SxSW Party Planning Starts Now: Join us for Pool 2.0

We had so much fun at SxSWi, we were wondering if we could make it any better. While we don’t have the cure for the flu bug that went around last year, we do think we have a pretty good party idea for the next one….

Pool 2.0 is the ultimate tournament for Web 2.0, Social Media and Interactive startups. Originally inspired by the boys from Meetro (now LeFora) and their Bowling 2.0 league and our deep love of billiards and beer, we thought it was time for a gentlemanly competition to see who can really lay some heat on the table. We hope you will join us for a great night of partying and some serious playing.

Introducing: Pool 2.0

Sunday March 15th, 8pm-midnight
Buffalo Billiards, 6th Avenue, Austin, TX
Brought to you by Social Media Club and ????

We have the entire 2nd floor to ourselves (it’s pretty big).  We are bringing in some live music, providing free beer all night (looking for a beer sponsor too, and it has to be good beer) and there will even be some video game tournaments on the side. This is going to be the party of the week. We are even bringing in a special guest emcee and will be live streaming the finals to the world.

Here is the run down.  Web 2.0 or Social Media companies (hoping TechCrunch and RWW compete, but just seeing Facebook against MySpace may be enough fun) can apply for one of the 16 spots by filling out this application form.  The entry fee is $500 per company, with the competing companies essentially being sponsors of the event (though we still need a title sponsor to offset the cost of booze etc…).  It’s a double elimination bracket tournament with two person teams, but that may change if needed.

Companies will be playing for their favorite charity with $2,000 going to the winner’s favorite charity and $1,000 going to the runner up’s charity.

If you are interested in more details on how your company can participate, please complete this application and we will get back to you.

As with all SxSWi parties, space is limited.  Tickets will be given out starting in Janaury, so do keep a close eye on the Social Media Club site and our Twitter account.  If you are interested in other sponsorship opportunities, contact us through our web site.

We are really looking forward to seeing everyone back in Austin and finding out who the real sharks of the industry are. More details coming soon….

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Vote for your favorite SXSW panel!

The SXSW panel selection process opened this morning, and several of the Social Media Club Advisory Group members have pitched presentation ideas in the hopes of sharing their experiences with you. If any of these topics move you, feel free to cast your vote for one, two or all of them (listed in alphabetical order):

• Against All Odds-A Media Literate World: The new “Media Literacy” means understanding the facts, context and perspective of content. When you share, modify, or comment, this shows who you are online and in society. The public record of your search and attention stream will define how you’re perceived. How do we increase media literacy?  Presenters: Chris Heuer, Howard Greenstein, Alex De Carvalho, Brian Solis (with possibly Howard Reingold too)
• Beyond Social Media: Introducing Social Communications: Who really “owns” social media? Is it PR, Marketing, Branding? This panel will demonstrate that it’s all of the above and more. Thus the new category “Social Communications,” which we can think of as a hybrid of PR, marketing, branding, WOM, customer service, product development and more.  Presenters: Jackie Peters, Kristie Wells, Connie Reece, Chuck Hester, Todd Van Hoosear
• Breaking Through the Digital Ceiling: Are you a woman (or a man) who loves to tech out but is tired of sexism, ageism, and the lack of diversity? Women in tech and social media experts identify strategies for breaking through the digital ceiling. The panel will discuss topics such as getting heard by upper management, how to effectively advocate for your work and expertise, what men can do to help promote women in technology as well as how to break through the barriers of being too young or too old in the tech sector.  Presenters: Allyson Kapin, Charlene Li, Connie Reece, Susan Mernit, Lynne Johnson
• Climbing the Corporate Ladder in a Mini Skirt (or pant suit?): Powerful tech women share their secrets regarding kicking ass, moving up the ladder, dealing with jerks, and helping other girls reach the top. Presenters: Mel Kirk, Sally Strebel, Kristie Wells, Bronwyn Jones, Aubrey Sabalas
• Corporate Reputation Management in the 2.0 World: For too long reputation management has involved cheap Google tricks and seat-of-the-pants tactics. Lee Odden and Rob Key, two prominent experts in search and corporate reputation management, will outline a strategic approach to reputation, based on a sophisticated understanding of conversation mining data and new media engagement. Presenters: Rob Key, Lee Odden
• Discussion on the Pervasiveness of Streams: The emergence of streams in our digital lives is, in many ways, aligning our thinking in a way that we are only subtly appreciating. Streams represent the end of top-down broadcast and the beginning of a confluence of information and communication exchange patterns that function multi dimensionally. Presenters: Greg Narain, Jackie Peters, Brian Solis
• Everything you know about Social Media is Wrong!: Everyone knows that social media has created a revolution in marketing. But aren’t most marketers missing the point about what social media can or cannot do for them? This panel will expose the horrible lies and deceptions surrounding social media marketing. You will know what social media is and isn’t. Presenters: Hugh MacLeod, Tara Hunt, Deb Schultz, Jeremiah Owyang, Chris Heuer and Brian Oberkirch (possibly).
• Fire Your PR Firm and Brand it Yourself: Social Media Club interim board members will give advice and anecdotes about how PR and branding have changed because of social media and how, as an entrepreneur, you sre empowered. You can now market your own product or company better than any PR firm. And you should. This is for technical people, to teach them the DIY of social media as a branding tool. You would be surprised how many engineers don’t know this.  Presenters: Francine Hardaway and a cast to be announced shortly
• 5 Common Misperceptions of Technological Creativity: Drinking the creation koolaid can sometimes be deceiving. It’s like trying to acclimate your taste buds to dog crap.  5 successful panelists share with you the ways to tell the difference between koolaid (the purple stuff) and Sunny D. to get results rather than reaching into a risky over populated grab bag. Presenters: Sally Strebel, Mel Kirk, iJustine, Kristie Wells, Laura Fitton
• Let’s Get Social! Moving from me to we: The Web 2.0 evolution has enabled companies to connect with their constituents in transparent and impactful ways, achieving a greater competitive edge. In order to take full advantage of this movement, companies must embrace open dialogue through community and fully understand the implications of becoming a more “social” organization. Presenters: Aaron Strout and a cast to be announced shortly
• Love Your Customers, They Love You Back: Relationships are the new currency in social media. They need cultivation and value from both sides in order to grow into something of value and longevity. Explore engagement as the only way to earn customer respect, business, loyalty, and referrals as we do what matters to earn their friendship. Presenters: Becky Carroll, Brian Solis, 2 Special Guests
• SEO for startups: Does your startup have a plan for SEO? Millions of searches are performed daily on the internet and there is an enormous amount of ROI that comes from ranking for targeted keywords and phrases. This panel will give you an understanding, dispel any myths, and provide tips on how to approach SEO for a Startup, just like yours! Presenters: Tony Adam, Todd Friesen, Lee Odden 
• Walking the tech runway in stilettos: Being a girl in a boys world. And succeeding. Similar to the panel above. But different. It’s a fun and lighthearted discussion that prepares females for greater success by helping them get comfortable in their own shoes. 5 panelists share the lessons learned on their journey toward success. Presenters: Mel Kirk, Sally Strebel, Kristie Wells, Bronwyn Jones, Aubrey Sabalas or Tara Hunt (I think)
• What does a community manager do: We will discuss and answer just what an online community manager is and what they do. How do you measure what a CM does? How do I know if I need one? How does a company evangelist differ from this? What skill set does my CM need? Where do I find a CM? What personality traits does a CM need? These and many other questions will be answered about this up and coming position. Presenters: David Peck, Jake McKee, Bill Johnston, Connie Benson.

Cast your vote and we hope to see you in Austin at SXSW!

UPDATED: Added SEO for Startups, Corporate Reputation Management and Everything you know about Social Media is Wrong!, What does a community manager do

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Is SxSW going to be the death of Twitter?

Just about 6 weeks ago, I wrote a post about Twitter being a great evolution of IM, moving to EM, which I called “everywhere messaging”. Well, in the weeks since, I have come to realize it is really about EP, “everywhere publishing” - but not just publishing in the broad sense, but rather, it is a functionally restricted form of micro-blogging. If you look at my Twitter feed, you will see that this is generally how I use it.

Unfortunately, it feels like Fonzi is getting his swim trunks on, and the sharks are looking ferocious. Why would I suggest that this great channel that I have been touting for the last few weeks is about to jump the shark? Because of the amount of focus on the use of Twitter as a communications channel down at SxSW (did I mention how bummed I am that I am not there?). BTW, I am seriously asking the question of whether SxSW will be the death of Twitter? The reason being that we must cross over and bump up against barriers in order for us to realize they exist in new realms - the amount of traffic coming through Twitterific is just overwhelming and causing it to lose its’ intimacy for me.

Tonight, I came back to the Social Media Clubhouse from dinner with Kristie and Tom Foremski to see that my last 20+ Twitters were a back and forth conversation between my friends Chris Pirillo and Robert Scoble about Twitter. In fact, Kristie, Tom and I were just having a conversation in the car no more then 60 minutes ago about the same problem. I already can’t keep track of the friends I really care about staying connected to with the increase in usage, and now I am feeling guilty every time someone adds me as a friend when I don’t add them in return. But I can’t add everyone - I just don’t have the extra attention to invest, and to Chris Pirillo’s point

what happens when you have 10,000 followers - and their responses get buried because you can’t reciprocate?

The thing is, the very nature of Twitter, which Kristie pointed out mirrors the addictive nature of Flickr, will lead to a natural increase in the frequency in usage, the scope of usage and the number of people using the service. In the last week, I have received at least 30 friend requests, and I am not really that well known or popular. Scoble is over 1,000 already and climbing fast. Pirillo is right, but he need not go out to 10,000 followers - Scoble is already having responses and more get buried - it has happened in his voicemail where he directs you to email, and even in email and other channels, he is always going to fight to keep up, despite all his very hard work and great intentions.
The thing about Twitter, Flickr and other similarly architected services is that we like staying in touch with the people we care about, the people we WANT to have connecttions with. Unfortunately, and as I have been saying a lot lately - Humans Don’t Scale. Dunbar was really right - I am pretty much putting the Dunbar number in the same category as Newton’s laws of gravity. It is important to note that I am not hoping for its demise - far from it. I am however wondering what can be done about those of us that care about such things in thinking about some sort of guideliness to prevent usage patterns from destroying the incredible value we find in staying connected to the people we care about most.

So what are the limits of Twitter, what are the best uses? Can we put this altogether in a wiki? Am I just crazy? Or is the usage of it morphing in ways that are really decreasing the value of the channel instead of increasing it? Is there any possibility to save Twitter from Twittering itself to death?

Mea Culpa: Occasionally, I do use the dreaded @ myfriend message myself. At this time, I want to apologize to everyone for this terrible, terrible assault on your attention. Direct messages should be sent directly - or if it was/is necessary to build upon a conversational thread, I should have made the slight additional effort to have blogged it myself on my full site. Perhaps Twitter could make a C messageID, or C myfriend feature to redirect some of this additional traffic. But honestly, I think the additional volume, the experimentation and the morphing of this great everywhere publishing must give us all pause, to rethink what works well and what doesn’t - to then start modeling the behaviour we hope to see from others…

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