Deb Brown and I are organizing the Des Moines 140 Character Conference (#140conf), which takes place Monday, May 9th at the Civic Center’s Stoner Theater. I may be a little biased, but here are five reasons why you should attend.

1.) A first for Iowa. Originally created by Jeff Pulver, 140 is a national conference with localized events in different cities, focused on real-time technology’s transformative power over business, government, culture and our personal lives. Each speaker has 10 minutes to present, and it’s a full day of speakers. This is the first #140conf in the state.

2.) The cast of characters. Deb has done a great job assembling a diverse speaker line-up, featuring familiar local faces and many new ones.

3.) The agriculture voices. We’re in Iowa – so this makes sense, right? I’m personally excited to hear from Jeff Caldwell (Successful Farming), Shannon Latham (Latham Hi-Tech Seeds) and Tara Litzenberger (the infamous @JohnDeereTara on Twitter) about how new media is changing their industry.

4.) A day of networking. You’ll get to meet and mingle with attendees representing all sorts of industries and backgrounds, from businesses small to large.

5.) A Monday off. Sort of. This type of event fits perfectly under “professional development.” Tell your boss that. Hell, bring your boss!

Tickets ($65 per person, $15 student rate) are available here. We hope to see you there!

Above is a presentation I gave last week at the American Library Association‘s youth privacy summit in Chicago. I addressed how teenagers are currently using social and mobile technology and their varying views of what privacy actually means to them.

You can’t dig deep into this topic without coming across the mountains of research done by none other than danah boyd – and I referenced her work often. This presentation was only meant to be a conversation starter, and I highly recommend danah’s publications and research to anyone wanting to explore the complex issues behind youth privacy and emerging media.

Some of the questions put forth in the session were:

• What digital footprints are we leaving behind online through our participation in social networks?
• How will this data be used in the future? (Potentially integrated with non-tech brands such as Kraft, OnStar and Safeway.)
• Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Christopher Poole’s (4chan) opposite views on authenticity.
• How do teenagers define privacy? How does this differ from other generations?
• How do teenagers navigate social networks to protect their privacy?
• Where are they learning these skills? (Typically peers, not adults or the social networks themselves.)
• What new, more private forms of online media are they migrating to next, while still maintaining a Facebook presence?
• Do teens actually use email?

Below are few additional remarks I made after the session in an interview with Loida Garcia Febo from Queens Library New York, referencing how individual teenagers are tweaking their Facebook usage in interesting ways to maintain their own personal sense of privacy.

I would love to hear your opinions in the comments below (especially from parents). Are teenagers failing to understand long-term privacy implications of using social technology? Or are they smarter about privacy that any other generation before them?

The South by Southwest Interactive festival has consistently been a proving ground for launching new social networks (most famously, Twitter in 2007 and foursquare in 2009). Each year, pundits and conference-goers try to predict what the next breakout hit will be.

I’m not smart enough to figure that out, but I have noticed a common theme: These networks helped you figure out what parties and panels your friends were at. This is how Twitter was first used in March 2007 via the #SXSW hashtag, and foursquare gave us “trending locations” all around Austin in 2009.

So this year I’m keeping my eye on a couple of apps that center around group chat, proximity-based chat, and location-based heat mapping. Here they are!

Ask Around
This comes from (surprisingly) Ask.com and I’ve been playing with it here in Des Moines for a few days now. Essentially, it’s a proximity-based chat room that lets you adjust the mile radius around you – allowing you to chat with people within ten miles or less than a mile. Facebook integration is fast and seamless. Should be fun in packed venues down in Austin.

Yobongo
This app is similar to Ask Around (and officially launched on the exact same day), except that it’s taking a foursquare-esque approach to city rollout. Yobongo is starting with San Francisco, Austin, New York and Long Beach (for TED).

Beluga
Beluga is a group messaging app that lets you share messages and media (photos, video, etc.) with groups of friends. Think of it as really powerful, fast and robust text messaging platform that completely bypasses SMS and mobile carriers. And, oh yeah, Beluga was just acquired by Facebook – which fits with the social networking giant’s plans for simplifying messaging across email, text and Facebook messages.

Localmind
Here’s another proximity-based chat application, except that Localmind is positioned more around knowledge share and local expertise. It lets you ask questions of people checked-in to specific locations, ie. “What’s the wait like for tables?”

Domo
Domo wants you to be able to connect with strangers on Facebook at parties, events and on campus, focused around likes, interests, and hobbies. (All pulled and aggregated from your Facebook profile once you sync it up.)

I’ll definitely be experimenting with all of these at SXSW, and it will be interesting to watch which ones (if any) break away from the pack. Are there any new apps or social networks that you’re excited to try out at the festival?

And let’s not forget, the old school handshakes, hugs and hellos still work, too!

Photo credit: johanl on flickr.

On Friday, March 11th, I’m moderating the panel How Farmers Get Serious Business Done With Mobile at South by Southwest Interactive. This post is a quick summary of what we’ll be discussing at the session down in Austin, Texas. (Hope to see you!)

Joining me on the panel are Audrey Bartlett (Product Marketing Manager with John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group), Jeff Caldwell (Multimedia Editor for Successful Farming magazine and Agriculture.com at Meredith Corporation), Neil Mylet (a Camden, Indiana, farmer and founder of LoadOut Technologies) and Justin Davey (Multimedia Producer with Meredith Corporation).

So, what are we going to talk about? Here’s a round-up:

• How are today’s farmers connecting to each other, and doing business, with their mobile devices and smartphones?
• How do these behaviors and activity differ between producers in North America and emerging countries such as China, Russia, Brazil and India?
• What business applications, networks and media are they consuming via mobile devices?
• In the future, how will intelligent vehicles (tractors, combines, etc.) connect and coordinate with smartphones?

SXSW has shifted programming into a “campus” format this year, so we’ll be grouped with some other sessions over at the Hyatt in Hill Country AB instead of the Austin Convention Center. (I’m intrigued to see how the campus concept goes over with the attendees.) The panel begins at 5:00pm on Friday, March 11th, and we really hope you can drop by if you’re at the festival!

Here are a few additional resources:
Official panel media release (PDF)
SXSW.com panel description
Des Moines Register article
Truffle Media podcast (audio)
Panel preview on SXTXstate.com
Add this panel to Plancast

What other panels/sessions are you looking forward to attending this year?

Photo credit: spaunsglo via flickr.

This month I gave a talk called Journalism 2.0: Social Media Ethics at both the Iowa Newspaper Association and Wisconsin Newspaper Association conventions. (BTW, it was great to fly in to Green Bay Packer country only days after their Super Bowl win.)

The purpose of this talk was to help journalists better understand the following:

• How to craft social media policy for their employees and teams.
• How to balance their personal and professional social network identities.
• How to use social media as a research tool.
• How to maintain ethics and integrity while playing in the new media sandbox.

The latter point really sparked some debate up in Wisconsin, as real-time journalism was called into question – specifically NPR Senior Strategist Andy Carvin‘s curation and re-tweeting of #Egypt and #Jan25 Twitter posts. One audience member suggested that this was, in fact, not journalism. A paraphrased quote: “Journalists don’t ask the public is this happening? It’s up to us to report that.” Others in the room were vocal about the fact that Andy was simply doing his duty and providing a filter to all the noise.

Related to all of this is the “Line of Verification” concept created by Matthew Eltringham of the BBC, which I referenced in the presentation. Essentially, Matthew states that in the past, there was The Light Side (stuff that can be verified) and The Dark Side (stuff that can’t be verified and thus can’t be published). He argues that digital and social media networks have muddied up The Dark Side, and that some journalists need to start providing a filter for that uncharted area – which is what Andy Carvin is attempting to do on Twitter.

So what do you think? Can journalists play around on The Dark Side and still maintain their ethics, integrity and duty to the public? Is this a case of applying the rules of a traditional medium to a new one? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Embedded below via Slideshare is my original presentation deck. I also wanted to quickly thank Twitter pal Bonnie Boglioli Randall for originally pointing me to Matthew Eltringham’s post.

Image credit: pagedooley via flickr.

Today I opened up a mass email from South by Southwest only to discover a familiar face featured prominently – our own Hillary Brown!

Hillary has been chosen to moderate a panel called Landing a Music Career in Flyover Country during the music portion of the Austin, Texas-based festival. She’ll be representing On Pitch, the music marketing firm that she co-founded right here in Des Moines.

Speaking at SXSW is a huge honor and it’s no easy task to get selected. Big congratulations to Hillary on this accomplishment.

Is it March yet?

Update, 9:00pm: The Des Moines Register published an article with more details about the panel.

It’s SXSW Panel Picker time of year again, and I wanted to take a moment to create a list of panel ideas submitted by Iowans. Silicon Prairie News also has a nice wrap-up of panels from the Midwest that you can check out here.

The voting process is now open, so click through the titles below, give them a read, and vote if you think they’re worthy.

Social Marketing Lessons Learned on the Farm – Nathan T. Wright (That’s me!)

Landing A Music Career in Flyover Country – Hillary Brown and Jill Haverkamp, On Pitch

How Farmers Get Serious Business Done With Mobile – Jeff Caldwell, Meredith Corporation

Real-Time Streams Need Real-Time Feedback – Daniel Shipton, BitMethod

How Can Artists Turn Web Hits Into Dollars? – Cat Rocketship & Scott (Kubie) Rocketship, make\break

The Legalities Behind APIs and Mashups – Brett Trout, Brett J. Trout, P.C.

Screenwriting from Iowa (and Other Unlikely Places) – Scott Smith, River Run Productions

In the Future, Everyone Will Be a Filmmaker – Scott Smith, River Run Productions

Rich Browser-Based Templating Through Open Source Collaboration – Neil Roberts, BitMethod

Content for Multi-Channel Consumers: Earn Affinity, Reap Rewards – Heather Rast, Insights and Ingenuity

Resistance is Futile! Assimilating Local Marketing – Deb Brown, Debworks

Big thanks to Becky McCray and Kelly Rivard who helped me refine my ideas throughout this process.

So, did I miss any brilliant Iowans? Let me know. And if you’ve got a panel that you’re behind, or just want to share one that sounds interesting, please leave a comment below – regardless of where you live.

Good luck to everyone who submitted an idea, and we’ll see you in Austin in March 2011!

I’m back from the Big Omaha conference and wanted to share a few thoughts. First – this is a world-class event. I’m very impressed with what Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson (and all involved) have accomplished in just a few short years through hard work, humility and sheer force of will. Congrats to them, and to the city of Omaha.

You don’t attend this conference to learn, and it’s not really an “educational track” kind of event to begin with. You attend because you want to be inspired to accomplish bigger, better things in work and in life. We all need this from time to time – whether you’re working in a cubicle or you’re a couple of years into your own endeavors. We fall into ruts. Big Omaha brings in (and connects you with) the people who give you a swift kick in the ass.

I met Melody McCloskey, who founded and bootstrapped the brilliant, niche web service StyleSeat. Also briefly chatted with Matt Mullenweg, who needs no introduction – to WordPress fans, at least. It’s always a delight to see Gary Vaynerchuk in action on stage. This is probably the 16th time I’ve seen him talk and it never, ever gets old.

I knew bits and pieces of the charity: water story going in, but not the full details. I loved hearing Scott Harrison‘s story of building a charity with a business mentality, and the importance he places on branding and aesthetic (which is typically lacking in the non-profit space). Also great: Dennis Crowley‘s career path and his thoughts on being acquired: “I would rather run Foursquare into the ground than take a company-ending deal.”

Attend in 2011. Especially if you’re suffering from of “conference fatigue.” Big Omaha is efficient, compact, affordable and every moment is high-quality.

Were you there this year? What are your thoughts on the conference? Who did you most enjoying meeting and/or getting to see speak?

As many of you know, I decided to rock SXSW this year… literally, by attending both the SXSW Interactive and Music conferences. I remember Andy Brudtkuhl jokingly saying before I left for Austin, “You’re going to Interactive AND Music? Is that even humanly possible?” Obviously, Andy knows from experience that SXSW is more than just a gathering of badge-sporting geeks debating the next big social platform. I am here to tell you that, yes – it is possible, and I highly recommend it.

I think Foursquare co-founder Crowley put it best when he referred to South by Southwest Interactive as “spring break for nerds.”  That said, it truly is a showcase for the brightest minds in technology and a great and rare opportunity to network with industry leaders and learn about the latest Internet innovations. Please forgive me if after 9 days and 10 nights of conferencing, networking, partying and rocking, my memories of the Interactive portion of the festival have grown a little foggy, but luckily I took copious notes, so let’s get straight to the Interactive highlights.

So V.I.P.
I was thrilled to find out during SXSW registration check-in that my Interactive and Music badges had somehow magically been combined to form a Platinum badge, which granted me access to the Music, Film and Interactive conferences. I tried to take the honest route, but the volunteers at registration recommended that I just “go with it”… and so I became a SXSW rockstar. Having a platinum badge was like having an all-access backstage pass at your favorite concert, except I had full access to the entire SXSW festival. Admittedly, I didn’t take full advantage of the film portion of the festival, but I did attend Jeffrey Tambor’s Acting Workshop with Nathan, which was well worth having film access in itself. I’m still kicking myself for not going to see the debut of KICK-ASS after hearing so much buzz about it, but it hits theaters April 16th, so we’ll all have to go check it out.

Panels / Sessions

Devo, The Internet, and You panel, Flickr: andysternberg

As a sophomore at SXSW Interactive, I made it my goal to not attend any social media 101 panels, with the exception of SXSW Sars – a core conversation session about how to survive SXSW. I felt it was important to attend this panel after Andy questioned my chances of survival. The session featured a Whole Foods nutritionist and Jay Goldman of Rypple and some of his closest friends (all SXSW veterans) sharing their tips for how to stay healthy and avoid hangovers.  I found the panel to be very helpful and even got to contribute my own advice about Emergen-C and saline nasal spray being part of my personal SXSW survival kit.

The rest of the panels I attended were very unique and niche. One of my favorite panels was Moon2.0: The Outer Limits of Lunar Exploration moderated by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Veronica McGregor (@MarsPhoenix), which addressed the topic of space exploration as a social experience and highlighted ways people can get involved, as well as introduced a few astronauts who are live tweeting from space: @Astro_Mike, @Astro_Soichi, and @Astro_Jeff. Another panel I thoroughly enjoyed was Black Blogging Rockstars, which featured pioneers and thought-leaders of the  Black blogosphere, @jbrotherlove, Gina (@BWBConference), Deanna (@clutchmagazine) and Maurice (@mauricecherry), providing helpful advice on how to take your blog from a hobby to a monetized platform to deliver your message and become a Black Blogging Rockstar.

There was a lot of chatter in 2009 about Augmented Reality (AR), and many of us were trying to figure out how we could use this technological innovation to develop campaigns and applications that actually engage consumers, which is why I had to attend a panel called Augmented Reality – Gimmicky Trend or Market-Ready Technology. This panel explored the promise of AR and showed examples of how AR has been used to add real-world value beyond entertainment and marketing, such as the Lego virtual box, USPS box simulator and Google Sky Map for Androids. My absolute favorite panel during the Interactive conference was Devo,The Internet and You, featuring Devo, representatives of Warner Brothers Records and Devo’s advertising agency, Mother LA, showcasing how Devo Inc. are using the internet and technology to reach out to a new audience to test Devo’s music and brand and spread the word about De-evolution.

Reuniting with SXSW friends
Another highlight of my trip was reuniting with old friends like Megan Smith (@mightymegasaur), Community Manager for Ovation TV in LA, Greg Swan (@gregswan), Social Marketing Strategist @webershandwick, Jeremy Tanner (@penguin), and Hans Veldhuizen (@hansveld). I met Megan, Jeremy and Hans for the first time last year at SXSW and was tickled to see them all again this year. In addition to running into old friends, it was great to see so many familiar faces from the Midwest, including our friends at Silicon Prairie for throwing a kick-ass party at Lanai Lounge. Midwest definitely represented this year at SXSW, and I can only imagine that our presence will continue to grow with so many amazing tech startups on the rise.

P.S. I also saw this giant rodent a.k.a. Capybara being walked on a leash near the convention center. His name is Caplin Rous, and he has his own Twitter profile.

SXSW Music and Media Conference

As Interactive came to a close and Music invaded Austin, I noticed a sudden shift in the crowd – Macbook-sporting, sweet t-shirt-wearing geeks with cool sneakers were being replaced by skinny jeans and an odor that can only be described as rockstar sweat. This was my first year attending the SXSW Music and Media Conference, a promise I kept to myself after leaving Austin last year pouting, as the venues started to fill with the sweet sound of music and the streets transformed from a Mardi Gras-like hipster parade to complete chaos. And now for the highlights.

Panels / Sessions
I was curious to see how the music business panels would differ from the Interactive panels. I found that a lot of the hot topics were very similar to the technology conversations, addressing the past, present and future of music business, with emphasis on the evolution of the tools that bands are using to communicate with their fans and how the rise of the Internet is affecting the music industry. Some of my favorite panels were Trends in Taking Your Music to Market, 1,000 Digital Tools & Strategies: Which 3 Work? , TV Resurrects the Radio Star, and Music Journalism in a Post-print Era.

SXXpress passes
This was the first year that SXSW decided to try SXXpress passes, a new feature for the SXSW Film and Music festivals that allows badge-holders to bypass the lines at theater and music venues to go to the front of the line. The catch: the SXXpress post opened daily at 10am, and there were a limited number of passes for each venue. Jill Haverkamp and I decided that it was absolutely necessary to take advantage of this feature as to not miss the bands on our must-see list. We first tried the passes on March 18 at Mowawk to see Holy F*ck and The XX, where we bypassed a line of 100 non-badge-holders and another line of 100 badge-holders and walked right into the venue. After this experience we knew that SXXpresses were the greatest thing ever and worth the sacrifice of sleep.

Music, music and more music
I am still in disbelief of the sheer volume of great bands that I got to see in a 4-day period. My absolute favorite shows were Holy F*ck, The xx, Broken Social Scene and Sleigh Bells. Other shows I was lucky enough to attend included Year Long Disaster, Modern Skirts, Salem, JJ, Amaral, Mozella, Scorpion Child, Andrew W.K., F*cked Up, Gwar, Neon Indian, Japandroids, Pictureplane, The Very Best and Freddie Gibbs. My biggest takeaway at SXSW music: less panels – more live music, always get a SXXpress pass for a show you don’t want to miss, and try to attend as many parties as possible that have multiple bands playing that you like vs. standing in line for individual shows.

That’s it, friends. If you need me, I’ll be recovering for the next two weeks to make up for the damage I have inflicted on my body during my 10-day stint at SXSW 2010.

Want to learn more about any of the above Interactive topics? Let me know which panel you think sounds most interesting in the comments, and I’ll write an entire blog post about it.

Back to reality.

After six nights and seven days of soaking up the South by Southwest Interactive and Film festivals in Austin, Texas, I’ve returned to Des Moines missing a pair of sunglasses, a large amount of cash, and my voice.

Those of you who know me well know that I’m very enthusiastic about the event, so there’s no need to write further about how much I love it. Let’s get straight to the highlights. (Hillary will be posting her notes soon, once she’s back from the music portion.)

It’s great to be home, but a part of me always wishes I could stay one more week. Seven days just isn’t enough. Okay, highlights!

Meeting Peeps
The sheer volume of new people you meet is incredible. Over the last week I honed my answer to “What do you do?” from “social media strategy and consulting” to just “Internet.” What really excites me is meeting the people I’ve followed on Twitter or blogs for some time and finally get the chance to say hello to. For instance: Scott Raymond, co-founder and CTO at Gowalla. (They threw an amazing party at The Belmont.) Baratunde Thurston, Web Editor at The Onion and founder of the #whiskeyfriday movement on Twitter. Natalie Villalobos from a small start-up called Google – we talked about many things and tech wasn’t one of them (love that). And getting a warm hug from Gary Vaynerchuk never, ever gets old.

Getting to Speak
This is my fifth year attending SXSW but my first year speaking. From year one (back in 2006) this has been a personal goal for me. I was humbled to moderate the panel “The State of Music Blogs in 2010″ with smarties Tessa Horehled, Greg Swan, Nicole Poulos and Jesse Ervin. I was excited and nervous, but everything went smooth. The panel’s Twitter back-channel conversation can be found here: #stateofmusicblogs. Can’t wait to do it again!

The Silicon Prairie Party
This party (which Lava Row was honored to sponsor) went from packed to insane in a matter of seconds when Gary Vaynerchuk showed up for his unannounced #secretwineparty. I thought the Lanai Lounge venue was going to collapse at one point, taking the entire Internet and a lot of wine down with it. Gives a new meaning to #CrushIt, right? But the building’s structural integrity held up, and everyone had a blast. Big thanks to the Silicon Prairie crew for putting this together!

Flickr: mager

The Weather
We’ve had a brutal winter in Iowa. You can’t beat sunny skies and 74 degrees, eating chips and salsa on a patio with a cold Shiner.

Panels / Sessions
Admittedly, I attended fewer sessions this year partly due to the prep for our panel and run-ins with people who are important to me, but I also stumbled across many “fringe” events (ones not officially associated with SXSW). As the festival gets bigger and bigger, some of the more interesting talks spill out into the edges. Jay Baer has a great post about what he likes about the periphery.

I really enjoyed the presentations “Dude, This Is My Car!”, a discussion of future automobiles as software platforms, and danah boyd‘s keynote about social networks and evolving privacy norms.

Jeffrey Tambor’s Acting Workshop
Loved, loved, loved this. The acting workshop is an annual tradition at SXSW and I was stoked to finally get to see it – hooray for having a film badge! Jeffrey brought in two actors he hadn’t met before, had them read a scene, shattered it, made them repeat, and so on. He had both actors in tears within minutes, but this was done in a nurturing, almost parental, method. Probably the most heart-warming SXSW moment since Frank Warren’s PostSecret keynote in 2008.

Location-Based Social Networks
2010 was definitely the year of location-based social networks at SXSW. In years previous, people kept track of where their friends were at using the #SXSW hashtag on Twitter, but that became unmanageable with approximately 15,000 registered attendees. Foursquare seemed to have the critical mass, but Gowalla was winning on speed and usability. I unlocked a few SXSW-specific Foursquare badges, such as:

I can’t wait for next year.

What were your South by Southwest 2010 highlights? Chime in below!