For the next Lava Row Camp we are teaming up with LinkedIn for a casual conversation about the social network’s history, why it is important to have a presence there, how it allows you to strengthen and extend your existing network of trusted contacts, applications for HR professionals, and a peek at future functionality not yet available to the public.

In traditional Lava Row Camp style, tickets are free and the beers are on us! The discussion starts at 5:30pm but don’t hesitate to show up early and hang out after for a little networking. The hashtag for the evening will be #lavacamp.

Sam Mandolfo from LinkedIn will be co-presenting with me. Please join us at the Des Moines Social Club on Wednesday, April 7th in the Sideshow Lounge and bring your questions! We look forward to seeing you there. You may RSVP via the form below, or just jump directly over to Eventbrite.

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 lined 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.

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

Back in late September we announced Lava Row Camp (a recurring series of monthly educational social media seminars).

After our first event we decided to re-tool the format in order to make it more accessible to more people — we’re moving the event time from the noon hour to 5:00pm, shortening the overall content to allow for more Q&A and interaction, waiving ticket fees and (here’s the best news) incorporating cocktails!

For the next installment of Lava Row Camp, we’re ditching the 101 slides and focusing on what’s next for the future of social media marketing and business. Some of the topics we’ll cover are:

• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla, and the implications for marketing local businesses.
• Facebook’s recent changes to the News Feed (and Live Feed) and what this means for your business pages.
• Twitter Lists and how they will fundamentally change the Twittersphere (for the better).
• How Facebook Connect and Google SideWiki will forever change the corporate website.

So please join us at the Des Moines Social Club at 5:00pm on Wednesday, November 4th. Cocktails and networking start promptly at 5:00 and then we begin the discussion at 5:30. Be sure to bring your opinions and questions, as we want your insights to be a big part of the conversation. We’ll have a handful of drink tickets on hand for the first people to arrive — but they won’t last long!

The Technology Association of Iowa has graciously stepped in to help support these events, and we can’t thank them enough. Please RSVP for the event below, or you can just click here. We’re still in the process of assembling the presentation, so if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, just contact us or leave a comment below. See you next Wednesday!

Photo credit: moriza via flickr

Good news for those of you asking when our next seminar in Des Moines will take place: On Tuesday, September 29th we are kicking off Lava Row Camp — a recurring, monthly series of educational workshops focused around various social and emerging media topics.

For starters, we’ll be tackling the topic of Big Brother 2.0: How companies can develop social networking guidelines that keep employees productive and web access open. We’ll analyze opportunity vs. risk, and share examples of what other organizations have done to address this evolving and complex issue. Participation is encouraged — we’re excited to learn from you and hear more about your specific challenges.

Tickets are $25 per person (plus Eventbrite fees) and can be purchased below, or by clicking here. The event takes place at the Des Moines Social Club at 1408 Locust Street in Des Moines. Please note, this seminar is a bring your own lunch affair. We’ll get started at noon, but don’t be shy — drop in for some good, old-fashioned networking between 11:30 and 12:00.

We’re excited to see you there! If you have ideas for future Lava Row Camp topics, please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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