Hillary drinking a Shiner at last year's SXSW

We love it when March rolls around – it means warmer weather is on the way and we get to make our annual pilgrimage to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest Interactive festival!

Be sure to drop us a note if you’re attending, as we’d love to meet up. Below are a few SXSW events that we’ll be actively involved with – check them out if you get a chance.

The State of Music Blogs in 2010 – Tuesday, March 16, 5:00pm
Austin Convention Center
I’ll be moderating a panel of prominent music bloggers, PR and record label executives to discuss the impact of music blogs on the industry today. More info: http://my.sxsw.com/e/692

Silicon Prairie Party – Sunday, March 14, 9:00pm
Lanai Rooftop Lounge
Lava Row has signed on as a sponsor of the Silicon Prairie Party and we couldn’t be more excited! This event will be an excellent opportunity to connect with innovators and entrepreneurs from the Silicon Prairie. Stop by and say hello, and don’t forget to RSVP on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=356824300398

See you in Austin!

It’s that time of year again – South by Southwest Interactive is right around the corner! In our latest podcast I spoke with Bryan Person about the festival, what keeps the city of Austin weird, and the Social Media Breakfast SXSW event being organized there.

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe in iTunes. As always, thanks for listening! If you’re going to be attending SXSW, please leave a shout in the comments section – we’d love to meet you!

 

 Standard Podcast [17:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

On Friday I gave a presentation called Fostering Community with Social Media at the Midwest Newspaper Summit (put on by the fine folks at the Iowa Newspaper Association). The audience was a mix of journalists and editors from regional newspapers as well as college students excited to break into the media industry.

The journalism world (specifically newspapers) is currently in a state of flux, and many are wondering if anything will be left standing five years from now. Yes, media platforms and reading habits have evolved, but the point of my session was that community equals opportunity – advantages go to those who embrace technology shifts and understand how to operationalize social networks for their gain.

While most of the audience was there to learn, I did my fair share of learning from them, as well. The session allowed me to connect with smart people who are working on innovative things, right here in Iowa. Thomas Ritchie (Online Editor at the Sioux City Journal) has put a focus on harnessing the real-time web and live-blogging stories for his newspaper, and he’s achieved quite a bit of success from it. Steve Buttry, who blogs about the future of journalism and media, sat in the front row and asked all sorts of good questions. I was also impressed by many of the college students I met, who are eager to break into the industry and tear it up using their knowledge of self-publishing tools and networks.

I have lots of opinions on where this is all going, but I certainly don’t have all the answers. What are your thoughts on the future of newspapers and news media? Please chime in below.

February is shaping up to be a busy month, speaking-wise. Starting tonight, we’ve got 11 gigs in 28 days – now that’s a lot of talking!

Recently some of you have been asking about what events we’re participating in and where to find us, so we’ve posted a detailed list (ones that allow public registration) below. We’ll go ahead and throw March’s trip to Texas into the mix, as well. If you decide to venture out to any of these, please say hello and ask lots of questions. We’d love to meet you.

Midwest Newspaper Summit
Friday, February 5
Downtown Marriott Hotel, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Social Media – Fostering an Online Community Around Your Newspaper

Social Media and Health Care (Iowa Hospital Association)
Tuesday, February 9
Thompson Auditorium, Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: An introduction to social media

A Journalist’s Guide to New Media (Drake University SJMC)
Saturday, February 13
Meredith Hall, Room 104, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Linking w/ potential employers, clients and professionals via social media tools

American Marketing Association, Iowa Chapter
Wednesday, February 17
Hilton Garden Inn, Johnston, Iowa
Topic: How LinkedIn are you?

EntreFest 2010
Friday, February 26
West Des Moines Marriott, West Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Using Facebook to build your business

South by Southwest Interactive 2010
Tuesday, March 16
Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas
Topic: The State of Music Blogs in 2010

Photo credit: visual_dichotomy via Flickr

Last week the Lava Row crew traveled to Indianapolis for the 2009 National FFA Convention (a first for myself and Hillary). We were assisting our client, Cargill Animal Nutrition, with their on-site social technology needs. The FFA Convention is absolutely huge – the last numbers we heard were just under 50,000 in attendance. That’s a lot of blue corduroy jackets! Below are some video highlights that we pulled together, which gives you a better idea of what we were up to.

We also got to meet John Blue of Truffle Media Networks, who has been involved in social media in the agriculture industry years before the term ’social media’ even existed.

Readers: Were any of you in FFA? How did it shape your leadership skills and values growing up?

BlogWorld Expo 2009 took place in Las Vegas this past weekend, and I stopped by the U.S. Army booth to chat with MAJ Mary Constantino about how the organization uses social media for their communication and career recruitment efforts. One specific platform they’ve launched is ArmyStrongStories.com, a social network that offers unfiltered conversations between soldiers and the public.

Today I’m off to BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. There are three people that I absolutely have to meet: Brian Solis, Sarah Evans and Amanda Rose.

Are you at BlogWorld this weekend? Be sure to look me up and say hello!