Archive for the ‘#SXSW’ Category

I am the mayor of Avalon, a secret Eden in Normandy. And I collect other Foursquare mayor-ships like ancient warriors glued scalps to their Hokenavaloha Spears. But there is a new game in town: the Quest for the ultimate Foursquare badges.

A new breed Knights of the Round Table boldly crosses city borders and mountain ranges and dwells in ridiculous expensive cocktail lounges and fashionable trade shows to collect and unlock the most prestigious badges.

For you, dear readers, that have been living under a stone for the last 14 months, good morning,  Foursquare is a location centered application that allows users to update their location, and share it with friends.

In this most Holy Quest, some are really pushing it far. Let me tell you the tale of fifteen-year-old Parker Liautaud and 44-year old David Newman who are on this  most very moment racing themselves through endless miles of powder snow and wee-wee freezing temperatures to be the first to check in at the North Pole.

That’s right. The North Pole. Just to unlock a badge that looks exactly like this.

O well. Let them have it. I will personally leave no stone unturned to get an even greater badge. This one.

You get it when you recklessly showed up in 25 different pizza places.

Do you hear this, Parker and David? 25! Choose your battles carefully!

It was great for John Havens, Porter Novelli’s Augmented Reality (AR) specialist, and myself to interact with young bright people during a tweet-up at a tradeshow on Social Media (SxSW). The Internet becomes more and more linked with technologies that put it consistently deeper in our real life (so everywhere, really ) and becomes the Outernet, closely linked up with the Internet of things. Stuff for intriguing and interesting discussions: as Augmented Reality intersects more and more with Real Life and Semantic Web, how do things like AR affect privacy issues (when image recognition comes into full fruition, is it okay for a stranger to map your face and locate your personal data?), business, (who has the air rights to the Outernet?), and security (Foursquare could give tweeps from the dark side some wonderful information). Even better: What if my phone can track your picture and I know all your details instantaneous, do I even need to remember your name?).

It was great to share thoughts, and drive the debate with this fully connected generation, and interesting to see how divers the different positions on this mobile-sharing lifestyle are. Food for thought, for more debate, and more reflection. People who want to contribute to this conversation can do so on this wiki, and add thoughts on the OGI (the Outernet Guidelines Initiative).

If this sounded like mad gibberish too you: no worries. The fast generation just overtook you on your blind side .

Now look, I’ve been known to find creative solutions transforming cars into marketing and communication vehicles. And then, I found this insane Mini Cooper in the streets of Austin while I was walking to a Porter Novelli event. A complete TV-editing and broadcasting facility fit in to a small car; respect!

I just love booths that attract the eye. Grabbing attention at a massive congress as #SXSW is a must if you want to get in the charts. Most booths #fail miserably though… and seem to be competing in sheer boredom.

One of the ones that caught my eye was this “Monkey Wrench”. A Panamarenko- meets-special-mushrooms type of clock-activated red monkeys. Still haven’t figured out what the link with the company’s day-to-day business is, but it looks kinda cool, no?

#SXSW in Austin took off in style (and with a bang). The first Blogger Lounge Tweet-up was brutally interrupted by a massive fire-alarm. Elvis had to leave the building! Stunning sight to see a couple of thousand Social Media enthusiasts on the Texan pavements, hammering away on their i-phones. Must doubtless be the most tweeted fire alarm in history. Luckily it was a false alarm. Last time I checked, most of the building was still there…

Arrived in Austin, Texas, after a stormy, bumby and hellish journey of just under 20 hours. Bit broken, bit beat, bit grumpy, way tired but nothing a Texan stake and some Mexican Tequila-enhanced beer can’t cure.

Arriving on Austins friendly airport always makes me smile: deep-rolling Texan accents and real-blue jeans. A cabdriver with a Stetson reassures me: I really made it to Texas, spending the next days and nights on and around #SXSW (Social Media Wonderland). I’ll keep you all posted!