March 10, 2011
A Nonprofit Gal’s SXSWi Schedule
Conference season is in full swing with SXSW Interactive starting this Friday, 3/11, and NTEN immediately following on 3/17. Oh how our minds will expand. The nonprofit presence at SXSWi is ever-increasing from year to year. 2011 offers a large “Greater Good” track, nonprofit meetups, a lounge and our very own hashtags (#sxswgood #nptech). I’ve pulled together a “must” list for nonprofits, which is also my tentative schedule, but you will find it’s not all nonprofit-centric.
Ultimately my plan is to diversify. One of the coolest things about SXSW is the convergence of many industries and we have a lot to learn from each other. So in the mix are a few events that will take me out of my comfort zone and certainly confuse me, in a good way. I even threw in some key eating events because it’s a big part of the fun. See you there! @AmandaLehner
Friday, March 11
5pm Apps for Healthy Kids: Government Challenges FTW Education + Gaming = Big SXSW trend
6pm Geeks for Good Happy Hour Nonprofits unite!
7pm 140 Conference Party Watch Jeff Pulver change the world one character at a time.
Saturday, March 12
(All day -everyday – The Beacon Lounge! The hangout for all non-profits @thebeaconsxsw #beaconsxsw for all events)
9:30am How Many Rungs?: Social Change & the Engagement Ladder Masters of engagement from GroupOn, Do Something, Sparked.com, VolunteerMatch.org and HopeLab will speak.
11am Let’s Hook Up: Brands, Celebs, and Non-profits Who doesn’t want/need their celebs? Please Ashton won’t you tweet for us?
12:30pm Brand Journalism: The Rise of Non-Fiction Advertising They used the F word in their description so I’m in. Kidding, I like JWT and Shiv Singh.
2pm Keynote: Seth Priebatsch I never miss a keynote.
3:30pm All Grown-up: Brand Mascots in the Digital Age If you love spokesanimals as much as the Ad Council, me and the spirit of Smokey Bear will see you there.
Dinner Reservations at Lambert’s (I booked a party larger than my posse, so all gifted dinner conversationalists inquire within)
8pm -11pm Frog Design Opening Night Party It will be huge. If you don’t like crowds, this is not for you.
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March 18, 2010
SXSW Interactive 2010: A Good Theme
No matter how updated I think I am on technology, SXSW Interactive
has a way of making me feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder at times. I was networking on a sunny Austin afternoon when I handed my card to a web developer. He graciously took the card and then snapped an iPhone pic of the QR code on my badge. I didn’t even know it was there. I walked away with his card and he walked away with my bio, contact info and photo that I had uploaded to the sxsw.com earlier that week.
QR codes aside, I was delighted to find a familiar theme weaved throughout SXSWi — A call to action for the interactive community to use their powers for good. All three keynotes I attended touched on this theme.
- Valerie Casey, Executive Director of Designers Accord, told an exhibit hall full of 12,000 nerds that they were in a unique position to facilitate social change through raising awareness and building sustainable models — two of the internet’s specialties.
- Danah Boyd, Social Media Researcher at Microsoft Research New England, called for privacy integrity online (she’s talking to you, Facebook and Google) and reminded us that a public by default environment is not the great democratiser.
- Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter (with the Iran story in mind) touted the micro-blog as a tool for democracy and change: “It’s about reducing the walls between people who have a lot of influence and the people they influence. That’s the most profound promise of the Internet, and we’re riding the wave.”
Filed under: Internet, Social Media
Tags: crowdsourcing, Interactive, mobile apps, Social Good, sxsw
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