DAY TWO of SXSW 2010 was much better for a couple reasons. ALL 3 sessions I attended were not only informative but incredibly well run. Passionate Panel Facilitation FTW! I’m disappointed that I couldn’t make more than 3, but I skipped a chunk of the afternoon to teach “What Are You Laughing At?” at Coldtowne. I’m performing Sunday 7pm at The Hideout Theatre (617 Congress Ave, YO! Austin, Be there. ONLY $5)
My Saturday March 13th SXSW Panels:
#1 Why Keep Blogging? Real Answers for Smart Tweeple #whyblog
#2 How to Create VIRAL Videos #howtocreateviral
#3 Beyond Advertising: Can Online Video FINALLY Pay? #onlinevideopay
PANEL #1: Emily Gordon (Founder, Emdashes.com) was an excellent host and panel member for the Blogging panel. At the end they asked participants to speak out about why THEY continue to blog. Answers ranged from vanity to curating a content channel to an active archival system FOR life.
A couple takeaways…
“I started my blog thinking it might be ANONYMOUS but that went by the wayside fairly quickly. Communities online form around people not content.”
Do you think design and platform matter? No, You just need a platform that makes it easy for your audience to engage with you and each other.
PANEL #2: “From wedding videos to musical mash-ups, elaborate pranks to world-changing speeches, viral videos regularly appear on our radar screen. But how does a video go viral?” Margaret Stewart (Youtube), Damian Kulash (OK Go) & Jason Wishnow (TED) were fantastic. Other panels have screamed there are NO formulas, but this group had tips that could help EVERYONE at least head in the right direction.
After panel intros (clip), we talked about production value as a content strategy decision to reach a specific community online. Jason relied on HIGH production value to engage audiences for TED Talks and Damian relied on LOW production value (or at least that perception) to create a character for OK Go. Everyone agrees, we want content that can be Inspiring, Surprising and Unexpected. I was also very excited that the majority of content making the leap to viral pushes POSITIVITY (#yesand).
A couple takeaways…
Connect the Community and Build Your Audience. Provide an opportunity for people to participate in the content? Encourage shoot-offs and satire and parody.
We’re trained to recognize patterns and put things in buckets so when you mix Cookie Monster and German Metal it can be REALLY Funny (READ: 800K hits)
Our own viral video (511 hits so far) was shot at the end of the session (#surpriseSXSW). I was in the front row, on the right of the isle. SO MUCH FUN. I’ve got many more notes from this panel. I want to write a separate post just on the concept of Corporate Sponsorships acting more like “17th Century Arts Patrons” and another post about Dynamo Player, our new option for Revenue Share with online video.
Great day. Sleep now.
Sunday starts in 4 hours.
