I’ve just touched down from another SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX.
Over the next few days, I’m going to post some reflections on the event in 5 different segments, but before I do that, I feel like I still need to describe the conference to others.
SXSW is a incredibly difficult to describe, so I’ve come across an appropriate metaphor for SXSW. Austin is home to some terrific BBQ so, well SXSW is the ultimate BBQ pit- let me explain…
You/Your company Piece of Brisket/Meat
Austin Dry Rub
SXSW: The Smoker and grill
Your Clients/Friends/Agency The Sides (Mac and Cheese, Rice and Beans, Mashed Potatoes)
Ok so you’ve made your plans for SXSW. You’re just a simple piece of meat, but what happens to you over the course of a week in Austin every March is a true culinary experience.
Austin Texas, the Dry Rub
Austin, a.k.a. the Dry Rub. Your plane touches down in Austin. Austin is the place that spices it up. Each year has a different flavor. Maybe a bit more brown sugar, a little less cayenne, you get the drift. You (the brisket) arrive and start to get the Dry Rub treatment. You’re feelin the SXSW love. You hear the music, the sun is out. Who doesn’t love the dry rub?
The SXSW Conference- the Smoker/Grill
SXSW- a.k.a. The Smoker. You’re sloooow cooked over 5 days on a nice, even heat. You’re in this hot smoker for a while with constant heat. Heat=stimulation. Heat=meeting LOTS of people. Heat=learning. Heat= late-night parties. Heat=spontaneous discussions. Heat= serendipitous moments at the Driskill at 1:00am
The Sides: Your friends, clients, partners
Clients/Agency/Friends – The sides. BBQ doesn’t work without coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice, right? You’re not at SXSW alone, and these relationships are crucial to the SXSW experience. You, the brisket, works really well with these sides.
Sometimes you’ll meet a new “side” or friend along the way, it’s a piece of cornbead, pickles, mashed potatoes, you name it.
So, are you starting to get the picture here? Upon your return, the table has been set (pun intended) for you to share this BBQ experience with everyone else. You’ve been seasoned, smoked and cooked and are ready to serve to the world. And, of course, you can’t do it alone. No matter how big a company you are, you’ll always need the sides. Sides equal technology, creative, staffing, partnerships, you name it.
Over the course of the year, you may need to go back for “seconds” at another conference. But there’s nothing quite like that first plate of BBQ, right?
And the following March in Austin, the cycle continues, but it might be a bit different, right? It may even be a different BBQ Pit. It’s Stubbs and not The Salt Lick. Maybe the dry rub is a bit sweeter, and maybe the wood in the smoker is oak, and not cherry. And you just have to meet this new side at SXSW..
So, are you getting hungry for the next BBQ at SXSW? I am…
Mark Zuckerberg announced three new updates to Facebook last week, the biggest of which was the new Facebook Groups feature. Here are some quick thoughts:
This is a Social Upgrade, not a Technical one.
As Zuck mentioned in his blog post and during his presentation, the decision to make Facebook Groups was largely based on research of social behavior. Bottom line? People like to communicate and connect with a smaller group of people. This backs up Stephen Baker’s article from last year talking about the value of human relationships. The human brain is only wired (at least naturally) to maintain relationships with less than 250 people. And of those people, you really only maintain a close, trusted relationship with 8-10 of these people. So, why not create groups?
Return of the Clique?
Smaller groups will mirror, not surprisingly, a bit of life in high school and college. Cue the clique. And a clique isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Think of your closest groups of friends in high school and college. Think of the values, memories, tastes, and opinions you all shared. You’d probably wear the same thing they wear, eat similar food, consumer similar products, right? Not a bad place for an advertiser to be….
Too Intrusive. For now.
Facebook groups were made to essentially mirror the functionality of “Lists”, a feature only 5% of Facebook users use. They’ve made it VERY easy to create Groups, invite friends, set up events, chats and discussions. Buuuut, they’ve made it too easy. There’s no easy way to opt out or “approve” of being invited to join a group ( like most Linkedin Groups offer). The barriers are too low. My friend Adam Zand noted “what if someone added me to a list of animal beaters”? and Doug Haslam quickly noted just hours after Groups Functionality was released, Jason Calcacanis, Entrepreneur and CEO of Mahalo was automatically added to the NAMBLA group (North American Man Boy Love Association).
[This was obviously a joke, but it calls out how easy it can be to be auto-added to something]
Instant Chat=Good.
One feature I did like was instant chat. I set up a private Facebook Group called “Boston Social Media Types” of about 40 last week. Whenever one or more of us are online on Facebook, a little Chat group gets automatically set up. (see screen shot to the left) If we want to briefly chat about any topic (in this case our “Movember” fundraising initiative) we can do so- very easily.
Group/List Fatigue
Sure, Groups are much easier to work with than the old Facebook lists, but do we need another way to connect with our friends? We have Twitter Lists, Linkedin Groups, and probably lists of “favorites” on our mobile devices or home phones, right? Should we be putting our social lives into tidy groups or buckets? Do we need to?
Facebook’s New Commenting System
Yep, the iPad 2 is rolling out today, but lost in the noise of that big (overhyped) announcement is bigger announcement with far-reaching, and longer-term consequences for social media. It’s the announcement of Facebook’s new Commenting System. Here’s the deal.
Facebook has created a plug-in that websites and blogs can use so when you comment on a website (let’s say it’s espn.com, nytimes.com, your sister’s blog) AND you’re logged in on Facebook, it will show your comment as a Facebook user/profile.
And, vice-versa.
The images below look identical, but they’re not. The top screenshot is , this is a screen shot of a comment I left on TechCrunch’s Page. You’ll notice that since this is a “public” site, you’ll see my Facebook name, title and description there If anyone on TechCrunch sees my post there- they can click on my Facebook name and if they want to- can connect with me. Make sense
Now look at screen shot below that one.. This is taken from a Facebook page. You’ll notice that when I commented ”yes, this is showing up on Facebook”, it automatically posted itself over to Techcrunch site- nifty eh?
Confused-?here is a 3 minute video describing it.- pop it open in full screen/HD to see it.
What does this mean? – Essentially 3 things…
What do you think? Comment below… (I tried earlier using this plugin but it’s still a bit buggy)