The SXSW Panel Picker closes today and there are thousands of panels to choose from. I’m sure by now you’re tired of all the “please vote for my panels” tweets, Facebook messages and Twitter direct messages but don’t worry it’s almost over. There tons of SXSW panels from friends across the web from my social graph and I’m not going to post them all but here are a few of my favorites that I hope you will vote for.
27 (Fun!) Ways to Kill Your Online Community |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Patrick O’Keefe, iFroggy Network |
| Description | In this fun and extremely fast-paced session, you’ll learn how to manage an online community backwards. You’ll become an expert in the quickest ways to kill your online community, using tips you can take and use today to kill yours as soon as possible! You can even take these skills and work with clients who want to hire you to kill their community, too. Of course, if you want to attend the session to learn from those bad methods and do the opposite, in order to build a successful and well-run online community, you can. But, I’m not sure why you’d want to do that. |
Luck is a Four-Letter Word |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Brandon Eley, EleyMedia |
| Description | Are you tired of being unlucky? Are you sick of seeing other people land great opportunities, when you just can’t catch a break? Bad luck, karma, or whatever you want to call it — it’s not the cause of your misfortune. You are. Luck is more than a four-letter word. It’s a poison. Opportunities are very easily within your grasp. Find out how to “watch out” for opportunities, and recognize when they’re knocking on your door. Learn how to make the most of them, turning your “bad luck” into astounding success. No, this isn’t some cheesy self-help seminar. I want to show you real, practical ways you can seize more opportunities. It’s not magic, and it’s not rocket science. Learn simple tactics that will help you make the most of your business, and your life, and tell “bad luck” to take a hike. |
Everything You Know About Social Media is Wrong |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Jeffrey Cohen, Howard, Merrell & Partners |
| Description | Seemingly every day new statistics are released about the adoption and success of social media. Many of these studies suffer from small sample sizes, niche audiences and online data gathering methods that prevent these studies from being applied broadly. Through case studies, best practices and relevant data, we will examine the real value of social media in a variety of companies, including ones where it does not work. By understanding the true value of social media, rather than headline-driven studies, session attendees will leave with a better understanding of how social media can help their businesses succeed and thrive in the changing online landscape. |
Curation Is King and Content Is Its B**** |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot |
| Description | Never in the history of the world has more free information and data been public. Conversely, all of this data has created more noise for information consumers, causing a need for information consolidation. This means that although original content is still important, the overflow of it has made curation the most important information related activity on the web. Business and individuals who want to build credibility and reach online must become master curators of information. Through quality curation they can become the pulse of an industry and the leader of a tribe. |
You Don’t Own Social Media; They Do |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Jay Dolan, The Anti-Social Media |
| Description | All of the major social networks are controlled by private companies. You and your business are putting your social strategy in the hands of people you’ve likely never met. You pray they don’t change the terms of service yet again. You hope that another fail whale doesn’t surface just as you start trying to launch your next campaign. All the while, they glean information you put out there for their own money-making purposes The time is now to start telling our stories in a way that isn’t controlled by a handful of corporations. The problem of the closed social network goes beyond just making one based on values of open-source and privacy such as Diaspora. It involves deeper questions of the value of our real identity online, and whether the convenience and entertainment of social networks is worth the sacrifice. It’s time to start realizing how big the problem is and why the time for an open solution is now. |
Making Sustainable Attainable: Energy Efficient Computing |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Jessica Commins, Renewabelle |
| Description | Our electronic world has given us the freedom to work anytime, anywhere – so long as we have access to a power source. We’re plugging in more than ever, hindering our independence and losing resources in the process. We can do better. Unmasking the energy hogs on your network, at your desk and in your laptop bag is the first step toward greener computing. This session will also give you a heaping handful of DIY strategies you can employ immediately to start saving money, energy and the environment. |
The Cost, Commitment, & Satisfaction of Starting a Blog |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Jayson Flint, PinTECH Systems |
| Description | Many people believe the cost associated with blogging will keep them from creating something that people will be interested in reading. While cost is a factor depending on what type of blogging your going to create, you have a choice to create a totally free blog, or one that comes with immediate cost that you have to pay up front. We all have a voice and blogging is one way of expressing that on a global scale immediately. We will learn ways to keep your cost down, while possibly creating a little money in your pocket at the same time. Many blogs were started for the creator alone, and one day turned from hobby to business over time. Commitment is something that every blogger has at one time or another, some loose this commitment over time so we will show you ways to keep the commitment and keep a level head at the same time. Planning is one of the many keys to keeping your commitment to blogging, with planning you have a blueprint to take you in to the future, without it your success will be limited. In the end you are most likely to experience satisfaction in blogging, from financial rewards, personal recognition, to becoming a trusted source for your subscribers. Depending on what your blog is about you can gain personal rewards, invitations to trade shows, special beta tester, or product tester. Your satisfaction comes from the commitment and desire to succeed at the level you choose to reach. |
Learning 2.0: Academia in the Digital Age |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Fiona Barnett, HASTAC Scholars |
| Description | We will address questions that arise at the intersection of technology and higher education, such as how education is changing in the digital age, and how to both implement and create technology for teachers, academics and students. The opportunities and demands of the interactive digital age have already fundamentally changed academia — how we learn, what we learn, how we evaluate and give feedback to students, and of course pedagogy itself. We will touch on social networking and building a professional community, the importance of digital humanities projects, new ways to grade and evaluate student work, and the unique challenges and opportunities posed by using the Web to bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars. Digital scholars are addressing fascinating and provocative questions, and their impact spans well beyond the Ivory Tower. For example: * What does it mean to ‘democratize knowledge?’ * What are the benefits and risks to consider when developing community-driven or joint projects (‘town and gown’ relations)? * How can different methods of evaluation better reflect the changing demands of education, knowledge formation and students’ learning styles? * What would the perfect evaluation tool for user-generated content look like? * How do academics use digital storytelling and how is it different than non-digital storytelling? * How might we use games to teach students various skills and social techniques? |
Lawful Intercept: I Saw What You Did |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Jay Cuthrell, Cuthrell Consulting, LLC |
| Description | Social network privacy concerns? Step back and consider this: Lawful Intercept (LI) is how all network users are able to be monitored and analyzed in real-time. While many are concerned with privacy on a popular website, LI empowers an elected or appointed authority to know our digital comings and goings around the clock. This presentation will highlight the latest in LI technology, LI challenges , and how each of us can shape future of how LI is perceived and used. |
Internet Evolution: Hyperconnected, Hyper-real |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Janna Anderson, Imagining the Internet |
| Description | What are your fears and hopes for the future of the Internet? People who do not understand the potential threats may never get to benefit from the possible opportunities. Most technology experts foresee: wireless devices embedded in everything – including us; nearly invisible cameras recording activity in all public spaces; databases cataloguing our online actions; massive data centers that allow that information to be sorted and understood in new ways; changes in work and home environments as the Internet of Things and everyware applications become widespread and immersive, invisible, ambient, networked computing makes us available to more people in more ways. And what about the implications of a direct brain-to-computer interface? Join in a discussion aimed at illuminating the concerns that should be addressed today to prepare for the potential future scenarios predicted by experts as documented by Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys and other current research. Top trends already illuminated in expert surveys will be covered, and the audience will be invited to participate. We’ll also use an interactive element such as twtpoll.com to allow the group to speak out about best practices for the best future possible. |
Make Your Event Pop with Location Based Services |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Christina Coster, CRC Productions |
| Description | Everyone goes out to events. Every Friday night is an event. How do I get people to come to my event, both offline AND online? Technology has advanced to the point that people are able to interact with your event before, during and after the event – all while on the go. Are you as a brand prepared for the oncoming wave of technologically empowered individuals? How are you embracing them at your events, your competitor’s events, your partner’s events? This panel will delve into the different types of social media services that individuals and businesses planning events can rely on. Location based services and mobile apps will be heavily looked at in conjunction with more traditional social networks like Facebook and Twitter. We will show you how you can embrace and engage your audience leading up to the event by seeding information in these mobile networks as well as pulling out the metrics and analytics after the event. Events don’t just take place the day of the event. They now take place online for a duration before and after. We’ll look into all the different mobile apps you can use for your event including, but not limited to: Foursquare, Gowalla, Scvngr, Foodspotting, Whrrl, Plancast, Hot Potato and PegShot. Don’t think that only formal events are events. If you have a house party then that’s an event. This panel is for anyone who’s ever thrown a party, impromptu or formal. |
Panel About Nothing (That You Don’t Care About) |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Mike Schneider, allen & gerritsen |
| Description | Preface: We listened to the feedback of influential attendees from last year’s SXSW. These people want new, interesting experiences and more advanced content. Challenge: Our crystal ball is broken, but we know that come SXSW, we will have valuable insight about mobile and social communications technology. The audience wants panels that are provocative, yet relevant. They need something that sets them up for a great SXSW by starting conversations about the topics they most care about. Goal: Create thought starters about the most important issues of the day. Bring to light how perhaps people may be currently screwing it all up and how to fix it should they care. Have the audience leave with several takeaways and viewpoints on each issue. How will we know what to talk about?: We will pick the most popular topics from the crowd, add some of our own and ask for suggestions from the SXSW panel picker team. Are there rules? Discussion will take place “Pardon the Interruption” style. Speakers on the panel will be given a set amount of time to talk about each topic and buzzed when it’s time to move on. At least one speaker must give counterpoint or divergent viewpoint. Success: Audience participation is vivid. People feel energized about SXSW feel encouraged to seek out more content. People seek deeper answers by attending other panels to take the problems we cannot solve to more pointed, focused groups. The panel is referenced in other panels. |
People Power: Leveraging Personal Stories to Build Influence |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Feministing.com |
| Description | Now, social is personal. From finance site Mint.com’s anti-immigration blog post gaffe to YourTango CEO Andrea Miller’s “How to Date an Indian (Advice for the Non-Indian),” social media fuses personal with public in a way never seen before. Whether sharing taste in hiphop, dating preferences, provocative political ideas, or insider information about a soon-to-be-launched business, social media strategically develops personal and professional reputations. Stories can build audiences, grow support for campaigns and change mainstream ideas about social issues. They can also alienate various communities, compromise business information confidentiality or damage brands. If social media has shown us anything, it’s that stories still matter. This panel will be a concrete conversation on how successful online personalities have managed their personal and professional lives using social media: telling authentic stories about our experiences, and using those stories to build powerful, engaged communities. |
Death of the Relational Database |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Hank Williams, Kloudshare |
| Description | People have begun to realize the enormous gap between the relational database abstraction and the way people actually think about information. To be clear, I am not suggesting that relational databases will stop being used or that they are going to go away, but that developers are going to stop thinking of their data in relational database terms. Everyone from regular users to sophisticated developers thinks about information in a pretty simple way. There are objects, and there are connections or relationships between objects. For example if you have two objects, a cup and a table, the relationship between them might be “sitting on”, indicating that the cup is sitting on the table. What makes this model so sturdy is that we can continuously add new objects: tables, cups, chairs, floors, table cloths, etc. And we can add infinite relationships, such as sitting on, sitting under, covering, etc. Computer scientists, and now, thanks to Facebook, everybody else, refers to this structure as a graph. New data models such as the graph provide new ways to think about persisting data. The death of the relational database means the death of the relational database *abstraction* as a way that programmers think about data. What programmers need is to model data in the most natural way possible, and we are starting to see storage abstractions that are closer to how humans think instead of how computers need to. |
The Elevation of Black Women in New Media |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Deanna Sutton, Sutton New Media LLC |
| Description | 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. |
Augmented Reality for Marketers: Future of Consumer Interactions |
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| Your vote | Yes No |
| Organizer | Lynne Johnson, Advertising Research Foundation |
| Description | Augmented Reality (AR), is an emerging technology that allows for digital images and information to be overlaid on smartphone screens or computer monitors. While still an emerging technology, many major players in retail and technology are executing successful AR campaigns that move beyond catchy 3-D graphics to deliver ROI by connecting to people’s social networks and providing clear incentives to purchase. The presenters will demonstrate how Augmented Reality (AR) provides a ‘touchstone technology’ that layers mobile commerce, social networking and location-based advertising in a seamless format for consumers and brands. This session will also cover: How brands are getting attention with Augmented Reality, How brands are seeing ROI from Augmented Reality, The multiple B2B and B2C applications for Augmented Reality, How Augmented Reality links to Location Aware Advertising and Predictive Modeling, Why Augmented Reality is not a gimmick but the future. |
Also be sure to check out the list of SXSW panels submited by Bandwidth/Phonebooth here: A few interesting SXSW panel proposals from Bandwidth
As for my panel? It’s about diversity and I could use a few votes too. You can vote for it here: Exploring Lack of Diversity In the Technology Industry”
