SxSW take aways…(day one)

It took me awhile to sort out the layout of the conference, but some really interesting displays in the two huge vendor halls.  The tech geek market seems to be exploding.  Also amazing, the turnout.  A lot of folks made it here…a lot.

So my first goals throughout this conference are to learn from those that are using it as a stage for personal branding, to gain insights into how they position themselves and their presentation techniques.   I enjoyed catching David Meerman Scott’s presentation for his World Wide Rave for the second time in four days.  This version was edited down to deal with time constraints.  I was able to really take a step back and study the “how’s” of his presentation, not just the content. My notes:

• starts by asking questions, jumping into the audience
• then tells a story, one of risk
• tells a second story that counters audience backlash, saying I can’t do that.  The contrast tells another story of a little fish.
• then he offers a principle: loose control
• Then he gave live stats, of how his book is trending on Amazon, an example of the principle just related.
• presentation is multimedia…music (the dead),video, power point slides are secondary…auxiliary
• closes with a call to action and audience participation in group video : how will you do it?

What’s clear is that David has designed his presentation not to be a boring talking head.  It’s crafted like a play… And it works.  I was able to read World Wide Rave on the flight to Austin and found it both engaging and useful.  The piece on crafting an e-book will be a reference I’ll return to many times.

I’ve also made it a goal to be the eyes and ears for those of you that can not be here this time.  So far I’m looking into using social media at the local level for public health initiative for @kimberlykieth and how colleges can do better implementing social media for alumni relation for …hmm can’t locate the username.  But the point is, if you’d like me to be your eyes and ears or pursue a question for you, just send me a message @ccseed.