Postcard attached to the Stickybits sticker pad in the swag bag given to all attendees
It has been over a month since SXSW and since then the industry has seen two milestones from Apple and the advancement of Facebook footprint in your life. First, Apples iPad, which I have not had the chance to touch yet, and iAd, the HTML5 based ad platform. Then Facebook continuing to change how you syndicate what you like. All of these will change the playing field for usability and advertising. I’ve been writing and editing this since I got back home and I would have liked to have published this sooner but it’s been a challenge catching back up with my life after only a few days away. I hope you appreciate what I’ve been able to compile here. Your comments and tweets about this article are very much appreciated.
This was my second trip in a row to Austin for South by Southwest Interactive (March 12-16, 2010). Also known as SXSWi, or SXSW Interactive. Whatever you call it, make sure you put one of those number signs before it. Also known as a Hashtag, this year’s SXSW starred hastags, optical code scanning and check-ins, with supporting roles played by HTML5 and a cameo by iPad. The architects of the conference assigned a hashtag to as many things as possible so you might be able to track conversations on Twitter about them.
New this year – you could actually get online with your iPhone. Last year AT&T’s local network was no where near capable of handling all of the 3G traffic. Imagine that you are at one of the biggest interactive conventions and you can’t use one of the most popular devices. AT&T was obviously scared of a torch-yielding mob because they had booster trucks placed around the area (medium size trucks with pop-up cell-phone towers).
For the first time, paid attendance is on track to surpass that of the SXSW Music. When the dust settles, Interactive is expected to have grown about 40 percent over last year to 12,000-13,000 paid attendees.
This review has been broken up into two parts. The first movement focuses on aspects of the convention as a whole with no specifics on the panels. In the second movement we dive into each of my days and the panels/parties that I made it to.
• No. 1 •
I know You Passed It
As you walked through the convention center, down the big long hallway, rushing from panel to panel, you walked right by an amazing view into the zeitgeist brought to us by Pepsico. I saw this a few times but I did not pay it as much attention as it deserved. I did not know until later that this was a website with so much more than I realized by just walking by. The 60″ screen definitely did it justice with great resolution, and it was apparent the display quality of the application on a big screen was not an afterthought. It should have been bigger and in more places.
Below are some screen shots and you can see it here until they take it down.
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Agenda
This year for me was going to be different from last. Last year I attended as the Director of Technology at The Concept Farm, and I went along on their dime to gather information. I left the Farm last August, incorporated myself as The Rea Company and started working on projects for other agencies. I wrapped on a project at Berlin Cameron for Movies on Demand called Cable Video Store the Wednesday before SXSW and got to Austin on the morning of Thursday, March 11th.
Yes that QR code worked though no one used it on me. It would take you to the your my.sxsw profile page. The "T" pin is from TypeKit.
(Hint: for those traveling to Austin for something at the Convention Center, stay at the Hilton. It’s pricey but worth it. You are right next door to to the convention center and it has a great gym and outdoor pool.)
This year was focused on relationships. Right now I’m referring to personal, but in fact Relationships between brands and users was at the core of the convention. This year was less on panels and more on real social networking. Believe it or not, human networking is important even at a convention focused on digital. All year everyone is busy with their careers, family and other personal responsibilites, but for this one week in Austin you have to chance to escape your life and spend time with your peers at this professional retreat.
Of course people were talking about Twitter; they’ve been doing that for years. But this year marked the one-year anniversary of Foursquare at SXSW and if you used the program then you received a new badge to commemorate the occasion. The moment was also commemorated by a new player that has entered into the field, Gowalla. Foursquare has a value-based system where one receives badges for completing tasks. The Bravo television network has even signed on and you can now receive badges related to programs on the networks. It has made it into the NYT on multiple occasions and has been the forerunner in the location based phenom sweeping the mobile based community. Foursqaure is an application that you run on your iPhone, Android phone or the newer Blackberrys. Gowalla a similar application, running on iPhone and Android phones. I know some that are using both but I am sticking to Foursquare for now.
The Foursquare badges I received in Austin for SXSW
The Foursquare badges I received (above) from left to right: Panel Nerd; Super Swarm; Early Adopter of Foursquare; Austin Explorer; and Hookup (the latter is not what you may think). A downside to the application is that any user may enter in any location they choose then check-in. So the Hilton where I was staying could end up having multiple names because either A) the person who checked in was too lazy to find the correct location on the list or B) wanted to be creative. The end result is that you could check into the same hotel you are staying in but under two different locations in the system. This makes it look like you are staying the night in another hotel. You can understand how getting this badge might get one in trouble. I’ve posted my check-ins during my SXSW trip at the end of this post.
The other heavily pushed ideas were matrix codes, which are 2D codes that are more advanced that your regular every-day barcode. The most common out of the lot were QR codes. The idea has been around for over 10 years and is primarily used in shipping and manufacturing. This year you were finding versions of matrix codes all on various things. From the Stickybits UPC scanning and sharing to the QR on the SXSW badges. I unfortunately did not receive a scan of my badge’s QR code and I know few you have. You need a special application for the iPhone. Once you get it you have to scan someone’s code and then it displays a URL (in the case of a SXSW badge) then you go to the website to view more about your fellow SXSW attendee who is standing right in front of you. Their info does not magically get transmitted into your phone or notebook. You could have easily passed one of those analog things called a business card and been done with it. Which, in the end, is what 99% of the people I met did. And unfortunately, no one asked to “bump” once. A very simple application that works very well. Their API is great by the way – AND FREE. Check it out if you want to incorporate proximity based sharing with your iPhone, iPad or Android app. Learn more about that at Bump’s site.
The Bag
SXSW 2010 Bag Swag by But You're A Girl
After you waited in the long line and picked up your badge that you hoped had the correct information (mine did not) you were directed to pick up your bag. I’ve been using last year’s tote both for its part in reducing my use of retail plastic bags and as a badge. Yes, one of those who carries the tote with a load brand to advertise their allegiance to WNYC or Trader Joe’s. You see them too, don’t lie, so we all know that it works.
Adria Richards of But You’re A Girl did a great break-out of the bag contents.
Stickybits sticker pad photo by Helen Klein Ross. Click here to read her article on SXSW. If you've never read her blog, Ad Broad, then click here this instant!
Besides the bag and some WordPress stickers the most useful item was the Stickybits pad. Stickybits is a sharing community built around the ability to scan a UPC and attach a photo, video or comment along with geo data. The clever pads consist of small stickers that are very easy to apply on the sly to anything or anyone. In the end however, the stickers are not required. The iPhone or Android application uses your device,s camera to scan an EAN or UPC. It uses the Occipital Red Laser free SDK that you can use for your own applications. The kicker is that you do not need to use a Stickybits’ generated UPC. Any UCP or EAN will work. The application scans the barcode and adds it to the database. If you are the first one then you create the first entry in the database. Along with the stickers and the ability to download a large image of one, they also partnered with Zazzle to have a unique UPC added to products such as business cards, mugs and t-shirts.