South by Southwest is practically here and the streets of downtown Austin will be crawling with techies, marketers and more beginning this Thursday!
Over the past two weeks we’ve published a couple of posts to help prepare you for SxSWi:
Hopefully you were able to use some of that info to begin preparing and settling on your schedule while in Austin. Perhaps the most difficult part of scheduling a SxSW trip is deciding on your day schedule, though. There are so many panels, sessions and speakers – how do you choose where to spend your time?
We’re here to help you with that decision.
While we’ve been sorting through online marketing influencers who are attending the conference, we’ve also come across several interesting marketing panels and sessions. We assessed each of them closely and kept track of the ones we felt would be the most valuable for marketers like you to attend.
They may not all be relevant to all marketers, and some overlap so still force you to make a tough choice – but we encourage you to give all of these sessions a consideration!
Monday, March 16
Quantified Selfie: Our Digital Well Being Meet Up
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
There are a ton of wearable technologies and apps available to track your personal well being. Everything ranging from nutrition to exercise to sleeping habits to even your mood can now be monitored and shared. Which of those technologies and apps really work though? This session, hosted by PwC’s Kat Mandelstein, will discover which digital technologies really work for improving our well being.
5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant will be releasing their new book, When Millennials Take Over, at SxSW, and their panel will share case studies and research from it. With millennials now entering leadership roles at many companies, business will begin changing to better fit the vision of that cohort. Jamie and Maddie will give you concrete, actionable advice about how to prepare for the coming change and how to set your company apart as a leader rather than a follower.
When the Glimpse Is Worth More Than the Glare
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Did you know the average person’s attention span decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013? Popular social media platforms like Vine, Snapchat and Instagram allow users to share video content as short as 6 seconds in length, a prime opportunity to capture our dwindling attention span. But many marketers still grapple with using these platforms, seeing constraints where others see opportunity. Join Frank Danna, Annie Park, Darren Lachtman and Michael Platco as they share trends, styles, influencers and more that can help marketers utilize the increasingly popular short-form video platforms.
Tuesday, March 17
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Game Advertising
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
To fully understand the advertising opportunities that games afford brands and marketers, they must understand the changing dynamics of gamers and gameplay. Join the panel of MRY’s David Berkowitz, Twitchtv’s Kym Nelson, Nielsen’s Michael Flamberg and Ari Brandt of MediaBrix as they discuss the evolving gamer landscape and the future evolution of gaming advertising.
Redefining Realness for Brands on Twitter
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
After recent Twitter gaffes by brands like DiGiorno, US Airways, the American Red Cross and Chrysler, fear of messing up or worrying too much about what followers think has led some brands to lose creativity. Join Bianca Buckridee of Sprinklr, Christina Warren of Mashable, John Colucci of Engadget and Maria Bonaccorse of Procter & Gamble as they discuss how brands can stay smart and creative, and if they do make a mistake, how to bounce back with class.