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SXSW 2013: The People, Places and Experiences in Pictures

18 Mar SXSW

I can guarantee that SXSW is like no other conference you’ll ever experience. In a few days, you’ll establish connections, experiences and lessons you never thought possible; all painted against the eclectic backdrop of Austin, Texas. And there’s no amount of social media or Internet that can explain the vibe of walking down music-laden 6th Street or moving through a sea of convention center-goers. It’s tough to explain in words, even.

So here is my experience in pictures. And while it doesn’t cover everything (I missed the picture of Superman on a pedicab and the replica Mutt Cutts truck from Dumb and Dumber), it gives you a good sense of what recently went down in Austin, TX.

Sessions were packed. I enjoyed being in rooms with like-minded, excited attendees as we took notes on our various devices. Plus, networking between sessions was a no brainer.

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Ballroom G at the Austin Convention Center. Here we listened to Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association

Seeing the salesforce.com Cloud Lounge in person made all the prep time worth it. The spot stood out and was a great meeting ground throughout the show.

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salesforce.com Cloud Lounge on 5th and Brazos

One of my favorite spots was the Samsung Blogger Lounge at the Austin Convention Center. Between sessions I could plug in, meet other bloggers and watch great interviews. Here are a few of them.

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Watching Hannah Hart from My Drunk Kitchen at the Samsung Blogger Lounge

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The cast from Burning Love at the Samsung Blogger Lounge

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The one and only Shaq at the Samsung Blogger Lounge (he bench pressed the woman to the left)

In addition to the sessions, lounges and people, there’s technology. Some of the latest startups reside at SXSW letting anyone try out the tech. Here I experienced Leap Motion, a gesture-based controller that lets you interact with your computer in a whole new way (goodbye mouse).

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Experiencing Leap Motion

Back to sessions. I opted for many marketing and social media-focused topics, such as one from author Jason Lankow on infographics. And after feverishly Tweeting throughout the session, Jason Lankow and I took the conversation online shortly afterward.

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I also tried some non-marketing sessions to relax the brain of work-related topics and learn new things. I opted for a session on science and comedy, where the concept of humor was broken down into a Ven Diagram.

Ven Diagram of the science of comedy

Ven Diagram of the science of comedy

Food is another reason why I’m so glad SXSW is housed in Austin. You can’t experience the conference without some street meat and back-of-the-bar burgers. And yes, it is all amazing.

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My coworker, Jeff Cohen, picking up our burgers at the back of Casino el Camino, a bar on 6th Street

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My friend, Dan Weingrod and I shared BBQ fusion-covered fries from the Chi’lantro food truck in downtown Austin

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Known as one of the best BBQ joints in Texas, Dan Weingrod, Joe Ciarello and I had to try The Salt Lick (it was amazing)

While conferences are busy and time-consuming, I always try to make time for other things. My coworker, Jeff Cohen and I had a…weird experience.

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A trip to Museum of the Weird

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Only in Austin can I get caught in a giant King Kong (at Museum of the Weird)

SXSW is all about the people. I deepened relationships with those I see often, met the folks I only knew online and created new relationships with many amazing, talented marketers.

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Hanging out at the Samsung Blogger Lounge with Joselin Mane, author and organizer of Boston Tweetup.

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After years of Tweeting, I finally met Jason Konopinski at the salesforce.com Cloud Lounge

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Me and my coworker Ben Pruden (far left) having fun at the photo booth at the Cloud Lounge

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Me and Jason Boies (left) reuniting with our Twitter buddy, Eric Tung (right)

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Me and coworker, Jeff Cohen

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Our content team including Jason Boies (left) and Andrew Gothelf (right)

SXSWNo matter how much online and social media marketing and networking you do, be sure to get out there and experience some real life, in person events. Conferences like SXSW are invaluable. So get your cowboy boots on, pack those business cards and get out there. And have some fun. That helps too.

For more pics, check out my Instagram.

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SXSW Ideas for First Timers

2 Mar

SXSW Austin TXThis time next week I’ll be in the barbeque-eating, music-loving city of Austin, TX for the annual interactive conference, SXSWi. It’s my first time and I’ve followed the conversation since 2004, when I first learned about it from a fellow coworker at HUGE. This year is my turn to join and even lead the SXSW conversation and if you’re experiencing the conference for the first time like me, here are some approaches I’m taking starting now.

Reach Out to Your Community

Let your social media connections know that you’ll be at SXSW weeks before you head out. This can be specific @mentions on Twitter, a broad status update on Facebook, even pictures of your badge on Instagram. Use your social channels for sharing this information. This is an exciting opportunity to meet your online connections in real life, which can deepen relationships, enable you to meet their friends and put your mind at ease knowing there are friends at the conference waiting for you to say hello.

Sign Up for Sessions and Parties

SXSW is all about the sessions and parties. It’s a huge networking opportunity, educational playground and content-creation experience. To get into these events, you should register ahead of time or many of them won’t be available. Luckily, there are plenty of platforms for finding and signing up for these events including these websites and free apps:

Know How to Spend Your Time

There are tons of sessions and many happening at the exact same time. How do you pick the best sessions and parties to make the most of your short time in Austin? While I haven’t figured that out yet, I can tell you that based on the advice of SXSW veterans and my love for content marketing, it’s all about content and networking. What sessions can result in great content for you and even the company you work for? Content can be blog posts, Instagram pictures, Vine videos or even ebooks and webinars. What parties can you go to that will enable you to meet the people you admire on Twitter? Be goal-oriented and you’ll choose the best path.

What other advice and ideas can you share for me? Have you attended SXSW and used some of these ideas? Let’s start the conversation before we step foot in Austin.

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How I Made the Most Out of Dreamforce

2 Oct

Enjoying Dreamforce (and my “I Love San Francisco” Cupcake)

Dreamforce 2012 was a place for dreamers. The streets were flooded with 92,000 people dreaming of learning new things, seeing new products, meeting new people, tasting great San Fran food and claiming some swag. We were all wide-eyed and open-mouthed as we experienced the largest cloud computing conference ever. Even if you’ve been there many times before (this was my second year), the sheer size of the conference is impossible to comprehend and expect.

And as an employee of Salesforce, I came to Dreamforce to work. But the great thing about Dreamforce is even employees can dream. Here’s how I made the most of my time.

Establish a Home Base

My coworkers and I spent much of our time by the Social Media Command Center, a dreamy palace of engagement bliss. We all had set hours to workflow social media conversations around the conference as well as speak in front of the Command Center to let passerbys in on the awe-inspiring engagement mecca. Nearby we had a room where we could tend to our regular 9-5 job, eat, relax and talk. It was our sanctuary, our meeting ground and a place we could always come to find another team member.

Do it All

Conferences offer more than just keynotes, sessions and expo halls. Networking events, concerts, cocktail hours and other after-hour festivities are prevalent at conferences and are just as important as the daytime offerings (even more important at times). It is here where I established new relationships, learned of new business opportunities, deepened relationships with coworkers and created new, long-lasting friendships. Many of these events are not printed in the agenda or publicly shared. I found them using the event hashtag, asking coworkers or starting up a conversation with the person sitting next to me at a session. So if you’re tired after a long day of sessions, have a coffee and get back out there. It’s worth it.

Use the Hashtag

Every conference I’ve attended in the past year had a hashtag but it’s up to the attendees to make the most of it. I keep the hashtag feed on my phone, tablet or computer at all times. You’ll not only find out about special events as mentioned above, but because many conferences run multiple sessions at the same time, you’ll get real-time notes of sessions happening across the hall. It’s a great place to make new friends, organize meet ups with your coworkers, see pictures, ask questions and more. Just remember to use the hashtag when you Tweet as well!

Use Instagram

The Instagram app is my biggest content tool at conferences. It’s easy to take, edit and share photos with your followers as well as fellow conference-goers. I always include the conference hashtag in my description and share the pic on Twitter. The app allows you to publish your photos to other social channels, such as Facebook, to keep friends and family posted on your travels. At the end of the conference, I have a visual story of my experience which makes for a great blog post!

Engage Your Audience

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak at Dreamforce this year. My session, Advanced Content Strategies, looked at 10 content marketing ideas to help your business succeed. I ensured that my speech was interactive because as great as a presentation can be, 45 minutes of a talking head is not appealing. So after each one of the 10 content tactics, I’d stop and engage the audience. It worked out well and the audience was soon sharing their experiences with content and asking questions about the challenges they face. Audience members were answering each other’s questions and the mic went ’round and ’round the room. I also included a Tweet slide after each point (with the conference hashtag) so it was easy to Tweet a quote from my speech as notes for later and to share with those who didn’t attend the session.

Reuniting with my baby, Parker

Despite an amazing time at Dreamforce, nothing beats coming home to see my family, especially my baby, Parker. After all, we make the most of conferences and work experiences so we can excel and grow. Excelling and growing makes us happy in our jobs both mentally and financially. We do it all for them because at the end of the day, their smiles make the biggest difference of all.

What tips and tricks work for you when attending or speaking at a conference?

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School’s Out: How to Start a Career in Social Media

11 Mar

University of Hartford Social MediaLast week I greeted 50+ eager-eyed students at my alma matar, the University of Hartford at the School of Communication alumni meet and greet.  I was one of thirteen alumni, working in a variety of communication and media fields, amongst television producers and directors, web editors, journalists, advertising and public relations specialists, human resources professionals and more.

I shared my story about how I started at 21 as an innocent little project coordinator at NYC’s HUGE. From there, I’ve evolved my agency career to eventually transition to social media, my current passion and love, as community content manager at Radian6.

When students received the green light to approach the alumni upon the conclusion of our speeches, it was like a fast-moving thunderstorm, raining questions and life stories down on us in thick sheets. In that hour-long moment, I listened and shared, relating to students’ wonders and woes.

I had assumed most would be interested in my advertising experience. After all, that’s what they’re learning in school. Many are getting advertising degrees. Oftentimes social media classes are few and far between on a communication curriculum.

But I was wrong.

Students wanted to know about social media and how to break into the field. What positions could they apply for? What experience do they need? What should their resume look like?

I was excited.

There was a real interest in this field from the future workforce. I was talking to potential community managers, social media managers, and social entrepreneurs. There was an opportunity to further excite and educate this crowd.

So I had advice for these kids. A lot of it. I’ll be doing a series of posts over the next few weeks providing that info. Starting today, here’s my first tidbit.

Know the Job Positions

Some social media jobs don’t even have the words “social media” in the titles. Jobs like social strategist and community manager are well-versed, social media-focused positions. Since it may not be easy to find, here’s what to look for:

  • Social media manager assistant – common for brands and agencies, social media managers work with the marketing team to develop campaigns or projects that incorporate social media. They often need assistants or a team of people to execute their strategies.
  • Jr community manager – as the social media virus spreads, more and more brands need community managers to handle the loads of social media mentions. CM’s are engaging behind the brand’s Twitter handle and Facebook page, creating content such as blogs and infographics and ensuring their efforts are always on strategy. Junior community managers are right there helping to manage this load.
  • Assistant to the social strategist – Social media strategists see social media campaigns from 30,000 feet and make recommendations and proposals for brands and agencies. They can be consultants or work for an agency. They need assistants for researching, creating content, working on plans and executing strategies.
  • Jr project manager – there are many interactive agencies or full service agencies with an interactive arm. The day-to-day workload is managed by project managers and jr project managers and they’re doing everything from managing websites to online ads to paid search campaigns. Today, social media is falling into their laps as well.
  • Associate media buyer – Media buyers are still purchasing traditional media such as television, radio and outdoor, but more and more, the purchasing of Facebook ads and promoted tweets are entering the mix. As an associate, you’ll make smaller buys and assist more experienced media buyers.
  • Social media internships – Agencies and brands hire marketing and communications interns for a number of reasons and sometimes there are social media-specific opportunities. Know going in that you will be wearing a lot of hats as you assist with social media and other forms of media as well.

There are plenty more – check Social Media Jobs.

Next week I’ll discuss the importance of getting social in social media, beyond your own Facebook page and Pinterest boards.

I want to thank the University of Hartford for having me and the students for making me so excited about their interest and love for social media.

What other social media positions have you heard of? Are you in any positions that would appeal to these students? Share your thoughts here and maybe we can make some connections!

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Using Social Media to Boost Customer Experience

27 Nov

I recently climbed aboard a giant ship the length of three football fields, with 13 decks and over 3,000 people. It was my first Carnival Cruise and with an ear-to-ear smile glued to my face, we were heading south to the eastern Caribbean.

We all do a good job of pumping ourselves up for an exciting vacation. We set countdowns (this Google countdown gadget is my favorite), buy new clothes and get the camera charged and ready (or even buy a new one, as my husband just got this Canon G12 for our trip).

But what if the travel organization was right there with you, planning for the excitement? Wouldn’t that establish a stronger relationship between you and the business? If you booked a vacation, whether it involved a hotel, cruise line, rental car or even a house boat, these organizations know who you are, when you’re traveling and even what you’re planning to do while on the vacation. For me, Carnival Cruise Lines knew this and how to capitalize on it.

From tweets…

Carnival Cruises Social Media Tweet

To email notifications…

Carnival Cruises Email Notification

To a custom web experience…

Manage my Carnival Cruise Webpage

After the cruise, they sought to keep the conversation going with blogging opportunities and photo sharing with other guests. I’ve even tweeted with my (adorable) cruise director Butch.

There are some easy ways to make connections with your customers, especially when you’re selling an exciting product, such as a vacation. Carnival boosted my excitement from a 10 to an 11 and I’ll never forget my experience with them. Have you experienced something similar?

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Weathering a Storm with Social Media

5 Nov

The recent winter storm in the northeast caused more than a thick covering of snow. It resulted in a slew of conversations blanketing the social web.

The reason? First, there was the unlikely event of a major snowstorm in October. Rarely do Halloween decorations, pumpkins and mums need to nestle in snow piles in Connecticut. Moreover, the heavy, wet snow weighed on trees still dressed in colorful leaves. The result was down trees – many on power lines – leaving hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents in the dark, including myself. The storm was so determintal that as of this morning, a week later, over 200,000 people are still without power.

While there have been plenty of helpful news stories on TV, radio and newspaper, the timing of this information is in the hands of the media. They control when they share, what they share and how they share it. Social media, on the other hand, is serving as an open, ongoing forum for connecting. News updates, opinions, emotions, questions and discussions flourish on the social web, enabling people to get information they need in real time on their terms. It’s no wonder this perfect storm caused this social media monsoon.

How the Utility used Social Media

The Connecticut electric company worked tirelessly to restore power and utilized social media to keep customers in the know. Whether it was news, engagement or tips, it was constant.

Utilities and Social Media

Utilities and Social Media Engagement

Social Media and Utilities News

How the Public used Social Media

The conversations and the emotions were across the board. Surprise for the unexpected snowstorm, excitement for the snow, fear of power outages, anger, frustration, sympathy, hope and camaraderie were just some of the feelings behind the tweets and Facebook posts over the past week.


But in all hard situations, people come together. Here are my top uses of social media from the public.


Offering to help one another.


Public Using Social Media
Public figures delivering information to their town and the positive energy that comes from it.


Public figures using social media


Capturing the damage with Instagram (by ericathas). Despite the result of this down tree, it looks so serene!


Instagram Snow Storm


Creating a website just for the storm…in a very unique way.


Social Media Website


Let’s talk about this one. While I’d give it a PG-13 rating for language, it’s actually using real data to determine a Connecticut town’s power outage status. It also has helpful tips. Notice the 2,000 likes for this week-old site.


No matter if you’re working for a business or using social for personal means, it can serve as a place to connect and get information. It’s constant and increasingly, people are flocking here for answers.


Have you used social media for any storms in your area? How has it helped you? Share your thoughts!


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Learning Social Media from a 14-year-old

15 Oct
Lane Sutton

Lane Sutton Source: http://www.lanesutton.com/

I’ve sat in on a lot of social media sessions, webinars and discussions. While I’ve learned so much from these, the delivery is typically the same. Presenters are often experienced marketers, thought leaders, executives, consultants, etc. Oh, and they’re typically of adult age.

But one of yesterday’s presentations from the Hartford Business Journal Social Media Summit was different. Sure, much of the social media stats and stories were ones I’ve heard before. The difference in one particular presentation was the point of view. The presenter is 14 years old. His name is Lane Sutton and he’s a young entrepreneur in technology, business and social media. He grew up with social media and doesn’t know life without it.

Yes, Lane grew up with social media and doesn’t know life without it. This concept boggles my mind. While I’ve been using social media since the early 2000s, I’m an 80s child so I had much of my childhood and early adult life without social. However, I’m a Millennial – the most tech-savvy generation. We grew up on computers, video games and cable. Lane isn’t old enough to be a Millennial yet. Do you think his mindset could be intriguing and give us a taste of what’s to come?  I do.

Keeping his mindset in mind, I was able to strip away some key takeaways regarding this up-and-coming generation and their social habits.

Key Takeaways from a pre-teen

Be a cool brand. Brands that provide great products/services while maintaining a hip personality are more likely to intrigue this young audience. It’s about being human. Being cool. Is your brand status-update worthy? In addition, this age group cares about helping others. They want brands to stand for something. The Pepsi Refresh Project is a perfect example of a brand that provides a strong product, a hip personality and supports meaningful causes.

People flock to places where others are flocking. Word of mouth and trusting the opinions of friends is vital to this group. They are looking for inviting and exciting content. Uniqueness and intrigue can go a long way,  helping a brand’s message spread.

Tools are at their fingertips. Kids understand there are plenty of free tools to learn about their social presence. They are tracking their Twitter followers, getting to know which Facebook posts preform the best and could even understand the concept of influencers. Now, Lane is exceptionally brilliant and ahead of the curve but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible for others on this medium to understand a similar concept. It’s just like my childhood days with Nintendo. I was dissecting my Nintendo, fixing it myself, getting books on the latest console information and teaching myself the game secrets and codes. I was probably ten at the time. It’s completely possible that this concept of understanding your technology is transitioning to social.

Keep an open mind with social and think outside of your age range. Kids can teach us amazing things, even information about our own industry.

How do you see social media evolving as younger demos continue to enter the space? How can we adapt? Share your thoughts on this autumn Saturday! 

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A Dreamer at Dreamforce

7 Sep

To be part of something this giant was awe-inspiring. I was amongst a new city, 45,000 attendees and a sea of blue and white signage larger than most buildings in my town. It was Dreamforce 2011, run by Salesforce, my employer (parent company of Radian6).

This was big.

From the moment I arrived in San Francisco, I was in the land of Dreamforce. Airport signage welcomed us and billboards popped up along the highway as we drove through the mountains and into downtown San Fran. It wasn’t long before my lanyard of credentials was strung around my neck and I was regrouping with coworkers for a full day of work.

Yes, I was working at Dreamforce 2011.

Me and the team engaging at Dreamforce

It’s one thing to be an attendee. You visit the booths you want, the sessions you want and you get all the amazing food you want. At points I wished to feel that overwhelming sensation of what to do next. Which session to attend. But I knew what I was doing. And it was exciting. My role was engaging with the Dreamforce community on behalf of Radian6. The tweets, Facebook posts, blogs and forums that mentioned Radian6 popped up in front of me and my team throughout the week. We engaged and developed relationships with attendees. Some were familiar to us as we engage often from our Radian6 handles. But Dreamforce brought us a new group of people to listen to, learn from and engage with. That was the exhilarating part.

My role continued.

Radian6 Booth at the Cloud Expo

The Cloud Expo was huge with over 275 booths. I was fairly comfortable visiting the Radian6 booth as well as our mini command center where we engaged. But I was looking to meet and speak with the attendees. What were their experiences like? Were they overwhelmed yet excited like I was? We took to the expo floor for some man-on-the-street interviews. There, a coworker and I interviewed a number of customers about their experience at Dreamforce and what a social enterprise meant to them. To me, this completed the engagement circle. Throughout this conference I was engaging through the social web. Now, I was also getting some in-person, one-on-one time.

And still my role continued.

On the last day, I took part in a large Radian6 training session. Laptops, desks and chairs filled a conference room along with many attendees operating the machines. Today, they were learning the Radian6 Engagement Console and I was there to assist. As questions arose or individuals needed help, I’d step in and be a guide. Now that I work in the Engagement Console daily, it was great to share my knowledge with others. Watching people learn it for the first time brought back memories of my first few days at Radian6. It was a warm feeling and a great customer touch point.

Dreamforce flew by. It’s funny how Hurricane Irene felt like days (yet it was a matter of hours) and Dreamforce went for days but felt like minutes. I hope to be part of Dreamforce 2012 and watch for those wide-eyed first timers. I will do what I can to engage with them and share my experiences. After all, we likely have the same dreams.

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The Social Experience

11 Apr

Radian6 Social 2011 was a constant 48-hour flurry of socialites buzzing from room to room, conversation to conversation and screen to screen. Conversations would subside as keynotes took the mics and panelists shared their stories. Once the lights came on and the sessions closed, the doors would open and out would pour the attendees speaking louder and more frequent with new knowledge to share. The third floor of the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel was a nonstop conversation between nearly 800 people. Each hour this scenario would repeat and I was in amongst it all.

To say the least, Social 2011 was more than a conference. By definition, a conference is an act of conferring or consulting together, but that is only a small piece of what occurred. Sure, in the two-day event there were multiple keynotes, breakout sessions, panelists and product announcements from significant movers and shakers in the social media world. But on top of that, conversations were happening in person and online from like-minded individuals seeking to quench their thirst of social media knowledge. And so, we learned from each other through conversations. I found myself just as excited to meet and talk to people as I was to sit down with my laptop before a session. I knew I was learning at all times.

From the agency perspective, the learnings were immense and I’m still thinking through the key nuggets. Here’s a taste.

  • No one is saying that traditional media is going away and social is taking over. This is about integration and finding smart ways to reach your audience through multiple mediums. Social needs to be a part of the strategy but it is not the only strategy. Neither is traditional. Make them work together.
  • Listen to the conversations about your brand and respond. It can be as easy as searching on Twitter or utilizing your Radian6 dashboard. From there, act. Like American Airlines found, responding to a small yet frequent question (i.e. which planes have wifi?) can turn stressed travelers into loyal customers because you were there when consumers needed you.
  • Ensure your team is part of the conversation. Employees are the brand. They are communicators. Use this to your advantage and embark on social evangelism as a company. Dell’s Chief Listening Officer can be the title of each and every employee at your company. We all have that role.

Looking back on the event, I can safely say I was amazed at how much I crammed in my brain. It took a while to digest and I believe I’m still doing so. I have at least five Google docs of notes jumbled around to cull through and re-read. Then there’s the 5,000+ tweets in the #social2011 Twitterstream. Not to mention the nearly 10 videos from the keynotes. But those are all signs that point to one thing – a good experience. By the time I’m done reflecting and implementing what I’ve learned, it will be time for Social 2012. I’ll be ready.

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