The New Media Planner

Notes from SXSW 10 on the panel – Is Technology Weakening Interpersonal Relationships – Friday 3:30 – 4:30

Panelists:
Corinne Weisgerber
Ashley Brown
Jenn Deering Davis
Matthew Weber

I was looking forward to this panel, and it started out promising…but it ended up pretty boring. All the panelists were PhDs (or about to be), and it was a little disappointing that they were sharing personal anecdotes rather than research they’d been involved in.

1)   If you are on social media and your spouse isn’t, be wary of their feelings with the SM
2)   Most people don’t think bosses should connect with their employees, and employees shouldn’t connect with their bosses in SM
3)   Your friends are now constructing your identity online, whether you like it or not
4)   Social Media is making it difficult to date, but easier to connect (expectations already set, blind date is dead)
5)   What constitutes a relationship? A feeling of co-presence? Technology hasn’t gotten to that level (many people would beg to disagree)
6)   Push technology leading to addictive behavior (crackberry)
7)   This old lady rambled on about Throat dancing or something…she was probably smoking Austin’s finest…
8)   Actually, any Q&A is so risky…many times, people don’t know how to ask questions and either end up rambling on for too long, or making self-promoting statements

Notes from SXSW 10 on the panel – Social Media Marketing for Your Business – Friday 2:00 – 3:00pm.

Panelists: Tony Adam and Chris Winfield

This was a good panel. They started out making sure that we knew they weren’t going to talk about Facebook and Twitter, and they stayed true. Here are the six things I took away from the conversation.

1)   Use other forms of social media to help your business – Facebook and Twitter are done to death
2)   Forums can be especially helpful in connecting you to your core customer
3)   Technology has definitely opened the door for users to connect, but you still have to be a “damn human”
4)   SEO is an integral part of social media – use the linkability and visibility to help build a brand and increase awareness
5)   Check niche sites – that’s where the majority of the action is
6)   Use social news aggregation sites sparingly – know the audience before posting; this will help you be successful.