Normally, with the SXSW festival right around the corner, I would be gearing up right now to maximize my conference experience, and connect with the massive party that’ll be literally going on immediately outside of our front door.
However, with just over two weeks before SXSWi kicks off, I am still questioning whether I really have time to immerse myself in the interactive experience. The economic climate right now has me thinking it’s more important to keep a focus on the bottom line at FG SQUARED.
But the show must go on! My team is doing our part by hosting an FG SQUARED SXSW party at Lucky Lounge on Sunday evening, March 15, and we 
have also pitched in sponsorship dollars for the Plutopia party hosted by EFF Austin and Social Web Strategies on Monday evening at Palmer Events Center, March 16. If you are in town, please come by and enjoy our fine spirits. I’ll be there enlisting guests to join us in this year’s Interactive Austin 2009 conference (#IA09 on Twitter) on Monday April 27 – just two months from now!
Interactive Austin 2009 is my passion right now. While the purpose of the conference is multifold, primarily the event becomes my annual effort to organize our community of interactive professionals to affect healthy economic development in Texas and for the FG SQUARED community of clients and partners. Please join me there!
I would especially enjoy seeing you at my Experience City panel session that makes up part of the afternoon leadership track. I am excited to be working together with a few of the emerging young leaders here locally, namely Bijoy Goswami (Bootstrap Austin) and Heather McKissick (Leadership Austin).
Here is an overview of my panel session with Bijoy and Heather:
Experience City – making Austin the hub for social media
In the Lone Star State’s unpretentious capital city, you’re likely to find more guitarists than gunslingers, but you will find the ten-gallon hats if you look hard enough.
It’s easy to see we are a city of many and varied scenes: vibrant communities around music, film, technology, academia, art, environmentalism, and countless others. Part of what makes Austin special is how open and accessible these scenes are. With minimal history or prior social capital, anyone can engage, all are welcome, and creating a new scene is as simple as properly directing one’s enthusiasm.
In this session, we’ll explore how the components of community, entrepreneurism, experience, and leadership combine to create scenes and experiences — including an exploration of Austin’s Interactive Scene. What are its unique attributes, and who is leading the charge around making the Interactive Scene in Austin as vibrant as the others?
A graphic recorder will be present to Mind Map the freeform open discussion. Mind Mapping contributes to a more transparent discussion structure and stimulates interaction between (and among) panel and audience participants.
Although this only the second year for the conference, we are planning for a sell out, so get your tickets now. Once you buy a ticket you will be eligible to participate in a variety on IA09 social media contests going on prior to the show. Full details will be released on Twitter in the coming few weeks.
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You are focused like a Jedi!
I, too, am really stoked about this year’s IA 09 conference. You know I’m somewhat of a stick in the mud when it comes to interactive marketing conferences, but this year’s line up is impressive for a conference of any maturity.
I’m especially excited to see Dion speak. He was the most memorable speaker at the O’Reilly web conference when we went 2 years ago, and I expect that his IA 09 keynote will be equally impressive.
See you in April!
JF
I’ve been hearing about the Interactive Austin conference, I think it’s a great idea.
Austin is seeing a real surge in interactive and social media, at least according to Austinites.
http://budurl.com/ASM100
http://budurl.com/StatesmanSM
The way that social media allows people to connect regardless of geography makes it a bit difficult to pin down one place as a physical hub, but I think that Austin definitely has a culture that encourages people to participate.
Also if you want to get some time to relax, I’d be happy to go to SxSW in your place.
Jason, its hard to explain how cool the conference is going to be.
I’m not even sure a label like “the feel good event of the year” will give Interactive Austin 2009 enough credit.
John, Thanks for your support and the links. I agree your point that its difficult to pin down one place a THE hub. It’s probably more sane to endeavor to be a hub rather than THE hub. Nevertheless I like to go big, and I’m looking for others to join the cause. Over the past few months, I have been impressed with the level of earnest support for what we are trying to do. Are you planning to join the crusade?
Looking very forward to taking this discussion of Austin’s varied “scenes” and focusing in on the “Inter-activity” that is so vibrant here. The community at large has a great deal to gain from a thriving and engaged interactive scene!
We previewed Experience City panel at AWC last night and I was excited to see how engaged the audience was in the discussion about Austin as an Experience City. Heather and Bijoy are a great pair that have a tremendous gift to share with our interactive communities. Their vision brings us all together to form the interactive scene. The interactive scene is bigger that SXSWi. SXSWi is just one facet – a major facet at that. Anyhow, Matthew Parente had some great things to say here:
http://www.aperiomarketing.net/blog/2009/03/keep-austin-connected/
I am listening. I think this would be a great place to start aggregating what our interactive communities are thinking about the idea of getting organized so that our Lone Star shines a little brighter.