Ideas for a Smarter, Faster World

One of the great things about South By Southwest Interactive is that many of the topics that are covered at the conference aren’t selected by the conference organizers, but by the digital community. The topics of the sessions at SXSWi are just as telling as the details of what is said in the sessions themselves. What’s important now, and what will be important, tend to dominate the discussions here. It’s a great barometer for helping focus our efforts and our attention over the coming year.

So what are some of the dominant themes this year? The mobile web and branded mobile apps. Content strategy. Tapping into the wisdom, content and influence of crowds. And a deeper dive into the psychology and sociology of the social web. Your brand may or may not be thinking about these things right now, but judging from the insights being shared in Austin right now by some of the leading minds in the interactive world, you will be. Soon.

And what isn’t being discussed? The question of whether you should be on social networks or not. That has been answered and we’ve moved on to an exploration of how to do it more effectively.

Also the discussion of tradition versus digital agencies, who leads the creative process, which one comes up with better thinking and idea, etc. is completely absent. It has a topic in past years, but now it’s gone. Why? I believe it is because, to this forward thinking crowd, that question doesn’t really matter anymore. If you’re worried about what kind of agency should be thinking about what kind of ideas, you’re missing the point. Let the pages of Advertising Age and Adweek rehash that discussion - this crowd has moved on.

Don’t get me wrong: the prevalent topics here don’t matter because they are being discussed at SXSW. They are being discussed at SXSW because they matter. Much of the discussion is centered around how to more effectively connect with people. How to keep them interested in what you have to offer, how to earn and retain their trust and how to stay with them no matter where they are and what they are doing. This is extremely important for brands who want to stay connected to consumers in the face of the massive changes that are taking place in our use of technology, our consumption of media and our patterns of communication.

And to help the brands that we serve make and keep those connections in this new and changing landscape, well, that’s why we’re here.

Tags: interactive, Social Media, SXSW

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 3:19 pm and is filed under SXSW 2010, South by Southwest 2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.