Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Careers in Hilton Austin Downtown

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Friday 11th March 2011

• Unleashing Employees: Empower Innovation From The Ground Up

  by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler

  Groundswell technology comes to consumers first. At home, we get social, mobile, video and cloud services pitched to us 24x7. Empowering technologies will always come to consumers first because it's a wide-open market. A single developer can build an application that changes the world from a broadband-connected bedroom.

  All this technology puts tremendous power directly into the hands of customers and they often have more information than your sales or services team does. You'd better make sure you give customers better information than they can get elsewhere.

  The only way to do that is to empower employees to directly engage the needs and expectations of customers. Fortunately, they are not standing still. Your innovative employees are already building new solutions using these same technologies to solve customer problems. In fact, 37% of US information workers use do-it-yourself technology to get work done. It's covert innovation – your employees solving your business problems at the ground level.

  The challenge is to support this innovation while keeping the company safe. That takes a whole new way of thinking and acting. It takes an empowered IT organization working under a new set of principles.

  Empowerment is chapter 3 in the Internet story. Chapter 1 was the Web. Chapter 2 was Social Computing. It has that feel of inevitability. Companies like Best Buy that empower employees to solve customer problems will win. Companies that don't will lose.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Careers
  • Innovation
  • Productivity

  At 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Friday 11th March

  In Salon K, Hilton Austin Downtown

Saturday 12th March 2011

• That's Not My Job: Being A Career Generalist

  by Jesse Taggert, Noah Kagan, Poornima Vijayashanker and Rebecca Sinclair

  In corporate America people say: "That's not my job!" employees specialize and have a deep knowledge in a couple areas. But for those who want to don't want to specialize the role of being a generalist can be a rewarding experience. These individuals are early employees at a start because they are capable of learning skills quickly, knowing how to complement their teammates skill sets, and stay focused and motivated in order to build out a prototype and a business. We'll cover how to build a career as a generalist, recruit them, and keep them motivated.

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Careers

  At 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Saturday 12th March

  In Salon D, Hilton Austin Downtown

Tuesday 15th March 2011

• Recruiters are Full of Shit, I Am One

  by Tiffany Jennings, Matthew Wallace, Scott Gordon, whurley (william hurley) and David Sidlinger

  In the wake of one of the worst economic disasters in our lifetimes, recruiters/headhunters can hold the golden ticket to finding a dream job. Mega corporations are moving to vendor managed processes that silence the average job seeker and all but force them into the waiting arms of a headhunter. Job seekers new to town and new to a job market rely heavily on the knowledge of recruiters to shine a light on who's hiring. What's not mentioned are the massive turnover numbers inside the "search industry". 70% quit within the first year and then those that stay wonder why job seekers despise working with them.

  This panel will feature both sides of the coin. (1) Recruiters (technical) that have proven successful in their respective industries but had to battle to achieve independence among the masses of greasy sales folk. (2) Job seekers (software developers) that have gone through horrible processes and are not only unafraid to share the horrors but can speak intelligently about what the loved and hated.

  A no holds barred session of what works and what doesn't and more importantly why and why not. In the spirit of SXSW, ample time will be given to dauntless dialogue from those in attendance. The veil of secrecy will be dropped.

  LEVEL: Advanced

  • Careers
  • Hiring
  • Recruitment

  At 9:30am to 10:30am, Tuesday 15th March

  In Salon A, Hilton Austin Downtown

• Freelancers: You're Five Products Away From Freedom

  by Thomas Myer

  If you're a freelancer, you know that your existence comes down to chasing after lots of client engagements, projects, gigs, whatever you want to call them. If you stop working for any reason (illness, travel, you just want or need a break) then the income stops.

  Adding products to the mix can be a really great way to add small (but potentially large!) streams of income that you can count on month after month. I'll talk about using your talents and strengths to create products (ebooks, themes/templates, photography/artwork, plugins/apps, membership sites) that will appeal to an audience and generate sales.

  Remember, even if you only create a $100/week product, it only takes 5 or 6 of those to really start making a big difference in the way you work and live. This isn't about creating a "four hour workweek" or some other hyped BS, this is about creating repeatable, realistic income streams.

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Careers
  • Freelance

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Tuesday 15th March

  In Salon A, Hilton Austin Downtown

  Coverage note link slide deck

• Employment Space Meet Up

  As the SXSW Interactive Festival continues to grow, it often becomes harder to discover /network with the specific type of people you want to network with. Hence a full slate of daytime Meet Ups are scheduled for the 2011 event. These Meet Ups are definitely not a panel session -- nor do they offer any kind of formal presentation or AV setup. On the contrary, these sessions are a room where many different conversations and (and will) go on at once. Cash bar onsite.

  • Careers
  • Meetup

  At 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Tuesday 15th March

  In Room 615AB, Hilton Austin Downtown