9:30 AM
to 10:30 AM
Tools and Processes for ADD Project Managers/Entrepreneurs
86 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Jason Ford, De Sellers
event::about Ever since grade school I've been told organization is my number one problem. Like most people involved in the web, I'm creative, technically proficient, and often lacking in focus. I've had to balance managing my personal disfunction with managing huge web projects and now running a startup business (FeedMagnet). More than once I've been introduced with the disclaimer, “Jason is really smart and talented...but he's kind of all over the place.” Nevertheless, I've determined to master my disfunction—and I've tried everything. Inbox Zero. GTD. Scrum and Agile. Countless systems involving whiteboards. Moleskines and the Hipster PDA. CRMs, RTM, and other TLAs. I won't claim I've found the holy grail of organization but I've made a lot of progress—and life and business are much more manageable now. This session is not for beginners. I'm going to assume you've already tried, or at least heard of, most of the popular project management and personal organization techniques out there. This session is for folks who have been fighting the same fight as me and are looking to learn from my mistakes and successes. Specific topics to cover: Why systems work (or don't) for individuals. How to map your individual profile of disfunction. Putting custom-tailored systems in place to meet your specific needs. If you have enough focus to have read this far, this session may not be for you—or maybe you are just desperate to figure this out and the session will be perfect.
event::tags Dual
11:00 AM
to 12:00 PM
I've Never Met My Coworkers: Running International Teams
66 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Jason Lengstorf, Thomas Sturge
event::about I work with four other guys, and I've never met any of them. In fact, none of them live within 1000 miles of me. However, we manage to work together on 5-10 simultaneous projects and my business is up 300% from last year. Building a team to help you with sub-contracting is easier than you might think. I'll tell you how I took Copter Labs from a one-man (severely overworked) effort to a five-man collective in less than three months while continuing to increase my company's gross income and my own take-home pay, as well as freeing up hours of my own time to enjoy life.
12:30 PM
to 1:30 PM
Bordering Incest: Turning Your Company into a Family
36 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about I was employee number 8. I've watched this company grow to a record of 30 people in a little over two years. Through this process, we evolved in our hiring, striving to keep the company culture and our internal identity intact. This presentation is focused on keeping the original values and ideals of the founders, and growing into the type of company and culture that they dreamed of having in their early years.
event::tags Panel, #BorderingIncestSxSW
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Rebel in a Polyester Sash: Rehabbing Corporate Culture
13 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Jessica Lawrence
event::about You work at a start up. You’re sketching out brilliant ideas on the back of beer-ringed napkins while slurping down ramen noodles and nursing your hangover from the massive party you had in your freakin’ cool loft the night before. Blah, blah, blah. Your culture rocks. I get it. But what if you work for a dinosaur? An organization that needs cultural rehab more than Amy Winehouse needs straight up rehab? What if you work for an old-school, stereotypically uncool, butt-of-jokes and yet still loved non-profit that is now nationally known as an organization with a “weird child army in tablecloth dresses” (thanks SNL’s John Mulaney)? What if you work for, I don’t know, the Girl Scouts? A place where pantyhose, polyester, and clock watching are still raging like its 1985. That’s where I work. And despite the many great things that the organization does, working there sucked until we decided to make it not suck anymore. We broke the rules and reinvented everything: clock watching turned into working however we want as long as the work gets done; pantyhose gave way to jeans; and the polyester met its demise on the Sacred Cow BBQ right next to a heap of senseless rules. Learn how your culture can stop sucking too. Whether it’s sucked for five weeks or five years or half a century, there is still hope. Misery and work don’t have to be synonymous. Corporate doesn’t have to equal crap. If a rebel in a polyester sash can lead cultural rehab, you can rock the rehab too.
event::tags Solo, #rebelinasash
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
That's Not My Job: Being A Career Generalist
74 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about In corporate America people say: "That's not my job!" employees specialize and have a deep knowledge in a couple areas. But for those who want to don't want to specialize the role of being a generalist can be a rewarding experience. These individuals are early employees at a start because they are capable of learning skills quickly, knowing how to complement their teammates skill sets, and stay focused and motivated in order to build out a prototype and a business. We'll cover how to build a career as a generalist, recruit them, and keep them motivated.
event::tags Dual
9:30 AM
to 10:30 AM
Beyond the Hype: Mobile App Opportunities In Africa
32 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Justin Arenstein
event::about Africa's 1 billion people are the world's fastest growing market for mobile phones. Sales of mobile phones on the continent grew 22% year-on-year in 2009, and are projected to add another 280-million users by 2015. But Africans are not just users: they’re also pioneering ground-breaking new mobile services, leading the world in everything from mobile money to mobile health. The speed of growth has, however, created so much sensational hype that it is difficult to tell the real opportunities from misleading exaggeration. This panel will cut through the hype, to explore the real opportunities in Africa for mobile app developers: is it all low-tech, or are there markets for cutting edge apps? Where are the most sustainable markets, what kinds of apps / services are most likely to succeed, and which mobile platforms offer best scope for success? The panel will also examine the successes and failures of developers who have already taken the plunge, and will evaluate which African mobile developers are best placed for partnerships or other collaborations. And, because Africa is pioneering its own world-class mobile services in everything from augmented reality to geo-social and other location-based services, we will explore which of those mobile innovations are poised for global expansion.
event::tags Panel
11:00 AM
to 12:00 PM
Influencer Throwdown: Proving Influence Once and For All
53 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker David Binkowski, Kevin Dugan, Krista Neher
event::about Influence "experiments" like Fast Company's project do more harm then good when it comes to defining and measuring influence. It's more than how many people you can get to vote for you. Instead of counting the people who reach you need to reach the people who count. Four marketing veterans will weigh in with individual presentation on their real-world examples of influence and discuss the current state of influence. What's real, what's wrong and what's next. As part of the interactive discussion attendees will learn * different approaches to measuring influence * specific examples of influence including the impact it had for a brand * ways to identify and measure influence
event::tags Panel
12:30 PM
to 1:30 PM
Big in Japan: Outreaching to a Unique Market
49 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Akinori Koto, Fumi Yamazaki, Marcus Nelson, Robert Laing, Ryan Holmes, Steve Mock, Rocky Eda
event::about Japan has ubiquitous high-speed coverage and a voracious appetite for tech gadgets, however, their tools have developed with entirely different features than other countries. For example: Japan's ""Galapo-phones"" commonly include streaming TV and multi-character sets, Mixii and Gree each have more than 30 million users on their social networks, and Yahoo is a whole different experience from US counter-part. With meteoric growth in Twitter and network tools, Japan aims on becoming the regional leader for emerging social web technologies -- much like their early leadership in consumer electronics and gaming industries. This presents opportunities for collaboration and partnerships but localizing requires more than translation. This panel will discuss the unique characteristics of Japanese web and mobile market including tactics for connecting to markets, identifying opportunities, and outreaching to audiences, plus understanding unexpected cultural nuances and consumer expectations.
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Kill Your Call Center! Bring Your Support Home
31 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about Please hold...your call is important to us. Even though the automated phone message tells you so, how often do you really feel important? This panel is about how to make all your customers feel like super stars and how to incorporate support into your core business. When someone calls into FreshBooks during business hours, a real person answers the phone. Rackspace coined the term Fanatical Support and act on it every day - with live chat, phone support and email support. GetSatisfaction has developed an entire toolset to make interacting with customers easy and fun. Zappos has turned their customer service style into a mythology other companies emulate. All of these companies put support at the core of their business model to turn customers into repeat customers and repeat customers into evangelists. In this panel, we'll tell you the results for both your business and for your customers we see from doing support in-house . We'll show you how to make this happen for your business, like hiring the right people, structuring your support team, and explaining what it takes to be a true Support Rockstar. Hint: It's all about having the right attitude and rethinking "customer support" as "customer advocates." Reinventing your company culture to run on customer support may sound difficult, but all it really takes is a commitment to providing your customers with the best experience possible - and the payoffs are absolutely worth it.
event::tags Panel, #lessrobots
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
Profiting in Adult: The Recession is Over
22 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about The last few years the adult online industry saw a perfect storm of the recession, content piracy, and lack of innovation that caused some companies to lose as much as 90% of their profit margins and several others to close up shop entirely. While many are still reeling and struggling to make ends meet, now that much of the smoke has cleared, who is left standing and why? Once considered recession-proof, the adult industry is starting to see a bounce back, with an influx of motivated, mature and organized individuals with startups.
event::tags Panel, #profitadult
9:30 AM
to 10:30 AM
Neurons Sparking!: Design with the Brain in Mind!
44 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker M A Greenstein
event::about **Are you curious about the new brain game design industry? **Have you explored the options of including a neuroscientist on your team of interactive and immersive media designers? Today, interactive and immersive media design draws on contemporary neuroscience to leverage the best odds of playing "somatosensory," "memory," "dopamine reward” and “inhibitory control” systems in the human brain and extended nervous system. From animated narrative scripting to skill building brain games or “apps”, functional knowledge of the human brain gives the 21st media designer an edge in working across the spectrum of interactive and immersive game media. This session starts with two simple, critical questions: What does neuroscience and cognitive science hold for the future of interactive and immersive media design? How can media designers prepare now for a future where "brain smart" games will be the means by which we learn, play, invent and transform lives through interactive media? Join us and find out.
event::tags Solo, #braingames
11:00 AM
to 12:00 PM
Worst Website Ever II: Too Stupid to Fail
165 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Andy Baio, Jeffery Bennett, Jonah Peretti, Josh Millard, Ze Frank, Gina Trapani, Mike Lacher
event::about In a highly-anticipated return to SXSW, an all-star lineup of designers, coders, and entrepreneurs compete to pitch their worst business ideas in short lightning rounds. Winner gets funded by a real VC.
event::tags Panel, #worstwebsiteever
12:30 PM
to 1:30 PM
Bootstrap Underdog? Mainstream Overlord? Or Both?
32 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Chris Bernard, Mark Achler, Micah Baldwin, Ben Lowinger, Chris Maliwat
event::about Getting big is a great problem to have, but rapid and unexpected growth can be filled with peril – both from a technology perspective and ability to continue delivering on your company’s core promise to consumers. Join industry veterans that have experienced this dilemma as they share lessons on how to limit unpredictability in today’s connected social world of the cloud, Web, and multiple devices. Hear from Redbox, and start-ups like Gilt Groupe, Graphic.ly and Copia tell you how they are moving from bootstrap to mainstream in media, luxury goods, comics and social eReading and how business basics, technology, finding customers and partnerships are key to their success. This session is sponsored by Microsoft.
event::tags Panel, #sxsw2011bootstrap
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Power to the People: Regulating Big Business
20 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about After being witness to a multitude of massive corporate accounting scandals, the world has been forced to re-evaluate almost every area of how business is conducted. A new day is dawning in the world of information, and the people are demanding more visibility into the everyday operations of companies and governments. In order to pacify the public outcry for increased knowledge, regulatory controls such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Base III have been enacted. In addition, regulatory agencies like the SEC are rapidly embracing new approaches to providing the public with information and data through the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). The SEC and other governing bodies have recognized that the democratization of corporate and government data, through the use of XBRL, will guarantee a higher level of transparency and usability. Now like never before, transparency is allowing for a shift of power from corporations to the people. Because information is easily available for anyone to download for free, analysis and comparisons between the big guys can be done on a large assortment of public data. This information revolution will no longer allow companies to operate in secrecy and will provide people with the data they need to avoid future bailouts and economic turmoil.
event::tags Panel, #powertothepeople
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
Be Evil: Does Corporate Responsibility Matter?
21 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Siva Vaidhyanathan, Catarina Conti
event::about In this age of radical transparency, can corporations that mistreat their users or cause harm in the world get away with it? Does the market discipline companies so that responsibility is now an essential part of doing business? Or is corporate responsibility just a clever trick to gain a slight marketing advantage and defer state regulation? Is the first and only duty of a company to provide value to its shareholders? This debate will consider these issues through the lens of Google, the most significant promoter of a corporate moral ethos. It will consider the ethics of doing business in authoritarian places such as China, pursuing environmentally sustainable infrastructure, and treating labor fairly.
event::tags Dual
9:30 AM
to 10:30 AM
Ditch the Book: Running a Business YOUR Way
51 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Espree Devora, Giang Biscan, Ian Sanders, Lewis Howes, Shane Mac, Liam Martin
event::about The perceived wisdom for business success is that you need to follow the rules. Sure, there’s room to be a maverick but you still need to have a 5 year plan, a marketing strategy, a HR department, a path to profit. Now the rule book is going out of the window as people prove you can be a success by putting passion and authenticity at the heart of their business, and doing it their way without compromise. Ideas like business unplanning and freemium models are busting the myths and disrupting the status quo. Now there’s a new generation of role models from Gary Vaynerchuk to 37signals who are proving that by keeping it real and eschewing a big strategy, they can still be a success. Ditch the rule book is for freelancers, start-ups, executives and entrepreneurs. It’s for anyone who needs an injection of fresh thinking to shake things up: to be a game-changer whilst staying true to their DNA. It’s brought to you by a bunch of guys with their own stories of how they ditched the rule book. These stories will educate, inspire and hopefully entertain. But we also want to create a forum for participation and interaction with contributions from the floor. Ditching the rule book can bring you breakthroughs in your business whilst making sure your business stands out in the crowd. Ditch The Rule Book is for 'rebels without a suit' and anyone looking to revolutionize their business by doing it YOUR way.
event::tags Panel, #ditchrules
11:00 AM
to 12:00 PM
David vs. Goliath: Internet Startups Battle Money Giants
17 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Sean Harper, Felix Salmon, Shamir Karkal, Mitchell Jacobs, Suchitra Padmanabhan, Suresh Ramamurthi
event::about The financial services industry has been shrouded in mystery for decades. The internet is finally transforming the financial services landscape by empowering consumers and businesses to research, compare, and demand better prices and service by knowing the competition. Mint.com, LendingTree, TransFS and BillShrink caused paradigm shifts which put power in the hands of the customer instead of big institutions cashing in on a lack of knowledge. This panel will leverage the experience of thought leaders in the industry to explore the trends which have led to their success: transparency, honesty, free for user models, disseminating information, etc. The panel will also explore what’s at stake in the future both for consumers, small businesses, and big institutions. Is there such a thing as too much transparency? Does the acquisition of startups spreading transparency undermine their value proposition?
event::tags Panel
12:30 PM
to 1:30 PM
Friends with Business Benefits: How Integrations Sell Apps
27 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
event::about The Small Business Web is now over 100 web app companies strong. Together, we're rewriting the rules for traditional business development by building the market for small business software through integrations. So how has it not devolved into fisticuffs and mayhem? And why does integration help both the consumers and the vendors who are building the applications? Members of the Small Business Web will discuss the power of the open API, why customers buy apps that integrate, how they're embracing their competition and why sometimes even they have to remember to "Hug It Out" as they work together to define the future of the Small Business Web.
3:30 PM
to 4:30 PM
Merch: The Other White Meat Of Monetization II
12 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Joel Bush, Burnie Burns, Mona Patel, Justin Sewell, Mikhail Ledvich
event::about How do successful web properties delight fans, earn revenue, and achieve self-sufficiency via a vibrant direct merchandise business? What does it mean to go direct? What workload is involved? What benefits does it bring? Advertising receives plenty of deserved attention. Let's dive deeper into merch strategy, tactics, and tools. What are the best-practice fundamentals? How have properties achieved success in different ways? What are the latest ideas and trends that matter? How does merch interact with and impact community? In addition to the ubiquitous and important t-shirt, what products perform? Last year's panel was a hit and a blast. Let's continue the series.
5:00 PM
to 6:00 PM
DIY Online Workshops: Best Practices and Worst Mistakes
16 schedule::attendees
Location
Hilton, Salon D
eventtype Panel, Interactive
Speaker Bryce Longton, Michelle Ward
event::about You're brilliant, and you have something to say, damn it. This presentation will discuss the ins and outs of starting your own online workshop/class/seminar -- how to market it, what to charge for it, and how to make a super-charged kick ass course that people will want to take. We'll discuss the different ways to deliver amazing content in a workshop format, what kinds of interaction works best, and we'll give you tips on how to parlay your online course into an in-person gig (if that's the sort of thing you're after).
event::tags Dual
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