SXSW 2009 is nearly here. This is the week before so I have some tips for you to maximize your experience.

1. Get lots of sleep this week. Really – GO TO BED EARLY all week. Exercise and eat well. You MUST roll into Austin in good shape physically and mentally; else you’ll crumble. Every day is very full from morning to well into the evening. You will want to get out and enjoy downtown Austin for the gatherings and parties which frankly is the best part of SXSW because you meet so many fascinating people.

2. Review the calendar of events and panels and make your first cut now. Don’t wait, you’ll be sorry once you’re sucked into the vortex.

3. Pick A and B for each panel time. The reason for this is the Austin Convention Center (ACC) is HUGE.  If you get to a panel and you don’t like it or it’s crowded you simply must know how to find that B panel, else you’ll lose out on both. Sometimes you just pick the wrong one, so give yourself some options.

4. Go early to pick up your badge. Go early to pick up your badge. Go early to pick up your badge. Did I say that enough?

5. Toss out all the stuff they give you EXCEPT the drink tickets. The rest sadly, is useless.

6. There will be a very large catalog type book for Interactive and Film. Do not haul them each day. Simply pull out the panel summary page for each day and take it with you. Repeat each day.

7. Bring your laptop if it’s light. There is free WIFI throughout the ACC. You’ll want to take notes and hook up with people online in real time. During boring panels you can look like you’re taking notes while you catch up on your Twitter feed or FriendFeed …

8. There is no good food at the ACC. There is Starbucks though.  If you don’t mind standing to eat and food that tastes like it came from the airport, then you can grab lunch at the ACC. It’s best to carry around some fruit and health bars in your back pack.  Eat breakfast before you come each day and be prepared to just head out for lunch which is good for networking anyway. But remember everything downtown is crowded. Same for dinner – eat out.

9. Wear comfortable clothing. If you’re planning on doing some networking, wear something memorable. Why not?

10. Like most places, AC plugs can be as rare as hen’s teeth. If you’re up for it, bring a small extension cord with multiple plugins. Share …

11. Enjoy yourself. This isn’t your typical boring enterprise or academic type conference where everyone is worried about their next raise (well ok these days it’s worry about keeping your job).  This is more like being in college.

12. Take plenty of business cards to give out. SXSW is the uber-conference for networking and plan on using those cards for taking down notes at odd times. Always follow up with folks that you meet even if it’s just to touch back and say hi.

13. Enjoy meeting people. It’s crowded but everyone is there for the same reason to learn and meet people. Say hello, introduce yourself, ask people about themselves and why they are there. Be interested in others. Most people work for themselves or in small businesses. Yes there are some folks from large businesses but most are just like you and me – self employed. Everyone you meet could be an opportunity for new business. It’s like 5 days of meet and greets for business versus dating and hey it’s fun because there is no worry of rejection. And lots of places have free drinks.

Now go to bed if you’re reading this late a night. You’re going to need your energy.

What did I forget? Leave a comment.

All the best
Tom

Here are the topics I’m interested in learning more about at SXSW this year:

• mobile phone trends, especially where it intersects with social networking systems
• iPhone Development microblogging trends – all the various Twitter tools and related developments and use cases
• Community Management experiences (Intranet and Internet)
• Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect – use cases and view of future plans
• successful use of video business and branding strategies on the Internet

One of the oddities of the SXSW website is how difficult it is (at least for me) to navigate. There is no lack of information on their site, but when it comes to just finding out about the panels; it’s a journey to locate them. Why they make it difficult, I just don’t know.  Here is the link to the SXSW2009 panels.

I thought I’d take my own advice and do a quick scan of the interactive panels I’m considering attending. I have a Gold badge this year because I want to explore the Film side of the conference. This will no doubt cause me to compromise some, but we’ll see.  For now, here is what I’m considering:

Designing the Future of The New York Times
(Khoi Vinh, subtraction.com)

Lawrence Lessig Presentation – Change V2
(Lawrence Lessig, lessig.org)

Design for the Wisdom of Crowds
(Derek Powazek, powazek.com)

From Flickr and Beyond: Lessons in Community Management
(Heather Champ, Flickr)

How Social Networks Are Killing the Revolution
(Steve Swedler, Gangplank)

iPhone Development for Experienced Web Developers
(Joshua Siler, Babcock & Jenkins)

The Mobile Web for Good: Hype or Reality?
(Katrin Verclas, MobileActive.org)

OpenID, OAuth, Data Portability and the Enterprise
(Danny Kolke, Etelos, Inc.)

Video Blogging: Turning Wine into Gold
(Gary Vaynerchuk, WineLibraryTV)

Beyond Aggregation — Finding the Web’s Best Content
(Louis Gray, louisgray.com)

Is Time the Key to Crafting Compelling Mobile Service
(Priya Prakash, Flirtomatic)

Keynote Conversation: Chris Anderson (Wired) and Guy Kawasaki (alltop.com)

How about you? You’ll want to be sure you bring a laptop or netbook or iPhone and have something like Tweetdeck installed. SXSW always provides wifi throughout the entire complex. I predict you’ll see people exchanging tips on what panels are good and which ones they are bailing out of to attend the alternate on their list. I remember the first year Twitter was at SXSW. It totally changed the way you found people with common interests and met up with them before, during or after panels and especially what parties were rocking and which ones were losers.

Tom

Are you going crazy? Concerned about the money in this current economy? That’s understandable but if you’re truly into a social media and social networking related business then this is ‘the’ place to be all year long.  And it’s time to plan your time. You will be swept up into a tornado of activity, people, ideas, parties, panels, movies and more. Non-stop from Friday to Wednesday, March 13-18. Myself, I will be attending the Film and Interactive sessions. My plan this year is to carefully pick just the panels I think has something of value for me and to focus a lot of my time networking. I find myself drawn to the panels and often find myself to tired to network with other folks as in the past. I believe networking has the greatest value, so this year, I will focus on that. .

The most important thing to do right now is to spend a few hours pouring over the panels and parties to map out what you want to do. What I find helpful is having alternate panels or parties on my list for a given day just in case I run into a dud or it’s so crowded I can’t get it (if you’re the type that runs late you’ll find yourself standing outside looking in more often the not).

This year SXSW has focused a lot of attention on their website to make it easier to build your schedule for each day and share it with others. So let’s go schedule.

Get ready! Today I ordered a MiLi Power Pack from PhoneSuit.com to make sure I have plenty of power for my iPhone during the day and evening. Plug outlets are difficult to find and in high demand. The entire Austin Convention Center will be consumed by the SXSW and wifi will be available in all areas. Staying in touch with others during the day and evening is a must. It’s quite a magical mystery tour. Hope to see you there.

Tom

Here in Austin we have a social media guy who published a book in 2008 that is full of practical advice. His name is Dave Evans; his book is “Social Media, An Hour a Day”. Fifty-five practical, hands-on exercises walk you through a step-by-step process to an effective social media plan built by you, for your organization.

If you’re just getting started in social media, consider getting yourself a copy of this book. You’ll find yourself on firm ground as you focus on social media-based projects for yourself and others.

Another book, this one an e-book, is a must have for understanding how Facebook works, especially from the perspective of marketing. “Facebook Marketing Bible” comes in PDF format. As Facebook is continually evolving, I recommend getting the version that comes with updates. I refer to this little gem often.

Reading is learning and my next tip is more reading, this time a blog. Are you following the accelerated trends in use of smart phones? Better do that. Social media and social networking systems that do not incorporate user engagement with smart phones are going to miss the real boom coming soon. I know a mobile apps company with a blog about trends in the mobile industry (versus talking about themselves). You’ll want to follow these guys because they are backend systems agnostic – meaning they don’t focus on just Microsoft or just Linux systems. They create mobile applications that work on all phones. Endeavour Software Technology is a very smart group of people. Add their blog to your RSS reader and you’ll stay current on mobile trends. Keep reading.  Keep learning.

Tom

Always be learning, if you’re here reading this next post, you must be open to that. One way is by being a student of life. Learn from what’s in front of you, but balance your energies in a way that gives you room to relax and be yourself. There is More to Life.

Another and very important way to always be learning is to always be teaching. Have some tools at hand that you can quickly use to show someone else how your social media site or social networking system works. It’s called screencasting and below there are three fun and fast tools that are worth some attention. These tools are invaluable for helping people visualize how things actually work, especially when you’re going for funding.

www.JingProject.com – works on PC and Mac. Simply amazing and completely worth paying for the Pro version. I use it weekly and also assist my clients in its use. This is a good tool to show employees and/or others how to use new features in a system or how to explain/show a new idea to the inside group. One example is demonstrating how to use a new tool to save time.

iShowU – Mac platform. Fast and easy. I haven’t used it but it looks promising.

ScreenCast – My favorite, but this one has a ’slightly’ higher learning curve then the other two. But that’s ok right? You’re open to learning. What I remind myself –compared to what it would take to create this screencast using tools like Final Cut Pro, Screencast.com is a snap.  It produces an extremely polished look and sound in the final results.

Ok, so have you looked into SXSW2009 to figure out what panels you’re attending? I’m starting that process myself for Film and Interactive. Think about it. Check it out. Help others learn how to be successful.

Tom