SXSWi Odds and Ends
Just a collection of photos, quotes, and other goodies from my time at SXSWi. (Most images click through to larger versions on TwitPic)
My first thought as I walked into the Austin Convention Center as a SXSW rookie: “Wow, that’s a lot of homeless bloggers.”
McLovin! The cast of “Kick-Ass” at Studio SX:
Quotes from Danah Boyd’s keynote:
Web services go astray when they over-optimize communication and remove important social rituals.
Google Buzz fell in the social equivalent of the ‘uncanny valley’.
Early adopters are often surprised by what changes when a technology becomes mainstream.
Unique, if pretty gross, mobile out-of-home:
Great quote from Ze Frank, on whether he ever wondered if the content that he was producing so rapidly during the year-long run of “the show” might suck:
“I wanted to get my ideas out there as rapidly and faithfully as possible, so I could live on the edge of that anxiety that I had nothing left.”
Chevy’s branded power strips for all the homeless bloggers in promotion of the Chevy Volt:
Callpod: the modern proverbial campfire (for geeks at least).
A sad farewell:
#Chatmixer, or How I Traveled Back in Time to 1991
Tonight I participated in my first organized group live chat on Twitter. (Please don’t ask me where I’ve been all this time — you’ll hurt my feelings.) There are dozens of such chats that occur on a weekly basis around common topics or professions, which I had been peripherally aware of: Sarah Evans‘ #journchat, for instance, or Mack Collier‘s #blogchat. Because I recently started following Dana Lewis (who organized SXSH 2010), I caught wind of #chatmixer, an epic convergence of 18 different weekly chats into one.
The organizers of #chatmixer had provided a convenient Tweetgrid for participants to follow along, which I found to be more than helpful. Participants could see the entire conversation stream in one column, questions from the moderators in another, and messages to themselves in a third.
My first impression, echoed by several others, was that the experience was like drinking from a fire hose. With several hundred people participating, messages whizzed by before you had time to process and respond. This is what I imagine it’s like to be following 114,000 people. But it was a casual conversation, so it didn’t matter too much that the conversation was so fragmented.
My second impression was that these types of organized group conversations around a central topic had the potential to be extremely valuable for conversing with and learning from people you’ve never connected with before. Jon Newman voiced this sentiment strongly, when he proposed that “chats are perhaps the most under-used and highest-value opportunity Twitter delivers.” I had stumbled across a sub-behavior on Twitter that I barely knew existed.
Then, a realization set in. I had seen this all somewhere before. It was a distant memory, as if from 15 years ago…
Wait, it was from 15 years ago. This felt like IRC. Internet Relay Chat was (is) a relatively early form of online chat room, invented in August 1988, and accessible by anyone with a dial-up modem. Though I haven’t used it in years, I remember the days of IRC well.
Pop quiz: What’s the difference between Twitter and IRC?
One is a form of public communication and information sharing, consisting of directed (personal) and non-directed messages; conversation are organized around topics by the use of the pound sign, as in #politics; messages are extremely brief, at times almost cryptic to the uninitiated; the members of this service are on the cutting edge of technology, exploring new frontiers in media and communication; and it has been used to report on international political incidents even when the mainstream media were prevented from reporting on the events as they happened.
And the other is Twitter.
Sound familiar? Yes, IRC is all of those things. Not many people know, as Wikipedia reports, that “IRC was used to report on the 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt throughout a media blackout,” and “was previously used in a similar fashion during the Gulf War.”
Maybe you’re still skeptical? Well, take a close look at these two screenshots. I’ll let you decide which is which. (click the images for full size)
Even if you’ve never seen an IRC client before, you can’t help but notice the similarities. But that second screenshot was taken in Macintosh System 7, which came out in 1991!
The only difference is that now, millions more people have discovered the same value — this time in the form of Twitter. Back then, in my experience, it was mostly just a bunch of hackers screwing around in random channels and not really adding much to society. Now, anyone can connect with the biggest public figures and thought leaders in the world. And loose affiliations of professionals — journalists, artists, developers, and yes, even hackers — can come together to create the leading edge of technology, as they explore new frontiers of media and communication.
UPDATE: I didn’t expect to be the first person to have noticed the similarities of Twitter and IRC, but someone has already taken it to the next level: twIRC is the perfect convergence of the two. Love it. (via Mike Whaling – @30lines)
30 Rock Has a Little Fun with Its DVR-ing Fans
In September ’09, it came out that many Emmy Award-winning shows are also the most time-shifted. 30 Rock is one of the leading examples of this phenomenon, and the show’s writers aren’t oblivious to it. This week’s episode featured an easter egg for those like me who were catching up later.
In the episode, the cast and crew of TGS travel to Boston to escape the winter doldrums in New York. Liz walks into Jack’s temporary office only to find he’s created an exact replica of his office back in New York.
Liz: “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jack: “What, are you not using an office replication service while we’re here in Boston.”
Liz: “Is it identical?”
Jack: “Not quite. Seven items are different. See if you can spot which ones.”
At this point, they both turn to stare straight into a camera positioned at an awkward angle in the corner of the room — and stand silently for three seconds.
I haven’t taken the time to try and spot all seven… maybe you can? (click the image above for full-size)
NyQuil Nails Their Value Proposition
Now there’s some great packaging:
As someone currently trying to kick a cold, I can safely say that the look on that guy’s face is one to be envied. With luck, that’ll be me in about 20 minutes.
Get Yourself Free
A new app called “Freedom” locks you out of captioned cat pictures and pointless babble (yes, the entire Internet) for a specified period of time.
The newspaper industry is lobbying hard to make the effect permanent and have the software installed by default on all new personal computers.*
(via Zoomdoggle)
* Completely false.
2009 in Popular Searches
Google’s type-ahead search suggestions often provide interesting insight into what the world wants to know. Recently I was curious about the most commonly researched definitions on Google, and realized that what I discovered resembled a twisted snapshot of the year in review. I submit the following:
Interactive Strategy Prank Wars: Episode 1
Yesterday I took the everyday pranking between my colleague Steve and me to a dangerous new level. For the time being (until I turn off the Adwords campaign), when you Google “Steve Bagdasarian,” you get a little something extra. Go ahead.
Of course, Steve and the Chili’s team just won a Mixx Award for Search Marketing on Tuesday night, so I’m sure he’ll have found a way to hijack all my organic results in 24 hours or so. There’s a lot on the line here — personal brands are at stake.
Find the contradiction
The copy reads:
“I am treated as an individual, I am not a number. People at Senior Whole Health know me by name.”
And his name would be… “Member, age 67.”
I bet that stock photo guy feels pretty darn special.
(click the image or here for full size)
The Future of Entertainment: Talk to Your Television
Just when you think you’ve seen everything… This is truly remarkable.
(Hat tip: @eschenck)
Best Ad of ’09?
I announced the Worst Ad of 2009 not long ago, but I thought it would be a while before I could name a contender for the title of Best Ad of ’09. But here it is. These are currently running all over Boston, mostly in and around public transportation. In case you can’t make out the photo, the copy reads:
We Delete Users Unfit To Date!
www.PlentyofFish.com
100% Free Dating Site
Whether or not you take issue with this judgmental philosophy, you have to admire the direct approach: “Value proposition; memorable URL; category and cost” — BAM. Not a bad way to set yourself apart in a sea of competition (you have heard of Darwin Dating, haven’t you?).
Reminds me in spirt of the winner of the 2008 Jamie Scheu Integrity in Advertising Award. Bravo.
Subscribe via RSS