Are you at South By Southwest this week? No? Yeah, neither am I. I would have loved to go - but just am too busy with client-work (which is a good thing by the way). How about you - are you stuck with clients? Stuck at work? Just didn't want to go? Well, with all that's being blogged, tweeted and generally discussed this week – you might be feeling a little lonely out there if you're not walking up and down the streets of Austin.
In that spirit, I wanted to put something together for everyone who didn't make it to SXSW this year. Think of it like a little care package; a few things to keep you busy until late next week – when all those SXSW'ers come home, hung over and full of stories. With any luck, and if you complete the below – you'll not only be able to hang with those stories – you might even make a few of your own.
Without further ado… If you would have gone to SXSW.....
Would you have gone for the Music
Alright let's get you in the mood. So, since South By Southwest's history is with music let's start there. I'm a huge music fan, and actually know a few of the bands playing this week. So, I've put together a few links here that will get you started. These all go to my Blip.FM – where you can listen and/or buy on ITunes (not affiliate links). Warning my taste leans toward Alt Country and Rock – so if you're hoping for Hip Hop.. Well… It ain't there.
- – Jenny Owens - Drinking Song
- – The Right On's – Do Your Thing, Babe
- – Johnny Cooper – Texas To You
- – Jeremy Jay - In This Lonely Town
- – Johnny Cooper – Let It All Go
Okay... so, now you have some music going... Maybe you've had a beer... You wake up the next morning and...
Would You Have Gone For The Talks
Of course, we're not there – and the presentations aren't available – so here's some wonderful presentations and content that you might not have seen before:
You could Read Doc Searls latest. Earlier this year, the Pew Center asked a number of forward thinkers to comment on a bunch of questions around the future of the Internet. Doc has shared his answers in full. And they're just typically great Doc. If you've got half an hour – this is just a great read.
Or, you could go check out this Ted Talk – from Gary Lauder. It's a wonderful talk where he applies economics and common sense with a new approach on traffic signs.
Or, if you haven't seen Gary Flake and his presentation on the Pivot interface for exploring data on the Web – it's a must see.
So, there you go… there's an hour or so of stuff for you to do and come away smarter…
Or Would You Have Gone For The Films
The Film festival is one that is rarely as well publicized as the rest of the conference – but there are some wonderful films at this year's SXSW. Of course, you probably won't find many of them online. But one filmmaker in particular – Don McGlynn has a film at the festival called Rejoice and Shout – a film about African American church music – especially Gospel music. While I can't point you to the film – Don has a YouTube Channel and he's got some wonderful videos there. The Dexter Gordon video is worth the price of admission itself.
So, now if someone you know comes back from SXSW and raves about the film, you can say – "yeah, that's great – but have you seen the other videos he's got up on YouTube?"
Or, Would You Go For Some Startup & Social Media Juice
Of course Twitter was born at SXSW – and Social Media is huge there. If you've not read the origins of Twitter by Dom Sagolla – it's definitely a fun read.
But more importantly – here's a couple of things that you can do – that will make you feel like you accomplished something.
Customize Your Facebook Page URL - If you haven't customized your Facebook page (not your profile, your page) to be www.facebook.com/YOURCO'SNAME - you should do it. You might have missed (because I sure did) that you don't need 1,000 fans any more to be able to do it. To change it just go to www.facebook.com/username . Be careful though. You can only do it once.
Tie In Your Twitter and Delicious Accounts - The other thing to do is to go check out http://packrati.us/- It's a cool service that connects your Twitter account to your Delicious account. Now, every Tweet you make with a link will be automatically added to your Delicious account.
Check Out A New Tool For Naming - Finally, check out http://www.wordoid.com/. This is really addictive. If you're trying to think up names for new startups – or are just coming up with new domains – it's a wonderful way to spur your creativity.
There you go… Not a replacement for not going certainly - but hopefully a nice care package for you. Three things that will hopefully get something accomplished – and when you're friends come home from SXSW applauding the newest startup – you can pass along what you've been up to.
If you've got others – pass em along…. And I hope you had fun this week NOT at SXSW!!
