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What to Watch at SXSWi 2012
SXSWi always provides a bit of foreshadowing about what will be the next big thing in technology. In 2007, Twitter was hot; two years later it was location-based social networking with services such as Foursquare and Gowalla. Last year, it was all about group social. I think this year’s thing will be ambient location and people discovery, which is an evolution of (over sharing) social and location technology. Instead of requiring users to explicitly check-in, this technology detects location and makes relationship recommendations about the people around you. Startups like:
- Highlight -- lets you know if people you may have something in common with are nearby; it relies on Facebook data
- Glancee -- alerts you if people with similar interest are nearby
- Sonar -- analyzes Foursquare, Facebook, and Twitter and alerts you if someone you have something in common with is nearby
will be at the conference pitching their wares.
In addition to new technology products, SXSWi always features a wealth of technology discussion. This year, big data and gamification will be big topics at SXSWi. Countless panels, discussions, workshops and hackathons exist to explore the topics from all angles.
Having an Epic Experience
If this is your first year attending SXSWi, increase your chances of having an epic experience by:
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Jun
6
The Future of Social Media: Emerging Trends and How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
The impact of emerging technologies like AI on social media
Webinar
Jun
7
The Building Blocks of Personalization
This webinar will explore how personalization can create powerful ecommerce shopping experience.
Webinar
Jun
8
Attracting—and Keeping—Your High-Net-Worth Investors
Join PwC to dissect their recent survey findings on a specific customer subset — high-net-worth investors.
Webinar
Jun
13
The Future of Contact Centers with AI at the Helm
Learn how to balance human intuition and interaction with the potential uses of AI to create delightful and lasting CX
Webinar
Jun
20
3 Steps to Unlock Your Customer Data and Drive Revenue
Discover how Twilio Segment’s #1 Customer Data Platform helps implement data-driven strategies.
Webinar
On demand
AI for Marketers: Optimize Personalization Across the Funnel
Understand the benefits of utilizing AI across your entire marketing stack
- Creating a schedule in advance. Every time slot from 9 am to 10 pm has at least 20 events occurring simultaneously. Select two or three items for each timeframe. If sessions are full or the content isn’t what you expected, you have a backup plan. Don’t wait until you're on-site to figure things out. You will be overwhelmed and miss great content.
- Having a goal and sticking to it. Are you at SXSWi to party, network, make business deals, learn or some combination of things? Keep in mind why you are attending the conference and plan your activities around that goal. It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of the event and miss valuable opportunities.
- Installing an app or ten. SXSWi is overflowing with apps that help with everything from finding sessions, locating food, networking, meeting new people or just letting the world know what you are doing. Install some.
- Talk to people. Sure, there are tons of sessions and panels at SXSWi, but it’s not all about the official schedule. An eclectic mix of people and personalities attend the conference. Every day meet someone new, and you’ll likely learn twice as much as what’s planned on your calendar.
You can also check out the SXSW first timers' guide for additional tips on optimizing your SXSW experience.
My complete schedule is available for you to view it as it progresses or make suggestions. I will definitely be visiting Google’s Village, Startup Village and IBM’s Future of Social Lounge in addition to my full agenda of daily sessions on topics ranging from big data, new trends in web development, mobile and social media. If you don’t catch up with me outside of a conference room, there have also been rumors that I may attempt to demonstrate my “mad vocal skills” at TechKaraoke; I can neither confirm nor deny this.
If you will be at South by Southwest Interactive, I’d love to meet you. Leave a comment below and let us know you’ll be attending.
