Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Diversity

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Saturday 12th March 2011

• Diversity in the Digital Age

  by Anne Hunter

  With the plethora of niche sites it’s hard to deny that the Internet has increased the amount of social, political and personal groups one can join. But is this cross sharing really creating diversity?

  In this session, Anne Hunter, VP, Advertising Effectiveness, comScore, will provide a comprehensive understanding of how the digital age has affected diversity. Does the democratic nature of the internet with its open sharing of ideas and cultures lead to a natural increase in diversity or are we seeing an end of true niche and specialty groups? Is over-diversification leading to a weakening of subcultures?

  With your grandmother being able to join your band’s fan page how has the demographic makeup shifted? This session will highlight the key differences between visitors. Through understanding key metrics comScore will examine whether or not this democratization has actually created a more diverse audience or simply created a group of samplers versus key users.

  Anne will examine how the digital age has affected demographics differently. For younger generations that have only existed within this schism, how is their idea of diversity different from older audiences? Does a generation, who is more prone to buy a single than an album, less likely to be deeply connected to one group?

  Finally, this session will also examine how diversity changes based on the medium. For example, how does the audience of BET Television compare to their online component?

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Diversity

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Saturday 12th March

  In Room 10AB, Austin Convention Center

• The Elevation of Black Women in New Media

  by Kathryn Finney, Deanna Sutton, Angela Benton, Shane Roberts and Susan Morgan

  The “Elevation of Black Women in New Media” panel will consist of 4-5 successful web entrepreneurs coming together to help new media websites and/or blogs targeted to women of color help take their blog/website to the next level. Over the last three years thousands of blogs and websites have launched that are ran by black women of all ages and backgrounds – covering topics that range from technology to fashion. Though all of the websites/blogs seem to have had some increase in traffic and garnered some acknowledgement – most do not have the skills, resources or proper knowledge to take their site to the next level. Currently there has not been one black blog/website ran by and for black women that has been VC or Angel funded and the most common reasons potential investors state are 1) the quality of site design and content, 2) lack of traffic, 3) a clear editorial/marketing strategy and 4) failure to have more than one successful revenue stream or lack of revenue stream altogether. Potential investors also claim that our demo does not have any spending power to truly make a return on their investment - which is completely untrue. This panel will not concentrate on funding and/or advertising - though it will discuss - but will give attendees the opportunity to hear successful tools, tactics, how-to's – (such as why moving from a “blogspot.com” or “wordpress.com” site to their own domain is a must to grow), resources, lessons learned and guidance on how to get off the discouraging wheel most black women on the web continue to run on.

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Diversity
  • Entrepreneurship

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Saturday 12th March

  In Room 10AB, Austin Convention Center

• 100% Viable, 1% Visible - Minority New Media Entrepreneurs

  by Kiratiana Freelon

  While minorities (Latinos and African-Americans) are consumers and producers of the content on new media platforms, why aren’t they creating internet companies as often? A recent article said that only 1% of internet firms are founded by African Americans. Is the number similar for Latinos?

  Furthermore, studies show that minority teens are beginning to close the digital literacy gap through the mobile web. Will they also soon close the gap in digital entrepreneurship and development? How can we guarantee that minority youth (and adults) will consider digital entrepreneurship and web development as a fruitful career, just as they have done with law, journalism and medicine?

  In this one-hour conversation, we will discuss how to propel more minorities in new media entrepreneurship and further increase VC funding for them. The ultimate goal of the panel is to shed some light on the best practices for developing minority new media entrepreneurs. This conversation is ignited by the recent pledge by Comcast to give $20 million toward a venture capital fund for new media businesses led by minorities you digital education. It is also ignited by a recent article that said only 1% of Internet Start ups were founded by African-Americans.

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Diversity
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Venture Capital

  At 4:30pm to 4:45pm, Saturday 12th March

  In Ballroom E, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage slide deck write-up

• How to Ensure a Diverse Tech Event

  by Erica Mauter

  Social networking is supposed to be the ultimate facilitator of interaction between producers and consumers. In the tech space, these online interactions go offline at conferences and unconferences around the world, but it's still the rare tech conference that accurately reflects its real audience - the users, the consumers, the benefactors of technology. Are you hoping to attract more diverse audiences to your existing programming or are you tailoring your programming to diverse audiences? How can your product appeal to a diverse audience if you don't have a diverse group developing it? Does your event allow affinity groups to connect in a meaningful way? We'll explore what event organizers like O'Reilly and SXSW are doing to encourage new people to attend. We'll explore the barriers individuals face as well as opportunities for contribution within the community. Individuals, organizations, conference organizers, sponsors and bloggers will walk away with actionable steps they can take to diversify events.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Diversity
  • Event Planning

  At 5:00pm to 5:15pm, Saturday 12th March

  In Ballroom E, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage write-up slide deck

Monday 14th March 2011

• Hispanic Marketing After the 2010 Census

  by Jerry Rocha, Kety Esquivel, Reinaldo Padua and Roberto Ruiz

  After the 2000 Census, companies began paying more attention to the Hispanic market. The estimated buying power at the time was $500 Billion and has steadily increased since then. However, large corporations still struggle when it comes to marketing to Hispanics because they do not understand the subjective culture of the Hispanic marketplace--beliefs, fundamental priorities, modes of communication, technology adoption and buying habits (such as who makes the purchasing decisions in the household).

  In this presentation, we'll explore the diversity of the Hispanic market such as how Hispanic markets in the U.S. vary by Designated Market Area (DMA). For example, how Los Angeles is different than Miami. We'll discuss commonalities in marketing to this group as well as how to translate your brand attributes so that they have cultural significance to Hispanics.

  Hispanics adopt new technologies at a faster rate than the general population making them segmented since they are heavy consumers of both online and mobile media. Therefore, the media marketing mix has to be more diverse. We'll show where the Hispanics are, what they are consuming, and how to reach sub-demographics such as "Hispanic females aged 18-24 in Dallas."

  We'll also discuss the nuances of marketing to 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics--some of whom may only speak English but who still identify strongly with the culture.

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Diversity
  • Hispanic

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Monday 14th March

  In Ballroom F, Austin Convention Center