Add an eventSessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 in Brazos 2/3
Friday 11th March 2011
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Being Young and Rocking It
by Brian Wong
Being a young entrepreneur in this period of time in business and commerce is an exciting thing. It is your biggest asset. You should rock it.
But how do you rock it? How do you overcome traditional preconceived notions of being "younger", more "inexperienced", and "naive"? Simple. You turn them into your strengths. Everyone always talks about how being curious, how retaining youthful characteristics is a great way to succeed without bounds. Why can't those who truly embody those characteristics be the ones that indeed reap those rewards?
Most younger entrepreneurs are at the edge of a cliff. They are looking for reasons to jump, or not to jump. There are lots of people willing to tell them all the reasons of why they shouldn't. Very few are there to tell them all the reasons why they should, and to help them throughout to show them how to grow wings in the process. I'm there to nudge them.
Being a 19-year-old entrepreneur with a funded start up - experience at a well-known company in the social news landscape, and literally being thrown into a pit of extremely successful entrepreneurs as a non-American (a Canadian), helped prime me to learn all of the lessons that I will be sharing with everyone.
Anyone fascinated by the elusive "young" entrepreneur - and especially the type that genuinely takes tangible action towards successful milestones in their career - and wondering about how to learn from them and to help nurture their growth - should come.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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From Personal Blogger to Professional Marketer
by Deb Rox and Melissa Lion
There are many ways to make a pittance as a blogger. Google ads will bring home a very small amount of bacon. Maybe a slice. The book deal, though coveted, is often meager at best. And there are all of those adorable animal species who are just waiting for their photos to be manipulated into something even cuter/funnier/more irritating, but what happens when the next tiny cute animal comes along? Moms ought to pour their hearts out every day for more than free fabric softener. How can bloggers get paid appropriately for generating and promoting content and managing a loyal community?
How about a leap from the job where you spend most of your day ignoring the tedium by blog surfing, checking out Twitter and replying to the growing comments on your blog, into a position that will probably pay better and allow you to use all of those skills you learned as a blogger?
This presentation will show both sides of taking skills learned as a blogger and translating them into a career change or enhancement. The presentation will be conducted from two points of view-the blogger, and, the hiring manager.
LEVEL: Beginner
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Help! A Giant Meteor Is Headed Our Way!
by Brian Reich
There is a giant meteor headed our way... and we need to knock it off course or life as we know it will cease to exist.
If that news turned out to be true, you would do everything you could to save the world, right? Well, an equivalent disaster is unfolding before our eyes. Everything about our society is changing - rapidly and constantly. How we communicate, get and share information, and engage each other - online and offline - is different than it was just a few short years ago. Information moves faster, people are more closely connected, and the level of interest and commitment that people have when it comes to the organizations they engage, the transactions they make, the issues they care about and the causes they support has never been greater. Our society has changed and how organizations operate and communicate, the products we sell and services we offer, what causes we support, how we address serious issues - and find solutions to the biggest challenges we face as a global community -- needs to change as well.
If we don't change - everything - we are doomed. This session will outline the changes... in thinking, organization, education, engagement, government, media, and everything else... that need to be made.
LEVEL: Intermediate
Saturday 12th March 2011
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You CAN Get There from Here: SXSWIA Navigation
by Ewan Spence and Eric Young
For the myriad new comers to SXSW and Austin this will present an overview of the downtown area, including how to find an address (East vs. West 6th street), transportation options including party shuttles, hotel shuttles, buses, cabs, and good old fashioned walking. You will learn where all the party lounges are, how to get to them, and also noted restaurants in the area.
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Be Heard: How to Innovate At Big Companies
by Gene Kim and William Hertling
Don't quit your big company job just yet to go work for that sexy startup. At this panel, seasoned professionals give their tips on how to successfully drive innovative ideas inside big companies.
Whether you want to add social media to your company's web presence, adopt hot new technology, or have the next big business idea, we'll tell you how to accomplish it, even in the face of management that still prints out their email.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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Being Funny on Twitter (Without Getting Fired)
by Chapin Clark and Ross Morrison
Many brands use humor. It's great for engagement. Advertisers have been using it for years in TV commercials, in print ads, and practically everywhere. But, how do you use it on Twitter? How far can you take it? How do you avoid offending your customers? Who do you get to be the voice of your brand? What type of humor is right for your brand? And most importantly how can you keep people interested?
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Sausagefest: Getting More Women Into New Media & Tech
by Alexia Tsotsis and Rachel Sklar
This industry has a ratio problem. Still. It's getting better, but panels, conferences, magazine articles, VC funding - it's all dominated by men. In a big way. Is this because women are lame and uncreative? No. Is it because men are evil and sexist? No. (Sheesh, no.) But - where there is such an obvious and unrelenting gender disparity, there is a problem waiting to be solved. How can women do more to make their ideas happen? (And get money for them?) What do men do differently than women? Is industry coverage lopsided - and if so, how can we change that? What can we blame on the people running all-dude conferences - and what can we take responsibility for ourselves? How can we work together as an industry to encourage the kind of diversity that will free up the very best of our collective talent to rise to the top?
Women are great. Men are great. But the ratio in this industry - not great. This panel will address that, and how to change it.
LEVEL: Beginner
Sunday 13th March 2011
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More than Buzzword Bingo: Making Innovation a Reality
Ever felt like your organization is in a rut? It’s the same thing year in year out with a new buzzword to lead the “new” effort. Learn how to use business models, new organization strategy and proven methods to make continuous innovation a reality. It is one thing to have an annual innovation contest but quite another to create an atmosphere where there is an attitude of creativity and out of the box thinking while simultaneously meeting the goals of a bottom-line focused company. This presentation will discuss how to leverage people from other functional areas to create a group that doesn’t rock the preverbal boat, but instead creates an autonomous fish. The strategies discussed here apply to all businesses from start-ups to well established corporations. The examples come from both types of organizations, but the truly radical changes can best be seen in introducing these concepts to an established company.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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The Evolving Workplace: Environments, Methods, Trends and Management
by Azeez Lekan Bashua and Liz Elam
What micro and macro trends are starting to emerge pointing to a fundamentally different way people are working. We will talk about where people are choosing to work (Coworking, Socially conscience work environments, home, traditional office), tools enabling this (Apps, Google docs, social networking etc.) how this is changing management styles ( Bestbuy R.O.W.E. (Results Oriented Work Environments, Google 20% Time, Atlassian “Fedex Days” ) and what the long term implications (glut of office space, disconnected workforce) of all this could be.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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Seven Reasons Your Employees Hate You
At some point in your career, you wake up one morning, drink your coffee, put on deodorant, kiss your kids good-bye, drive to the office, and suddenly realize -- you don't have one ounce of experience at your job.
You did yesterday. What happened?
You were promoted. You became a manager. And you suck at it.
Yesterday, you were an absolute rock star at your job as an engineer. Or designer. Or salesperson. So fantastic they put you in charge.
And now, you've got six eager faces standing around your desk, looking to you for guidance.
So, you do what you've always done. You wing it. Act like a leader. Demand results. Drive the ship. Everything you've seen your former bosses do for years on end.
And a year down the road, during your Monday morning staff meeting, you announce a new initiative and see someone at the table sneer in disgust. You look around at all faces and realize: These people hate my guts. They can't stand me.
What did you do wrong?
Well the truth is, I only know why my employees hate me. But I've got some good guesses why they hate you. Seven of 'em.
In this presentation I will share with you how I have screwed up time and again on my path to creating a creative agency that has been named #1,399 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the US and rated the #1 interactive agency in the country by BtoB Magazine.
And with a little luck, you can learn from my mistakes so you don't have to make them yourself.
LEVEL: Beginner
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Defining The Diaspora: Global Collaboration and Social Change
by Benjamin Herson
Defining The Diaspora: How New Models of Collaboration are Changing the World
In the past, record labels and film studios were the principal gatekeepers in controlling media production and distribution. Not anymore. The internet and increased access to inexpensive and high quality recording technology have changed the rules of the game. This sea change marked the turn of the century for artists and content producers who are now granted access to once cost-prohibitive tools needed for producing and disseminating media.
But how exactly has this played over the past decade and what role is left for labels and media distribution companies? Moreover, how are global collaborations amongst international artists helping to create new models of communication and cultural understanding?
This lively discussion and media presentation will be led by critically acclaimed Social Entrepreneur, Media Producer and Public Speaker, Ben Herson (Nomadic Wax) and will explore how these technologies have allowed for new models of collaboration, cultural understanding and social change on a global scale.
LEVEL: Intermediate
Monday 14th March 2011
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Scratching Your Personal Projects Itch
by Cap Watkins and Richard Crowley
Have you ever had an idea for a great product, but thought any of the following:
"I don't have enough time to work on this and keep my full-time job."
"I don't have the dev/design/business skills to make this on my own."Come hear from three people who have each figured out their own unique ways around these (and other) challenges. From the designer with zero development skill, to the developer who freelances to fund their own project, to the developer who focuses full-time on scratching his own itch, this panel runs the gamut for dreamers of all shapes and sizes. Hear what's worked for us and what could work for you!
LEVEL: Beginner
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You Are The Gig Economy
by Julie Ruvolo and ingrid sanders
“No one I know has a full-time job anymore. They’ve got Gigs.” - Tina Brown, The Gig Economy (http://www.thedailybeast.com/blo...)
Depending on when you last watched Office Space, Lumbergh might be your idea of the quintessential boss from hell or evoke nostalgia for “when people had bosses.”
Welcome to the jobless, boss-less Gig Economy.
Where independent workers now make up 30% of the American workforce - freelancers, contractors, part-timers, self-employed, dabblers in a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Where 75% of small businesses in the US are sole proprietorships – that’s 20 million businesses with no Lumbergh and no employees.
And where 75% of 2010’s college grads don’t have a job waiting for them on the other side of their Commencement Address.
Maybe we’re better off working for ourselves.
In his latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink argues that “extrinsic motivators” like bosses and bonuses are less effective than things that motivate us from the inside out: autonomy, mastery and purpose.
So what makes us tick when we don’t have a boss, an office, a time to show up at work, or even a paycheck?
Through the lenses of autonomy, mastery and purpose, we’ll talk with a panel of the nation’s leading thinkers on the freelance lifestyle and work productivity and argue whether we’re looking at a crippling, jobless future or the emergence of a better way to work.LEVEL: Beginner
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Switch: from Freelancer to Entrepreneur
So you’ve tumbled down the rabbit hole into the world of freelancing and you’re ready to make it a legit career so your friends stop thinking you’re unemployed. But how does it actually happen? Should you take the red pill... or the blue one? Do you have to grow a big agency or outsource work to India? Maybe neither. Designing a successful business takes vision, organization and communication mixed with grit and determination. And our panel guests are in the thick of it—building a business together and ready to share their successes and failures with you.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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Freelancers Are Slutty, But So Are You
by Shane Pearlman and Peter Chester
Freelancing is a lifestyle.
In this session we'll present an overview of the pros and cons of working with freelancers. We'll walk you through our systematic approach to finding, retaining, and coordinating freelance teams. We'll answer some of the basic questions about working with freelancers such as:
- When does it make sense to work with independent contractors?
- How do you maintain an enduring relationship with a freelancer?
- What are the traits of a successful freelancer?
And we'll cover some basic topics including:
- Lifestyle: Why people choose to be freelancers
- Freelancers are slutty, but so are you: How to approach independence.
- Match made in heaven: Pros and cons of working with Freelancers
- Long distance relationships: How to approach communication
- Take a trip to Hawaii: Keeping freelancers on your team
We run a team of highly skilled and inspired independent contractors doing UI, web design, development, and multimedia. We've been working freelance on large corporate projects for over 10 years. We founded Freelance Camp in 2008, leading to a global movement. We've won numerous Webby awards, work with the likes of SAP, MTV, AOL and dozens of other 3 letter acronyms.
LEVEL: Intermediate
Tuesday 15th March 2011
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How to Bring Teams Together to Move Mountains
by Beth Hallmark and Karen Hudgins
Every organization wants to do the best job possible, often by providing terrific customer service and producing killer web content. And it usually starts out that way –– in the early stages. But after your ideas and concepts bounce from team to team, they often become watered down and ineffective.
Bringing people with different viewpoints and backgrounds together can be a challenge without taking precise steps, making sure each employee understands –– and is understood –– and how to effectively communicate and “on board” your teams toward your organization’s vision.
Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case. By bringing teams together and creating shared goals and communication plans, strategic visions can exist in eternal harmony.
This discussion will focus on methods to put your workplace’s teams on common ground with shared strategic vision and core competencies that result in a happy workplace, with high-performing, Zen-inspired employees.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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Succeeding as Distributed Virtual Team
by Josh Cramer
Do you sometimes feel like you could get more done without the distractions in the office? Is your company considering allowing some employees to work from home occasionally? Do you collaborate or work with others who live in a different city, state, or country? Do you have trouble finding the ideal employee in your local area? Find out what it takes to succeed as a virtual, distributed, telecommuting work team. Experts in this field talk about what works, what doesn't, and the state of affairs for online collaboration. Some of the topics covered in this session will include:
- essential tools for distributed work teams
- dealing with time zone differences
- requirements for your home office
- skills and personality traits critical for success
- finding and hiring remote talent
- great communication without face to face
- leveraging coworking spaces to the fullest
Telecommuting is becoming more and more common in our society every year. The development of new tools and techniques are fueling this transition and moving the traditional corporate walls right into our homes. Today's worker is increasingly attracted to the flexibility and opportunity provided by telecommuting. Come to this session to learn how you can take part in this ongoing revolution of work.
LEVEL: Intermediate
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Right Brain to Left: Art of Persuasive Presentations
by John Harne
Why do so many creative professionals in the interactive design and agency business struggle to sell their concepts, executions and creative work to the business decision makers. What are the potential issues of communicating concepts containing emotion and aesthetic content to analytical thinkers. How are some creative professionals able to sell just about anything to their clients. John Harne is the Executive Creative Director for Definition6. With over 20 years of interactive experience he began his career as an artist and animator and has successfully lead several of the largest interactive agencies since 1998. His team recently won Adage Small Agency Campaign of the Year with the viral“Coke Happiness Machine”. His experience with leading creative presentations for a wide variety of media spans identity projects like the WebMD identity to 50 million dollar accounts like Virgin and TheHomeDepot to film projects for TLC and Matchbox20. Just last week he showed a major hotel how his team would transform their brand through creative consumer insights. He credits the win to building part of the concept in an iPad application and handing it to the clients during his pitch. In this presentation he will give concrete and examples of how to pitch ideas to boards to games to campaigns and how to ask for the business. Learn some valuable techniques to understand the prospective client, how to read the room and how important story-telling is in the process of creative presentation.
LEVEL: Advanced
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