How to Learn Something at SXSW
March 15, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
This was my first time to SXSW and I followed the advice of veterans: Plan, plan, plan your schedule or you will end up missing out. But the best laid plans of mice, men and conference novices often go awry. You can’t be everywhere, especially with some venues 25 blocks away from the convention center.
I saw my share of “hot” panels--the founders of Path and turntable.fm and the @BronxZoosCobra--but they mostly turned out to be colder than I expected. So, I skipped the keynotes and opted for some of the smaller and seemingly less popular panels at times. (The only standing-room-only panel I attended was Ann Mack of JWT speaking about FOMO -- worth the crowd.) What’d I learn? It’s hard to find a gem among all those panels. So in three classic axioms, here’s what I learned about SXSW panels.
“Those who can’t do, teach.”
This might be true; I’m not necessarily here to defend teachers. But let’s not write off the challenge of speaking to a room full of people and actually teaching them something. So perhaps “those who can’t do, teach,” but those who can do can’t necessarily teach. Often times the bigger names, the incredibly successful and often young entrepreneurs associated with the hottest social sites didn’t have much to say about their success. And getting up on stage just showed that there’s an element of luck in success. Especially if you’re listening to the CEO from Path.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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SXSW Panel Recap: Free iPads? Or a serious case of FOMO?
March 13, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
South by Southwest is the ultimate FOMO-inducing event (For those of arriving late at the “hip acronym” party: Fear Of Missing Out).
If you didn’t make it to Austin for this year’s rainy/dreary-turned-delightful interactive media festival, or what the Wall Street Journal called “the super bowl of social media,” allow me to confirm your worst nightmares: You are missing out. And to those of you here in Austin who didn’t make it into Ann Mack’s standing-room-only session on Saturday, you missed out too.
If you’re a Millennial between the ages of 13-35 you probably already know what FOMO is because you’re not missing out on the feeling. It’s the stomach-churning feeling that your friends are more “in the know” than you: in possession of something better, attending better parties or have access to more or better information than you do.
Mack is the Director of Trendspotting at JWT and started her presentation “FOMO: How Brands Can Tap into Fears of Missing Out” throwing fuel on the fire of SXSW-generated FOMO. She started with a social experiment where the audience threw out suggestions for a rumor to start from the panel. After sorting through celebrity appearances, we decided we’d tweet that everyone in attendance received a new iPad, and we got a good chuckle out of a response from a coworker who bought it.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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Brains and Happiness: Best and Worst of SXSW Day 1
March 11, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
A neuroscience session might not have made it onto your "priority panel" list at South by Southwest this year, an event filled with social media and marketing trends, but if you took a pass on David Eagleman's "The Secret Life of the Brain" panel Friday afternoon, you missed a lot.
Eagleman opened with a discussion of the subconscious and how your mind does so much of which you're unaware. He likened it to your conscious brain being a stowaway on a transatlantic steamer that’s trying to take full credit for the journey and safe arrival.
Eagleman employed quips, facts and even Pink Floyd quotes ("There's someone in my head, but it's not me.") to explain the complexity of neuroscience and the "gap between what your mind has access to and what your brain is doing under the hood." He supported the power of the subconscious with facts: People named Dennis and Denise are more likely to become dentists.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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Social Media for Social Good
February 16, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
So far this week at Social Media Week New York, the Advertising & Content Marketing Hub at JWT has hosted many brilliant marketers and advertising gurus who understand ways to use social media to connect brands with people and ultimately sell products. But can that same social network that offers you discount codes, influencer status and clout promote a cause and change the world for the better?
Speakers on Tuesday's "Social Media for Social Good" panel believe it can. Panelists Dan Savage of the "It Gets Better" project (and presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s bete noir); Carmel Hagen, CMO of Common and a developer of occupationalist.org (a social aggregator site for the Occupy Movement); Erin Hersey, Director of Operations at the Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts; and Digitaria President and COO Doug Hecht, speaking on behalf of Invisible Children and the LRA Crisis Tracker project; all touted the empowerment that social media has brought to the vox populi.
Each panelist is part of a movement tackling very different issues. Child Soldiers in Africa. Closeted and bullied gay youth around the world. Training activists to make a bigger impact via social strategy. This diversity brought he panel depth, and helped reveal some greater truths about social cause marketing. The panel began with a discussion of how social media has added a new level of transparency to brands, governments and causes, as well as a method of delivering that message to the masses. But raising awareness can only do so much for an issue. How do you get from awareness to action?
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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CES Learnings: How to get women...
January 13, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
...To buy your technology.
Preparing for my first CES experience, I was warned by veterans about how crazy and overwhelming the experience can be. With 140,000 attendees and an exhibition hall the size of 36 football fields, I found the reality equaled the hype.
I was grateful for Advertising Age, which provided a safe-haven from the madness with a wireless lounge at the Venetian, where they hosted intimate and informative events. One panel on Women and Technology was inspired by the Ad Age Insights White Paper “Always On Women,” which was sponsored by Meredith Publishing, in collaboration with Digitaria’s parent company, JWT.
Moderated by Ad Age editor Abbey Klaassen, the panel explored the evolving relationship women have with technology. The panel featured:
• Ann Mack, director of trendspotting for JWT
• Danielle Lee, VP of product marketing and innovation for AT&T
• James McQuivey, PhD, VP and principal analyst for Forresters Research
• Liz Schimel, EVP and chief digital officer of Meredith Publishing
Women and technology was a particularly interesting topic for a conference where men were the only ones waiting in restroom lines, outnumbering women at CES four-to-one. But CES attendance is not representative of women’s engagement with technology on the whole: women are involved in over 50% of technology purchasing decisions—even game consoles. Women spend 40% more time on social networking sites than men do and are responsible for 60% of online spending.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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10 Trends & 100 Things to Watch in 2012
January 04, 2012 by Kristina Eastham
“This is the year of sustainable palm oil.”
“Smart clothing is the new black.”
You have those friends who know what’s now and next – in fashion, technology, music, whatever – long before you see it trending on Twitter. These folks are the innovators, identifying trends even ahead of the early adopters. At Digitaria, part of the JWT network, Ann Mack is our innovator. She’s JWT’s Trendspotter, entrusted with being ahead of “the know” on all topics and potential trends. She recently released her trend reports for 2012 that include 10 overarching themes to watch for, as well as 100 things that are about to be “so hot right now” (but that saying isn’t one of them).
Some trends showcase further evolution of certain ideas and technologies. Screened Interactions, which I’m guessing will play a prominent role in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next week, is one of Mack’s digital trends. The Rise of Shared Value, as companies find ways to marry corporate responsibility and social good with viable business solutions, is the continuing evolution of the public role of corporations.
Others are a backlash resisting long-established trends and traditions -- including the institution of marriage, with more women opting for the single life and an aging population embracing what more candles on the birthday cake means.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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Blank Canvas No More on Ad2 Cause Marketing Night
November 14, 2011 by Kristina Eastham
We find self-expression through many forms. From words in the blog post, to paint on a canvas, to the clothes you select to showcase your style and personality. Ad2, San Diego’s marketing organization for people under 32 years of age, reached out to local community members and marketers to participate in Cause Marketing Night.
Artists were asked to express themselves on a blank white canvas; the final masterpieces will be auctioned off on Thursday, November 17, to raise money and awareness for the non-profit group “My Girlfriend’s Closet,” a San Diego organization that helps underprivileged girls and women express themselves through fashion. My Girlfriend’s Closet accepts trendy, gently used clothes, displayed in a fun, boutique-like environment where girls and women -- including the homeless and those in foster care -- can shop for stylish fashions that make them more comfortable in their schools and communities.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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FIDM Hosts Digitaria: Less Digital a Digital Trend?
November 03, 2011 by Kristina Eastham
Digitaria’s hip headquarters is the 12th floor of DiamondView Tower in downtown San Diego, but the third floor of our building, home to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising’s San Diego campus, is hands down the building’s trendiest. Bright colors, open design, plush comfortable furniture, a library and large outdoor seating area -- what’s not to like?
So Digitaria was excited to lay out some digital trends for these fashionistas, after they invited us downstairs to do just that. Last night FIDM hosted students, alumni and community members for a panel on “Digital Trends in Design, Entertainment and Social Media” with Digitaria’s Michael Brown, VP of Media and Entertainment; Stephanie Shkolnik, Social Media Strategist; Paul Drohan, Senior Creative Director and Tom Siebert, VP of Communications.
After showing JWT Trendspotter Ann Mack’s “10 Trends for 2011 in 2 minutes” the panelists, moderated by FIDM’s Katherine Slauta, Director of Education, and Jesse Negrete, Library Reference Specialist, dove deeper into digital trends and best-in-class examples and fielded questions from the audience verbally and on Twitter.
Panelists originally planned to discuss the most relevant trends to Digitaria and its clients, like digital retail interactions, gamification and the collision of digital and physical worlds. But as an open conversation, Paul, Stephanie, Michael and Tom received questions around the equally relevant idea of “de-teching.”
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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The Internet Changes. The World Ends.
October 05, 2011 by Kristina Eastham
Every time an Internet company makes a change, God kills a kitten.
Okay, not really. But sometimes the messages that rage across the Internet make it feel that way. Why? Do we take our Internet services as seriously as the life of an adorable, precious baby kitty? Recent inflammatory posts about changes to Facebook, Google Apps and Pandora have me wondering: Is the world really that angry?
Our society is becoming increasingly reactionary, aided by social technology that lets you broadcast your discontent immediately. Back in the day, if you were really upset, there was more time to sleep on it. The time it took to write a strongly worded letter, choose the right place to send it, track down your stamps and envelopes, then walk to the mailbox, gave you time to simmer down.
Plus, letters--and even emails--are private. Even if a company hears your negative feedback via a letter or email, all your “friends” don’t know how peeved you are. Social media bitching makes its way to an entire network of listeners.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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It’s Still a Mad Ad World: Sterling Cooper vs. Digitaria
September 13, 2011 by Kristina Eastham
As soon as I uttered the zeitgeist-defying “Who is Don Draper?” in my bosses’ presence, my first homework assignment at Digitaria dropped in my DVD player: Watch Mad Men, then blog about it. It didn’t take long to finish Season One. (Like most women in Donald Draper’s life, I simply couldn’t resist his charm.)
But amorous, adulterous storylines aside, watching Mad Men in the context of a work assignment had me comparing Digitaria to the Sterling Cooper of the 1960s. I found myself asking: What would I love to have back? Classy vintage fashion, maybe? And free-flowing Old Fashions in the office wouldn’t be so bad. What am I happiest to see gone? Definitely the misogyny, knowing I wouldn’t even have my job if Digitaria was Sterling Cooper.
Kristina Eastham Communications Coordinator
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