Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

Yes, Facebook has an Analog Lab. Slide from Ryan Bigge’s SXSWi 2013 presentation.

Now that I’ve had a few weeks to “let it cook” as Liz Strauss would say, here are a few thoughts from the 2013 SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive tech conference in Austin.

Yes, I could have posted this more quickly, but part of the reason I didn’t is tied to an overall vibe at this year’s “geek Spring Break” nerdfest;  that it is time for humans to control technology, not let it control us.

Did I want to think for awhile, or did I want to rush to post because that’s what everyone else insists I must do for maximum page views and the chance to “go viral?”

Phooey, I say. Phooey is my new favorite technical term.

This 30,000+ person conference is my professional Super Bowl and I never miss it. 2013 was my sixth SXSWi and the third time that I was honored to host the conference’s Travel Meet Up. As an Advisory Board member I review and evaluate hundreds of panel proposals, plus attend some SXSWi social events throughout the year (not that this helps to get my own proposals selected – I’ve only spoken at South By one time, although I keep pitching.)

This year’s event experience was similar to my first one in 2007; lots of panels, almost all of the keynotes, very few parties, occasional spontaneous meetups and a good bit of trade show floor wandering.

The Latest and Greatest is …. Paper

The “next big thing” related to tech and social media is what I’ve hollered about for awhile; quit chasing your tail plus Facebook’s latest rule change and Google’s latest algorithm, and spend more time thinking about how these tools integrate with your overall communications strategy.

Tech-based platforms are a key part of your destination marketing toolkit, but do not think of them in isolation, or as a bolt-on to your offline marketing efforts.

This year I had a harder time than ever suppressing an eye-roll when anyone tried to show me a new app that is all about “sharing travel experiences with friends.” Geez, I already have that covered, thanks.  No one needs one more network to maintain; we need integration and synthesis.

Humans Re-learn to Appreciate Analog

Hey, you know what?

Digital isn’t the answer to everything.

Digital tools aren’t always the best tools.

Digital stuff is merely a part of all other stuff going on around the planet.

Well, DUH.

Except that it’s not so “duh.” Plenty of people get so wrapped around trying to jump onto the next thing that they forget the basics: it’s not about the tools, it’s about what you can DO with digital tools, or any tools, to further your personal or organizational goals.

Travel and tourism are a great fit for social media and mobile communications (especially social photography like Instagram) but what about hard-copy preservation of travel experiences? What about “collaging the physical and digital worlds,” as Ryan Bigge discussed in one of my favorite SXSWi sessions, “Creating Great Analog Souvenirs For a Digital Era.”

Ryan talked about the growing popularity of saving bits of our digital world as analog items.

There are several examples of tools that straddle the digital and analog air gap, like Polaroid camera printouts of your computer screenshots, and his own company’s creations “Txt2Hold” and “Tweet2Hold” which preserve either a text or tweet in a PDF that includes different colors based on the text/tweet sentiment (using Lymbix software) and is printed with directions for origami folding.

Txt2Hold origami at SXSWi 2013

“Paper holds a memory.” John Guppy, Toronto Origami Society

I was intrigued by the possibilities for tourism organizations to provide ways for visitors to capture those moments that you want to save someplace besides “the cloud” or the phone that gets dropped, lost or broken.  Why not paper? As I often joke, it always boots up.

Could your CVB or DMO use something like Txt2Hold or Tweet2Hold to help visitors turn their digital memories into physical ones?

There are three other services I can think of that also could do this, and they’re all tied to photography:

**  Postagram lets you mail a physical postcard with a photo from your phone, Facebook, etc.,

**  Cocoagraph makes chocolate gifts out of photos, and

**  Casetagram makes custom cases for iPhone, iPad and some Galaxy devices out of Instagram photos.

To flip that, Ryan also mentioned physical/analog objects that connect to the digital world, and not by using QR codes, either. How about the Evernote smart notebooks by Moleskine?

He noted that there were at least six other speakers and panels at SXSWi 2013 talking about “physidigi” topics as a trend, including Embracing Analog: Why Physical is Hot.

“….people tend to utilize digital tech for its ease, speed, convenience and cost. But the more we embrace the format, the more we miss the emotional qualities it has a hard time replicating.” From the follow-up blog post from Why Physical is Hot.

I’m so glad that I made it to this session; it made me want to spend more time thinking about integration and ways to combine online and offline experiences in tourism and travel.

Ryan’s slides are below; just below it is a direct link to the deck on SlideShare if you can’t see the embed box.

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SXSWi 2013 badge and guide

One of the 5000+ events at the SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) tech conference in Austin, Texas is a series of Meet Ups so that people with similar interests have a chance to find one another in the 20,000+ person mob that is “South by.”

Today is the Travel Bloggers Meet Up, but it’s really for anyone interested in travel, so there will be an interesting gaggle of people showing up….last year the guy who writes the TSA Blog was there, along with the founder of Matador Travel Network and the lovely people from Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama (where I ended up going a few months later to teach a social media workshop, yet one more example of the business opportunities at SXSWi.)

I’m the Meet Up’s “official host” for the third year, but my job is to welcome everyone, then sit down, shut up and let them mingle.

It’s an honor and a thrill to get one whole hour with a bunch of other travel fanatics.

People will ask me my best advice for SXSWi, and I’ll tell them these things:

**  The keynotes are usually pretty enlightening, so try to make it to them. They’re livestreamed as well.

**  Pick one panel to attend that looks intimidating….you have no idea what they’re talking about and are convinced it will be “over your head.”  That’s how you learn!

**  Go through the schedule, tick everything that sounds good (yes, you’ll have 14 choices all for one 3:30 p.m. time slot) then about 30 minutes before a session, do a ruthless triage deciding which to attend, based on your location and mental state.

**  Follow the #SXSWi hashtag on Twitter.

**  Be prepared for complete mental overload by Sunday afternoon of the conference. Then realize that there are two more full days to go. Also, your feet will hurt.

**  A huge pile of irrelevant business cards will never beat collecting one or two really great contacts each day of the event, then following up later with each of them.

**  Eat BBQ, Tex-Mex and breakfast tacos till they come out of your ears. Check out this year’s new SouthBites food trailer gathering near the Convention Center. Have a drink in the bar at the iconic Driskill Hotel and toast the digital creative madness that is Austin in March.

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If you have great ideas, stories or case studies to share, there are two speaking proposal deadlines coming up this week….

**  SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) digital/tech creatives conference in Austin, Texas in March 2013. It’s only the biggest technology-related annual conference on the planet….20,000 of the most interesting geeks you’ll ever meet.

The unique PanelPicker process peer voting means that you need a really punchy title and great description for your presentation, in addition to – DUH! – knowing what the heck you’re talking about.

Proposal deadline: Friday, July 20, 2012.

**  140 Characters Conference/State of NOW Small Town in Hutchinson, Kansas on November 8, 2012. This event is a series of short presentations (no slides – yay!) on how the social web intersects with small towns and rural areas.

Proposal deadline: Friday, July 20, 2012.

Will I see you there?

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I’m working on a book, and it’s NOT about travel or social media!

Seems as though every time I turn around these days, someone I know is cranking out a book. For speakers like me, it’s almost a rite of passage.

I spent a lot of time wrestling with the idea, and trying to figure out why my portfolio of print articles and blog posts since early 2006 wasn’t enough to give me the credibility that can apparently – even today – only come from a book.

Honestly, it seems a bit silly that all of my tech and blogging buddies consider a book, made of paper, to be a pinnacle of geek achievement. Does anyone else find that a bit, well, ODD?

So I did what I do….I stewed and pouted and tried to find reasons to say No, and ultimately it ended up the way it always does for me….I decided that it was worth my time and effort to write a book, but not the one that people might expect.

A travel guidebook is a pain in the rear to compile and write, there’s no real money in it and it’s often outdated very quickly.

A social media book would be a rather naked bid to catch this year’s hot marketing topic. An offline entity doesn’t seem like the best medium to convey thoughts about online topics – especially when this blog works just fine for that, thanks.

I wanted something evergreen; something that could be picked up at a bookstore or ordered online five years from now, and would still be relevant, engaging and helpful.  When in doubt, I turn to my own experiences because I know them best, and thus was born The Elastic Waist Entrepreneur (or here is the book’s Facebook Page, if that’s your thing.) It’s about launching an online business for older women, especially when you really don’t know what the hell you’re doing, like me.

Since I have this project on the brain, I submitted a speaking proposal with serial entrepreneur Wendy Piersall to the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference, held every March in Austin, Texas.  It’s right down the road from me, and I’d be an idiot not to attend one of the world’s biggest tech events when it’s a 30 minute drive away.

As part of the unique Panel Picker process at SXSW, you can vote for and comment on proposals, so here is my shameless plug for you to add your vote and voice to the comments about the proposal, if you’d like.

Our proposal page: Elastic Waist Entrepreneurship for Women 40+

Why elastic waists? Because as a comfort-seeking old lady of 50, that’s what I was wearing when I came up with the book idea.

No matter how it ends up, thanks for your support, and see you in Austin in March 2012!

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We tell tourism clients all the time that they need to occasionally go where the geeks are to really stay up to speed on social media tools and culture.

One of the conferences that we recommend attending at least once is the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference held every March in Austin, Texas. In 2010 it outsold the SXSW Music festival (generally much better known) for the first time.

With all of the hype and hoopla and buzz about social media influencer outreach, it’s inevitable that some stupidity will ensue.

Enter this video, a guide from A Bajillion Hits for How to be South by South Best….and of course, don’t do as he does OR as he says….

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There is a fascinating discussion going on right now regarding roles, authenticity and marketing on the social Web.

It’s being shouted and whispered, and no matter what anyone says (including big mouth me) no one has the “correct” answer yet, if indeed there is a “correct” answer to be had.

Warning – in this post I’m going to use the term “blogger” to mean, “A person who creates original, unique content on the social Web.”   I am well aware that not every digitally-savvy person has an active, vibrant blog (maybe they only rock Twitter or Facebook or YouTube or some other platform) but the term “blogger” seems to have become accepted terminology for someone who knows how to communicate on the Web and builds/sustains some sort of community there.

Okay, here’s the question

At what point does an independent blogger who interacts with brands lose some element of his or her “authenticity?”

To be blunt, at what point is a blogger simply another node helping a company do marketing and outreach?

Again, I do not yet fully know the answer to this question for myself, much less for the rest of the planet (so put down those pitchforks, brothers and sisters.)  What I do know after finishing up this year’s South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference is that businesses and brands want what bloggers already have, and they want it badly.

They want blogger authenticity; what pioneering political woman Shirley Chisholm called being “Unbought and Unbossed.”

Why?

Because business-as-usual advertising and marketing is seen as inauthentic (or at least, all about rah-rah good news and therefore not the whole truth) so people are turning to the “digital back fence” – word of mouth from their friends online, because it is seen as unbought, unbossed and authentic.  In other words:  the truth.

There’s a PR/marketing term for getting talked about in a positive sense without having to pay for it:  earned media.  It means that your product or service is so good that it earns your business free publicity. People will talk about it of their own volition, which is seen as more authentic than paying them to say good things, i.e. paid media or advertising.

What is the best way to, well, earn this “earned media?”  One of the current answers seems to be to connect with digital influencers and bloggers at events like SXSWi.

From Jay Baer’s excellent post 13 observations from South by Southwest (SXSW) we have this snippet:

“There was also a lot of talk (especially among the big brands) on operationalizing social media, and creating true best practices for how to thrive in a real-time world where every customer is a reporter.”

Um, “operationalize?”

Yes, that basically means to take social media seriously and use it to drive sales and increase business, while measuring your Return on Investment (ROI) from those efforts.

Congrats, blogger, you are now part of a marketing plan; a node to drive sales and increase business for a brand.

Nerds As Nodes

I’m not saying whether this state of affairs is good or bad, only that it is what it is, and we’d better continue to acknowledge and talk about it.

There has been a power shift.

Brands have money, but bloggers hold most of the marbles.  Yes, you, blogger – the one trying to figure out how to pay your electricity bill – you hold most of the marbles in the new balance of power.

Brands want access to what you’ve worked so hard to build at 3 a.m. in your T-shirt and sweatpants:  authentic influence and community.

The question is, how many marbles do you trade with brands in order to pay the bills?  Is there a way to make money legitimately without you or your community feeling that they’ve bought your voice?

You’d better be thinking about these issues.  When you’re comfortable with the answers, go for it, but please do take the time to think, and I mean till your head hurts.

Or, don’t think about it. Fine. Take any and all goods/offers and run all the way to the bank, but don’t be surprised if you wake up one day with a pile of freebies and toys and a reputation (that you can’t shed) as a shill.

Respect what you’ve built online and always, always guard it fiercely.

Ask the brand and ask yourself the uncomfortable questions before unwittingly finding yourself in the Fire Swamp battling Rodents of Unusual Size.

Brands Are Not the Booger Man

Brands and businesses, please know that I understand your position, too.

You have products and services that you’re proud of and you want your business to grow, because it’s a good business, right?

I’m in the same position;  as a trainer and consultant myself, I have no problem telling our Tourism Currents clients that outreach to bloggers can be an integral part of their destination marketing – we call it “finding your online champions.”  I myself have been the target of such outreach efforts by tourism organizations, and they resulted in a few blogger press trips where I did a lot of thinking about my own comfort level as a “node.”   :)

Here’s my takeaway for brands….if a blogger is excessively accommodating, you’ve just been had.

Guard your brand’s reputation fiercely, too, because you’ve worked hard and you don’t need to toss it all away on “buzz” and “viral” crapola from a greedy digital snakeoil salesperson.  They can take their marbles and go home, in that situation.

I do not know all the answers, but I know enough to ask questions. Thanks for listening, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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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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I’m getting ready to participate in (and then recover from) the madness that is “Geek Spring Break” – Austin’s South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference.

Here is my report from last year’s travel blogging panel.

“South by” is where we often pick up tons of insights that help us keep our Tourism Currents training materials as up-to-date as possible.  I hope to find the time and mental bandwidth over the next few days to bring you some insights from the panels, speakers and parties, if I find information that is relevant to tourism, travel and destination marketing.

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One of the world’s biggest and best tech conferences is South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) held every March in Austin, Texas.

I recommend it for anyone who wants to be immersed in the future of communications as it is happening right now.

Remember….Twitter was first truly introduced (hyped?) at SXSWi. Cutting edge shows up there first.

I spoke with fellow writer Pam Mandel at SXSWi 2009 about travel blogging; our panel was livestreamed on Qik by Todd Lucier and got some favorable coverage from UpTake, the Austin American-Statesman, attendees in the room and those watching the hashtag on Twitter.

This year, I proposed two different panels to be considered for inclusion in the conference schedule.

At SXSWi, response from the community-based Panel Picker voting public “….accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for 2010 SXSW panel programming,” according to the SXSWi Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs.)

So, if you’re interested in my ideas, particularly if you might attend SXSWi, please register for free on the Panel Picker site and take a look at these possible panels (and any others that interest you….)

• Can They Buy Your Voice?  Blog Disclosure Ethics:  We’ll talk about “best practices” for disclosing sponsor help in a blog post and how companies can reach out to bloggers ethically with products and service demos, among other knotty questions. Will include a discussion of press trips.
• Drawing the Line Between Free and Paid: Are there some “rules of thumb” to know when it’s smart business to let one’s brain be picked for free, and when it’s smart to announce rate sheet fees? How can you turn the conversation from a free discussion to a paid consultation without being “that guy?”  Content DOES have value.

Thanks for your support, and hope to see you in Austin in March 2010.

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