted here since Nerd Notes Day One.

This is not unusual for those who regularly attend this event;  once you know some people, it makes more sense to spend quality business discussion time with a few of the right individuals than fighting the madness of one panel after another or getting tied to one’s computer. I usually do try to make it to more panels than this, but an annoying cough (often jokingly called “SXSW SARS”) has me dragging.

There have been a few good takeaways for me from the hallways and social events….

1. There are a lot of worthy causes that could use the oomph of the social Web, and some are finding ways to give back and provide that kind of help.  For example, newly-launched Zoetica Media hosted a Brainstorming Brunch at SXSWi to bring together the kinds of communicators who could help Safe Place use the Web more effectively in their efforts to end domestic and sexual violence.
2. Always be able to answer the “So What?” question about your service or product, and be able to explain it clearly in plain language.  I spent an hour in a panel about the “semantic Web” and still have no cotton-picking idea what it is. Props to one of the eight panelists – yes, eight, which is absurd – Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, for some trenchant observations that, you know, some dullard with only a Master’s degree like me could understand.  Lazy Language Dunce Cap to the panelist who said “paradigm” not once, but twice.
3. Anyone can have their own radio or TV show.  Okay, maybe not in the traditional way over-the-airwaves way but if you have good things to say, a microphone and/or a decent camera, you are on your way to being a broadcaster.  We talked about social media and tourism with the Jennifer Navarrete and Luis Sandoval Tech in Twenty crew at SXSWi – they do audio and video podcasts about the latest tech news.
4. The overall winner of the Texas Social Media Awards was Austin-based location service Gowalla (similar to Foursquare) which is sort of a mobile-based game for checking in to various places like restaurants, stores and bars.  CEO Josh Williams is fired up about Gowalla’s applicability to travel and exploring. So am I.

Wrap-up post to follow; thanks for your patience.

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You can’t communicate your destination or your personality to others unless you know it in your bones.  ”Fake it till you make it” works in some situations, but not this one.

Day One of the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference in Austin always starts with standing in line to check in/get badges/figure out what to do with the swag bag, then go to a few good panels and speakers before hitting the first round of parties.

What did I learn yesterday?

1. Don’t let administrative procedures suck up valuable time. Check in as early as possible at any conference (and at SXSWi you can pre-upload a headshot photo for your badge and pre-organize your schedule on their Web site.)  You aren’t there to do admin. You’re there to learn and connect.  I checked in Thursday night and was done with it.
2. Don’t be a schmuck with the “rock stars.” I saw two people grab ahold of Problogger Darren Rowse in the hallway and ask for video interviews for their own sites.  Darren is the nicest guy and he didn’t say No, but I thought it was rude and intrusive. They’re doing that so they can stick a Problogger interview on their site and look like they’re “plugged in” with the biggies. They clearly did not attend the panel on “How To Not Be A Douchebag at SXSW.”  Sure, shake hands and introduce yourself to your idol, but for heaven’s sake don’t put them to work on your personal douchebaggery projects.
3. The only panel I went to was on Web design, and a fire alarm emptied the building before the speaker Matthew Smith from Squared Eye really got going.  What a disappointment for all of us!  My big takeaway before we had to evacuate:  your site must really reflect YOU.  To me that means your destination and the people who live there, and not enough Web design processes truly go to that depth of knowledge before they put together the first page of the site.  Matthew said that good design ensures that your site “gets stuff done and makes it a pleasure to do so.”
4. No, you are not the only one who doesn’t know anybody.  At one of the evening parties, a woman I met said that “everyone here seems to know everybody.”  No, they probably don’t. They’re faking it.  Look, you’ll really only connect with about 3-5 new people in a giant human mixing bowl like SXSWi.  Glad-handing business card collectors are not the big deal that they think they are. Focus in on that one really interesting person at the party, if the conversation’s good. You do NOT have to “work the room.”

Okay, I’m off for the next set of adventures in geekdom….

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The Austin American-Statesman launched the Texas Social Media Awards last year, and I’m humbled to tell you that the 2010 award winners were just announced and I’m one of the awardees.

Thanks very much to the judges on the Statesman staff and to those who supported my nomination.

It is truly an honor to be recognized in such a constantly-changing space and with so many other fine people.

From the paper’s article about the Awards:

“In the year since the awards were first held, social media sites increasingly have become a part of daily life. ‘We’ve gone from people who were early adopters and having fun with the technology to people using it for business and nonprofits in ways I’ve never even thought of before,’ says American-Statesman social media editor Robert Quigley.”

I sincerely hope that my work in the social Web is helpful to the tourism and travel communities.

Take a gander at the list of awardees to appreciate the variety of folks, and allow me to give a special shout-out to a few of them….

1. Michelle Greer – last year’s overall winner and one of this year’s judges. A tireless advocate of using tech for worthy causes and an expert on cloud computing with Rackspace.
2. Jennifer Navarrete – A good friend and occasional business colleague, Jennifer is the driving force behind much of San Antonio’s tech scene, plus she’s a dynamite podcaster at (among other shows) Tech in Twenty.
3. Dara Quackenbush – Dara is a PR professor at Texas State, and I love watching how she brings her students into modern PR, done right. Here’s her class blog where they practice what they learn.
4. Jenn Dearing Davis and Hayes Davis – They tweet and tell us about good deals, on CheapTweet. They appreciate all of us on a budget. They are super-nice. Drawbacks = none.
5. Mando Rayo – He investigates the local taco scene, then blogs about it on Taco Journalism.  He told me that my best local taco joint is Juarez Mexican Bakery, and when Mando tells me where to go, I go. I eat. I’m happy.
6. Hugh MacLeod – He draws quirky cartoons at Gaping Void. He does marketing for a South African winery from his location in Alpine, Texas; hey, it’s the Web so it makes sense to me.

I’m thrilled to be in such company, and thanks again for your support.

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