Official Schipul Blog Archives - Page 4 of 33 - Tendenci Blog

2012-05-16

3 Quick Steps to Set Up Email Reports in the New Google Analytics

Email reports which were set up in the old Google Analytics, will stop being sent out as of June. They will have to be set up again in the new interface. But not to fear. Below is an easy 3 step guide to get your email reporting set up in the New Google Analytics.

1. Identify what metrics you want on your dashboard.

You can have up to 20 dashboards with 12 widgets (what holds the metric)
Below is a picture of what your dashboard will look like. Click home to see yours.

This is where your widgets will live when you click “add to dashboard”, which is the next step.

2. Add those metrics to your dashboard.

Let’s say I wanted to add Traffic Sources Overview to my dashboard. I would click Standard Reporting and then the Traffic Sources tab on the left. Then click add to dashboard. This will add Traffic Sources Overview to your dashboard.

You can do this with any other metric as well. You may want to see the top Pages in Content, so you could go to the Content tab on the left, click into Site Content and click Pages. Then click Add to Dashboard.

Once you have added up to 12 widgets on your dashboard you can organize them by dragging and dropping them wherever you prefer.

3. Set up Email Report with preferred frequency and active period.

To do this you need to click home again to view your dashboard and then click the Email button at the top of the dashboard.

The window that pops up will prompt you to fill out who you’re sending the report to, the frequency (most people do monthly), the day of the week, and the ‘active forâ€ under advanced options.

We recommend setting the ‘active forâ€ to 12 months and setting a reminder to renew the reports in a year. This is good to do anyways since SEO is always changing and you will be able to adapt your reports to what is needed at that time.
You can set multiple emails to receive the reports just separate them by a comma.
Good luck!

2012-04-272014-11-02

Southwest Airlines: Nuts About Social Media!

Southwest Airlines: Nuts About Social Media!

This week, Katrina Esco, Caitlin Kaluza and I had the distinct pleasure of attending IABC’s Southwest Airlines: Nuts About Social Media Luncheon at Brennan’s.

It was my first time at Brennan’s, one of Houston’s most prestigious restaurants (and also a Schipul client). The atmosphere was very formal, but the speaker, Brooks Thomas (@brooksethomas) of Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) Emerging Media team was quite exuberant and quickly made it an entertaining afternoon of knowledge sharing.

Brooks serves as the Managing Editor for the Nuts About Southwest, their award winning blog that gives a voice to the employees and customers of Southwest. He began his presentation on the evolution of storytelling and how our society has formed so many platforms of expression: phone calls, texting, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and so many more. All age groups are getting in on this social media frenzy, including 50-something -year-olds (they’re the fastest growing group of users beeteedubs). And social media is literally at our fingertips; 40% of social media users access it through their phones.

Who should be writing the stories?

I’m glad you asked. Every employee has the opportunity to be a reporter. This way you can create a sort of “corporate newsroom” with in your company. He shares, “Empower your employees to have a voice and compelling stories will happen.”

Browse for content everywhere. You never know where a great story could come from. Your field employees can be pitchers, facilitators and reporters. This comes easier with an established internal communications team, education in storytelling, and empowering your people.

The blog basics of storytelling and creating compelling content that people actually want to read according to Brooks (also the title of his upcoming book. Not really. But it should be.):

Present an idea
Determine the media you’ll use
Establish a timeline so people will know when to expect the story
Be available to assist

I especially agreed with his point, “It’s a lot easier to catch a story when you’re ahead of it.”

AKA: Be prepared! Know your plans. Know what’s visual. Know your time frame. If you have a store opening coming up, get those cameras there to record it, tell people about it to get them to come, know when and where everything is happening so that you are READY when the time comes and you can get the best possible coverage of that story.

“We are story telling and everyone has a story. It is your job to find out what’s compelling on a day to day basis,” he said.

Also, to stay organized; keep your content rolling; and post on schedule, create an editorial calendar and set at least 2 weekly times to post so your customers have something to see on a regular basis. No more than 4 franchise posts a week because that’s when it gets too difficult to keep up with.

Hearing from Brooks and how Southwest Airlines manages their online presence and relationships with consumers was inspiring, to say the least. It’s easy to get caught up in tools and technology, but Brooks didn’t delve into that. His focus remained on the content and the people — it was about the stories and how we relate to one another.

It was a great afternoon of laughter and learning about why Southwest is such a powerful presence in the social media world and blogosphere.

We want to thank IABC Houston for another great event and Southwest Airlines for sending a great speaker who loves what he does (it shows!)

Schipulites and Brooks Thomas at IABC Luncheon — We had a great time! Thanks, Brooks! *Jazz Hands!*

More good news? IABC Houston has these events monthly so check out IABC’s upcoming events!

2012-04-26

Gary Hoover On How to “Think Like an Entrepreneur” and Succeed in Your Business

This week, I had the distinct honor of hearing Gary Hoover present at the Houston Technology Center on how to “Think Like an Entrepreneur”. Gary Hoover is a successful entrepreneur having founded companies including Bookstop and Hoovers.com and he’s spent the last year as the “Entrepreneur in Residence” at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Austin.

Gary’s presentation was described as an “intense, information and idea packed presentation… [that] will be like drinking from a fire hydrant.” That description was spot-on.

I took over 5 pages of notes, mostly trying to type as fast as I could and catch the great and inspiring quotes of wisdom plus the recommendations for books and specific, actionable items Gary said we could do to change the way we thought and be more successful and innovative in business.

Gary began his presentation by personally handing everyone in the audience his business card and shaking our hands. On the back of Hoover’s card are the top 8 things he believes are keys to making great enterprises. Download a larger photograph of his business card with the 8 tips to keep and view more photos from the evening presentation in the Tendenci Photo Album I’ve created.

If you are interested in a full copy of my notes, leave a comment below or send me an email at sworthy@tendenci.com and I’ll gladly send them to you.

I was inspired by how much of what Gary recommended for being a more successful entrepreneur also applied to the work we do at Schipul for our clients in web development, website design, and web marketing. In learning to think more like an entrepreneur, you also learn to see different perspectives, understand the ‘bigger picture’ of your business, and receive lifelong benefits personally and professionally.

Probably the most profound statement of the evening from Gary was when he said:

‘I define entrepreneurship as getting great personal satisfaction from serving others… you have to love it and others have to love [what you are giving them].

The people who are most happy with their lives at my stage are the people who have spent their whole lives working to make the world a better place.”

Here are Gary’s recommendations for learning how to “Think Like an Entrepreneur”. My goal is for you to find the same inspiration and ways to relate them to your daily life as I found.

Practice the Habit of Wisdom

‘These are people who just cannot be anything but an entrepreneur. They may fail a lot’ because it’s hard to get them to sit still, hard to get them to focus… but ultimately they are going to succeed because they just don’t stop.”

As Gary states, some people are born fundamentally entrepreneurial and others are born to be bureaucrats, while the rest of us fall someplace in between the 2 extremes. If you want to become more entrepreneurial, then you will need to change by developing better thinking habits.

To develop these habits, you’ll first need to master the 3 things Gary calls his working definition of wisdom :

Knowing what matters and what doesn’t matter.
Knowing what changes and what doesn’t change.
Knowing what you can change and what you can’t change.

These are three easy concepts to understand and yet, very difficult to master. As Gary put it, “There’s no rocket science here, but you’ll spend your whole life trying to figure out what matters and what doesn’t.”

Be Curious

“Study the great entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and so on, and you’ll find an intense curiosity.”

Gary explains the importance of doing your research before starting a new business venture. The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who ask the most questions and really understand the marketplace, the customers and competitors, and gain insight into the future of the business environment.

Ask the managers and owners of similar businesses questions like:

What do you like about your job, and what don’t you like?
What is the best day you’ve ever had… describe your worst day?
What do you look for in an employee and how do you hire and train new people?

By asking questions and being curious, you can begin to gain perspectives from other people and understand the why’s and the how’s and the what’s…

When you begin to understand these different perspectives beyond your own, you can make better decisions and you are more equipped to solve problems as they are thrown randomly at you.

Read Every Day

“The key question is do you see yourself in a box or not in box?”

The greatest thought leaders in the world are also the most avid readers. Read daily, Gary recommends, books and business journals… the beauty of the internet is the availability of so much free and great reading material.

Here are 2 books Gary recommended Tuesday night:

“The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators” by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen

The Innovators DNA describes 4 skills required for innovation:

Observing
Networking
Experimenting
Questioning

“Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck

Mindset describes the importance of not locking your children or yourself into a set way of thinking. Gary recommended this book and said “It’s not about being smart or being stupid: people who think they’re smart are locking themselves in a box just like people who think they’re stupid.”

Entrepreneurship is not About the Technology

“Entrepreneurship is a lifelong process of self-understanding: learning about yourself .”

As I listened to Gary’s presentation, I found myself mentally replacing the word “entrepreneurship” with “Marketer” and “Schipulite”. We’re passionate about providing great service to our clients. We’re constantly asking questions and inviting our clients to come hang out with us so we can get to know you. We never stop trying to innovate and find better ways to help your business increase online and offline revenues through your website and web marketing.

These quotes from Gary’s presentation were my favorite because they gave me new perspectives on creating a better user experience through our Tendenci CMS for you, your staff, and your website visitors:

‘When I use the word technology, I mean any way of doing better things… Technology is only relevant to the extent that it makes people’s lives better!â€

“Step back and look at the big pattern’ and the big pattern here is that ALL MEDIA has been digitalized, it’s all been turned into 0’s and 1’s.”

“Be obsessed with your customer and making great products for them and you will succeed’ be passionate about it. It is about making it good for the user!”

I would love to hear how we can make our products and services better for You and anything else you want to add! Please tell us below in our comments or Come Hang Out With Us and get to know us. (And I promise to ask you lots of questions!)

2012-04-122014-11-02

Steve Crescenzo Keynote at PRSA Southwest District Conference on Saving Bad Corporate Communications

This week Katrina Kokoska & I have the privilege of speaking at the PRSA Southwest District Conference. This morning was the keynote by Steve Crescenzo (@crescenzo) on Corporate Communications.

Highlights from Steve’s fantastic presentation:

Everybody Has ADD

The bad news: With so many choice out there, corporate communication has no chance against sites like cosmopolitan.com (seriously, look at the articles on that site).

The good news: This is a great time to be a communicator because of all of the new tools out there. It’s also a dangerous time – because it’s easy to abuse new tools.

“Proceed until apprehended – stop asking for permission” – Steve Crescenzo

4 Most Common Mistakes Made by Corporate Communicators:

1. Not Embracing and Pushing for “Three Way Communication”

Two way communication is flying all over the place – smart companies are embracing 3 way communication –

We (the company) talk to them (clients/consumers/community)
They talk to us
They talk to each other and we sit back and watch

The advantage of the third type of communication is that the corporation gets content and ideas from the conversations that happen. It’s better for customers or employees or your community to vent to us – we can correct misconceptions and address their concerns. Smart companies realize that these conversations are happening anyway.

“Even if they say something bad, I’d rather them telling us instead of someone else”

Your Employees are PR Ambassadors

“Your employees are your PR people. Your employees are the media”

GM’s David Gerace Paying for the Chevy owner behind him in the drive through

One of the great examples Steve shared of Three way communication is on GM’s internal website “Overdrive” where employees can talk to each other and share internal discussions. GM employee David Gerace (apologies if I spelled his name wrong) posted a short story about how he noticed the woman behind him at the drive through was driving a Chevy, and paid for her food. He told the cashier to tell her it was “because she drives a Chevy.”

The story had a ripple effect and over 200 GM employees commented on the story that they loved the idea, and would do the same thing. And many, many of them did. Steve showed us a short video of David describing what happened. My favorite quote:

“If you build relationships, you can build ties that bind people to your product. Little by little we can all have a huge impact on market share and customer satisfaction.”

Employees are publishing information about the company as well. They are part of the third type of communication as well. Treat your employees right and they can become your biggest PR ambassadors.

2. Using the Wrong Channel for the Wrong Message or Story

“Everyone loves video – but it doesn’t always work”

Steve discussed the prevalence of media like video – but noted that it doesn’t always work. For example, a quarterly earnings report doesn’t make sense read aloud by the CFO. He showed a great example (well… an example that illustrated the point well) of a CFO droning on and on about numbers. He called this a “hostage video” because it makes you feel like you’re being held hostage. Painful.

Southwest explains their earnings in print with a publication that explains the “4 Magic Numbers” to focus on, and creates a “scoreboard” that shows each number and where they are. Complex ideas often need to be digested in other ways.

Video is great for showing passion, emotion, taking people places they otherwise couldn’t go.

3. Not asking the question – “Would I watch/read this?”

When writing content – think about if it would grab you. If not, don’t be afraid to push back on Executives to question why you’re writing it in the first place – or come up with a new way to tell the story.

“Left to their own devices, corporations will almost always create bad content”

4. Not realizing that corporate communication is dead

Creative and conversational communication has won to get people’s attention. Stay away from the Press Release with the “quote” no one ever said that doesn’t sound the way a person would actually talk. Readers get excited about quotes because quotes come from people – and people want to hear from people. Quote the way you talk, and stay away from useless buzzwords.

5 Tips for Using All the Channels you Have to Tell our Organization’s Stories

1. Find the people with passion and emotion to tell your story

You no longer have to be the main publisher of information. Part of your job is to be a talent scout.

2. Do whatever it takes to grab their attention

Don’t do things the way you have always done them. Be creative!

“With a great headline you’ve got a chance of getting someone’s attention”

3. Look for multimedia sidebar opportunities

Write about people. Incorporate photo/video about people to help tel the story. Even “boring things” we write about often like training, recruiting, safety, awards, etc. involve people – find a way to tell the story in a compelling way.

4. Capture interesting moments

Find the story!

5. Don’t be afraid to be human

In Conclusion

A few quotes and major themes from Steve that I took away from this presentation:

Never accept these words again: “That’s the way we’ve always done it around here”
Ignore your first instinct to do things the way you’ve done them before
Have personalty
Write about people
Stop fighting the wrong battles

There are so many battles to fight in Communications from day to day, including the battle to make the deadline & the battle to create something safe enough for the approval process. The only battle that matters is the battle for our audiences’ attention.

Mast of the time we don’t have time to do anything creative because we do too much. Do less and do it better.

Thanks Steve for a great session!

More on the PRSA Southwest District Conference!

For more on the PRSA SW Conference, follow the hashtag #PRSASW & @PRSATulsa on Twitter.

Check out our sessions tomorrow!

For those of you attending the conference, I hope you’ll check out Katrina’s session tomorrow at 9 AM on “Social Media Fatigue and How to Keep it Fresh Online” and my session tomorrow at 1015 AM on ‘Take Command of your company’s website: Lessons in website management for PR prosâ€ – for more details, view the full PRSA SW District Conference conference schedule here.

2012-04-042014-11-02

Schipul Releases Open Source Tendenci CMS for NonProfit Websites

We love Open Source and our clients do too! We often hear from clients that you only will use open source software to build your websites and the advantages of having an open source community of developers and designers are undeniable.

That’s why everyone here at Schipul is super excited to announce we can now offer you a new open source option in addition to Drupal and WordPress open source website development and design with our open source release of our Tendenci CMS for NonProfit Websites.

Tendenci is the First Open Source CMS Made Just for Non-Profits!

The open source release of Tendenci is now available as part at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco going on this week, April 3-5.

If you are at NTEN NTC 2012, come to the NetSquared Local Community Organizers #12NTC Beerside Chat tonight at Jasper’s. Come learn more about the event and come hang out with us in San Francisco this week!

Here’s photos of the nonprofit tech conference that our team of Schipulites attending NTEN’s NonProfit Technology Conference are shooting and sharing daily.

What Does This Mean for Current Schipul Clients?

Here are some links with information for our current clients to explain what this means for you and your website, and what open source software is:

Open Source Tendenci FAQ for Current Tendenci Clients | From the Tendenci Blog

What is the Difference Between Tendenci Enterprise and Tendenci Community? FAQ

Open Source Hosting Prices and FAQ with the Tendenci Community

Download, Deploy and Host Your Own Open Source NonProfit Website with Tendenci CMS

We have set-up a public repository on Github for Tendenci where you can access the software for those looking to host their own Tendenci website here: https://github.com/tendenci/tendenci/. The Tendenci CMS is written in the Python programming language within a Django framework.

Visit Tendenci.org for information and help with our open source CMS.

If you have additional questions, comments, concerns, etc. please don’t hesitate to contact us, or post them in the comments below.

Get All the Open Source Tendenci News

Twitter’ @Tendenci
Facebook’ facebook.com/tendenci
The Tendenci Blog’ blog.tendenci.com

Sign up on our email list below to receive the latest updates about the open source release of Tendenci – The CMS for Non-Profits and Share the news with your friends!

2012-04-04

Dan Roam Keynote on Visual Communication at NTC 2012

We’re here at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco this week. This morning was a great keynote by Dan Roam, author of “The Back of the Napkin” & “Blah, Blah, Blah – What to Do When Words Don’t Work.”

Below are highlights of the presentation:

“We can solve our problems with pictures”

Dan’s primary point was that pictures allow us to solve problems far better than words, and unfortunately, pictures aren’t even involved in many of our largest problems.

“We can clarify our ideas with pictures.”

55% of our brain works to process visual information. Why spend the first 18 years in school learning how to be more verbal? Why do we only define intelligence by ability to verbalize?

“Whoever draws the best picture gets the funding”

This is something Dan repeated throughout the presentation. Whoever best describes the problem is the person most likely to get the funding. This is because:

They are able to get buy-in as they help people understand the problem
And also because the person who has drawn the problem has already began to map out how it works, who is involved, and is laying the foundation for the solution… so they are more able to come up with a solution

“Any sufficiently well drawn problem carries with it the beginnings of the solution”

How Our Brains Process Pictures

Our brains process visuals using 6 visual pathways. When drawing a picture of an idea, be sure to address all 6.

What – Recognizes the objects in front of you
This is the simplest recognition of an object
The picture of this is a portrait
How much – Quantitative – How many are there?
The picture of the “Ho much” visual pathway is a chart
Where – Distance – Where are they?
The picture is a map
When – There is no cause and effect, just sequence picture is a timeline
How – Cause and effect based deduction of what we think we are seeing
The picture is a flowchart
Why – Make the connection of why something is happening

A Real Life Example – Dan Roam on Healthcare Reform

Dan has recently been in the news for using pictures to explain Healthcare Reform. He, along with the help of a Heathcare expert reviewed the 1,447 page Healthcare Reform bill and created a series of 40 visuals to explain it and posted them to Slideshare.

Healthcare Napkins

View more presentations from Dan Roam

The presentation is approaching 500,000 views. And Dan has been interviewed on news organizations like Fox News on the topic. Because he was best able to show a picture of the issue.

Similarly, Dan has worked with the government to create whitehouse.gov/whiteboard – which uses visuals to explain complex governmental issues.

More Nonprofit Technology Conference Goodness

It was a fantastic session & I can’t wait for more NTC goodness!

More resources from NTC 2012:

Dan Roam’s Napkin Academy – Resources on solving problems with simple pictures
Follow the Nonprofit Technology Conference hashtag #12NTC
See more photos from NTC 2012

2012-03-062020-09-04

AMA Houston – Mobile Marketing for NPO/SIG

The Event

The Houston AMA hosted a seminar on mobile marketing for NPO’s and SIG’s. It was very informational with a forward looking perspective. In summation, the landscape of marketing is changing as mobile devices become more predominant in the market. Following is a summary of the critical information at the seminar in case you missed out.

The Facts

More people will connect to the Internet through wireless devices than through cable-based connections this year, and for the foreseeable future. Smartphones are outselling PC’s and tablets. (Yes that includes you iPad!) In accordance, marketing and advertising must adjust their content for this unwavering trend. The first step is to know the characteristics of this new target market.

Who Are We Dealing With?

The answer is the mobile audience. This mobile audience can be grouped by a few key factors:

ALWAYS ON (connected 24/7)
ENGAGED (very active with content)
IMPATIENT (want it now)
YOUNG (ages 18-44)

Tailoring the Message: Keys to Success

As the mobile market progresses, the winners will be those who adjust their content for this fast-paced, impatient crowd. The critical factors are as follows:

Loading Speed

One of the first factors is loading speed. The experienced advertiser will tell you that you have less than 30 seconds to grab the reader’s attention. If 5 of those 30 seconds are spent loading the page, then you’re off to a bad start. Yes, mobile performance is much more tedious than desktop performance. Here are some websites to visit if you’re having trouble with your loading speed: YSlow, and Mobilewebbestpractices.

Engaging Content

The content also needs to be engaging. If the webpage does not incite some course of action or immediate entertainment then again, your 30 seconds are up! This is a small part of Schipul’s SEM strategy that is proven to be very effective; get them involved quick. A quick scan of your website does not bring members, and therefore does not produce sales. Interaction is the key.

Simplicity: Navigation and Presentation

The most crucial factor is simplicity. Apple is a good example of this. If the content or navigation of your site is difficult or requires too much time, you will lose your audience. The content and presentation need to be universal and simple. Most people use the Internet for finding data. Know what they are looking for, and make it easy to find and use. Here are some simple dont’s:

Don’t

Write content into images (prevents copying and pasting)
Have too much distraction (including flash based images and adds)
Use a bunch of social widgets (again, distracting and cluttered)

Where this is Heading

Mobilization

If you want your company to stay current and your advertising to produce results, its time to mobilize your site. Many companies have already produced landing pages especially for mobile devices. This means that when I view a website on my iPhone, I won’t have to stretch out the page and hunt in order to find things. Many companies have produced apps for the Apple and Android platforms that are much more appealing and involve no screen expanding. They fit the phone and are seem even more simple and universal for users.

The Future: Responsive Website Design

The problem is that these apps are costly and must be made for multiple platforms in order to reach the full mobile audience. The future is responsive website design. With this flexible design style, the content adjusts for the device, and eliminates the need to produce content on multiple platforms. Here are a few websites to try: (make sure to minimize them and then resize the window to various sizes and shapes)

If you tried re-sizing the window, you noticed that the content continues to adjust to the size. The flexibility of this structure will eventually lead to responsive design replacing individual platform apps.

How to Deal with It: Strategy

The next step as a marketer or advertiser is to form a customized strategy for your business. Here are some general concepts that will help this process in terms of the mobile audience:

Create “Look @” not “Listen to” media
Faster is better
Simplicity is the key
Clearly call them to action, and keep them engaged

Hope this helps to give a general glimpse into the future, and where we need to be looking.

2012-03-042014-11-02

Who’s Houston’s Best at SXSW Interactive This Year?

Who’s Hou Promotes Houston’s Best at SXSW 2012

Each year, a team of Schipulites converges upon the capital of Texas for South by Southwest. This year, Schipul is also a sponsor of Who’s HOU – a new creative project with the mission to share and promote Houston’s best music, film, and interactive talent at SXSW.

I wanted to share all the incredible interactive and technology professionals and events that are heading to SXSW from Houston and I encourage you to add these panels and events to your calendar.

Want to Learn More? Who’s HOU also has the full schedule for all the Houston tech, music, and film at SXSW on the website plus will feature daily videos, photos and more content throughout SXSW. If you’ll be at the conference, make sure you stop by Who’s HOU booth at the trade show and meet everyone!

Panels, Core Conversations and Solo Presentations

Building a Jewish Presence Through Social Media

Friday March 9th, 3:30pm to 4:30pm

Hashtag: #Jewish

Description: This panel’s discussion will focus on three key issues around communications within the Jewish culture: ( 1) Targeted Update Messages; (2) Bridging technological gaps between community leaders/communicators and social media experts; and (3) Community Engagement.

Waste 2.0: 3 Ways Tech Is Making Waste a Resource

Friday, March 9 3:30PM – 4:30PM

Hashtag: #waste

Description: This panel will discuss three ways technology is making waste a resource and how knowledge sharing and collaboration across the enterprise and even competitors can create new and innovative solutions to environmental problems.

The Secret Lives of the Brain

Friday, March 9 3:30PM – 4:30PM

Hashtag: #BrainLives

Description: If the conscious mind–the part you consider you–is just the tip of the iceberg in the brain, what is all the rest doing? Neuroscientist David Eagleman, author of the New York Times bestseller Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, shows that most of what you do, think and believe is generated by parts of your brain to which you have no access. Here’s the exposÃ© about the non-conscious brain and all the machinery under the hood that keeps the show going.

Reflections of a Zen Digital Nomad

Saturday, March 10 11:00AM -12:00PM

Hashtag: #ZenNomad

Description: If you’re curious about the digital nomad lifestyle and wonder if you could live for a year or more “homefree”, this is a presentation you don’t want to miss.

Big Social Media Results at Small Organizations

Saturday, March 10 11:00AM -12:00PM

Hashtag: #sm4orgs

Description: This presentation will help small organizations think through developing, implementing, and measuring an effective campaign by sharing details of success stories from professional organizations and health advocacy groups when you don’t have the big staff and resources of bigger companies.

Exploring the Top Startup Accelerator Programs

Saturday, March 10 3:30PM – 4:30PM

Hashtag: #accelerate

Description: This panel will explore the global startup accelerator explosion and share the latest quality rankings you can use to determine the right startup Accelerator for you.

Publishing Models Transforming the Book

Sunday, March 11 9:30AM -10:30AM

Hashtag: #pubmodels

Description: Learn how the publishing industry is changing dramatically and the new business models that locate talent and package content in new ways. Is the book dead? Noâ€”it’s being re-imagined and redefined by these very people.

Internet Power: After Cyber-Optimism and Pessimism

Sunday, March 11 11:00AM -12:00PM

Hashtag: #NetPower

Description: In the annals of citizen empowerment and institutional vulnerability, democracy and anarchy share an interesting paired history in the digital environment, this panel intends to address how the global system may handle this latest disequilibrium.

How to Win Friends and Influence Space Exploration

Sunday, March 11 12:30PM – 1:30PM

Hashtag: #spacetweep

Description: While established membership organizations struggle to survive, Internet-enabled groups are flourishing with new members from far outside traditional demographic lines that are creating large-scale activities. Learn why people came together to become a ‘Space Tweep’ and got so passionately involved in space, how they became good friends over the Internet, and what they’ve created to make measurable change toward a more awesome tomorrow.

SpacePoints: Space Outreach at Ludicrous Speed

Monday, March 12 12:30PM – 1:30PM

Hashtag: #spacepts (This is also my panel and you can follow @sarahmworthy on twitter throughout the week for all the SXSW action!)

Learn how a group of “space geeks” consisting of web developers, aerospace scientists and engineers, and people who have a dream of living in space started meeting up and designed the rules, developed the application, and are sharing SpacePoints to increase public awareness about space policy, increasing funding to aerospace-related research (commercial and government), and having fun playing to win!

How One Will Change the World

Monday, March 12 3:30PM – 3:45PM

Hashtag: #ONE

Description: This panel discusses the creation of One, a mobile application that notifies you when there is someone right next to you with similar interests and how One helps you form meaningful connections with people who would otherwise be strangers using technology.

What’s So [Bleeping] Hard About Social ROI?

Monday, March 12 3:30PM – 4:30PM

Hashtag: #SMROI

Description: This penel of the best and brightest authors, brand-builders and marketers aims to provide some real answers, honest talk, and genuine experiences on social media ROI.

Race: Know When to Hold It and When to Fold It

Monday, March 12 5:00PM – 6:00PM

Hashtag: #techdiv

Description: This panel seeks to change the conversation from ‘What can technology conferences do about diversity?â€ to ‘What can attendees do about diversity at technology conferences?â€ Panelists will share how individuals can contribute to making technology conferences more inclusive.

Transforming Social Media for the Senior Community

Tuesday, March 13 9:30AM -10:30AM

Hashtag: #sm4seniors

Descripton: This panel addresses what vendors need to begin to design for all ages to enable a connected living and social aging experience for older consumers, and discuss how entrepreneurs and the venture community need a more dynamic relationship with this huge and underserved growth market.

American Copyright: Will Government Go Too Far?

Tuesday, March 13 3:30PM – 4:30

PM Hashtag: #AMERCOPY

Description: This panel will address the different concerns around government legislation versus the rights of consumers around copyright related policies including the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Events, Parties, and Lounges

SXSW is well known for having great speakers and even better known for the non-stop action that goes on outside the Austin Convention Center. Here are my top picks for SXSW events that I’ll be sure to attend this year. If you want to meet up with me and the rest of our team heading to Austin for SXSW, you’ll most likely us here:

HATCH Pitch Competition

March 11, 2012 From 9:30 AM’ 1:30 PM
SXSW Interactive Startup Village

HATCH is debuting at the new SXSW Startup Village this year. HATCH will be featuring 15 revolutionary startups certain to change your world. Come hear them pitch to investors. And when it is done, tell your friends you heard about the next big thing at HATCH.

C2@SW!

March 12, 2012 From 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM

C2xSW 2012 will showcase Houston Film/Music/Tech through “The Official Unofficial All of Where the Wild Things Are Interaction Packed Adventure Extravaganza!â€ orbiting the SxSW conference in Austin.

Beaconfire Lounge

March 9th through March 14th From 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM Daily

The Beaconfire Lounge returns for the 4th year in a row with the theme: “With a Conscience” and is known as THE spot for cause-focused people to hang out with the best and brightest non-profit Geekerati. The WiFi will be speedy, the noms and drinks plentiful, the couches comfy and the do-gooding vibe pure awesome.

2012-02-212014-11-02

Your SXSW 2012 Interactive Top 10 Tips for Survival

SXSW Interactive is one of, if not THE biggest, interactive marketing and web conference, and is a valuable resource for our team here at Schipul. SXSW Interactive offers education and the latest and greatest for all things related to web marketing and digital advertising.

I’m excited to be able to give back to my profession this year as a presenter on a panel: Spacepoints’ Space Outreach at Ludicrous Speed! If you’re going to be in Austin in March for SXSW 2012, come check out my panel or just hang out with the team from Schipul attending. {shameless plug!}

SXSW has a Guide for First Timers that can give you some tips on navigating the conference. Their guide can get you to the sessions, but when I attend SXSW, I am also looking to connect with other Interactive Agencies to build relationships and identify the latest technology innovations and software tools to help our clients improve their online marketing results. This results in a 24/7 week-long agenda of AM networking breakfast, blogger’s lounge, panels, afternoon networking, party, party, party, 4 hours of sleep, repeat. Over the past few years, I’ve developed my own tips for surviving the extended-version of SXSW Interactive.

Here are my Top 10 Tips for Doing SXSW Interactive Hardcore:

1) Say Yes to the Free Caffeine; Say No to the Free Booze.

You’ll find that every party will have plenty of free sugar free red bull, monster energy drinks, vodka or some other kind of alcohol to mix. Then my Caffeine Hero: Starbucks always comes to the rescue the next morning with plenty of free coffee. Skip the booze if you want to make it through the entire week, and stock your hotel with fresh fruit and healthy snacks because you’ll be hard pressed to find any food, let alone free food at SXSW.

2) Keep Your Smartphone Charger on You at All Times.

You will be on the go running from panel to panel during the day, and then party to party each night. Carry your phone charger with you, take a spare that you keep in your hotel room (in case you lose your first one), and if you have the option’ get a spare battery too. If you see an outlet near you’ don’t be ashamed to plugin and juice up your phone. Tweeting, foursquaring, and texting is power-intensive and you don’t want to have a dead battery at 2am when you are trying to find directions back to your hotel.

3) Bookmark http://austin2012.sched.org/ and use it to create your personalized SXSW schedule before you get to Austin.

SXSW’s event schedule on their website is pretty good’ however I’ve been using sched.org’s unofficial SXSW guide to find EVERY party, panel, and must attend event possible. The best places to connect with people at SXSW aren’t always “official” parties.

Sched also offers a new feature this year that enables you to sync your Eventbrite RSVPs and the platform is available for all the major mobile platforms: iphone, Droid and Blackberry. When you get to Austin, you’ll love how easy sched makes it to find your next session on the go.

4) Pack a Swimsuit.

Austin weather is fickle, and it may be 60 degrees in early March or 90. Regardless’ all the hotels have swimming pools and hot tubs and if you are doing it right, you’ll be invited to at least one pool party. I don’t recommend skinny dipping at SXSW’ everyone has a camera in their smartphone and you what happens at SXSW definitely does NOT stay at SXSW. So take your favorite swim trunks or bikini when you pack for Austin.

5) Pack a Cowboy Hat and Cowboy Boots.

There will be at least 2 parties with a Texas country theme. If you don’t have western attire’ no worries, Austin has some great shops where you can purchase what you need. I’ve gotten great Cowgirl boots at Allen’s Boots and the HatBox has Cowboy hats in every style plus tons of other fun and funky headwear.

6) Pack a Backpack and Leave Your Briefcase at Home.

Have I already mentioned you’ll be on the move for a week? Take a compact backpack with a laptop-padded section for your trip and spare your back and shoulders the strain of running around all day carrying your briefcase. You don’t have to take your laptop or tablet PC’ but you’ll definitely want to have something with you for taking notes in the sessions, even if you prefer traditional pen and paper. If you are going to any of the developer or design sessions then your laptop will be heavily used. Bloggers will find the Bloggers lounge a great resource for power and snacks while updating your audience with all the latest happenings online too.

7) Talk to Strangers.

The panels are great for professional development but it’s the people at the conference that are the core of the experience so don’t be shy’ say Hi to everyone you meet. SXSW Interactive hosts the largest single gathering of ‘Connectorsâ€ you’ll ever find so strike up a conversation and get connected with new people who will help you grow your business, launch your start-up, or make an introduction to that big prospect or thought leader.

8) Take More Business Cards Than You Think You’ll Need’ and Stickers Too!

I probably go through 200-300 mini-moos each SXSW. I order cards JUST for SXSW that have my contact information while at the conference. I include a headshot so people recognize me throughout the week, my mobile so people can text me about any “pop-up” parties, my email address for following up later, and this year my panel information so people will know when and where I’ll be presenting. I recommend moo.com’s mini-moos if you are going to order cards just for the event. Here’s my cards for this year:

9) Make Time to Visit the Exhibitions, Showcases, and Lounges.

One of the best places to find out about innovations in online technology is SXSW’s Interactive. The only place I personally can imagine being cooler for a tech-geek like me is the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. SXSW has several different Trade Shows and Showcase Lounges featuring an array of products and services that your business may want to utilize for growing online and offline next year. You definitely want to make your rounds to the SXSW Start-up Village Showcase featuring new technology start-ups, plus you can snag some really fun Swag!

10) Don’t Try to Do Everything.

You can’t. I tried one year and came back with no voice left and a dazed and confused fog that took 2 more weeks to dissipate. Until cloning techniques advance, I’ll have to settle with missing about 2/3rds of everything because so much is going on all at once.

Schedule at least 4 to 6 hours of sleep each night. Make time in your schedule to get away from the convention center to walk around the lake one morning or take a couple of hours one afternoon and take a nap in your hotel. SXSW, when done right, is both grueling and an amazing experience. Definitely dive right into the throng of digital tech madness, but be sure to turn off your phone every so often…

And remember: Don’t Drink the Free Booze!

2012-02-07

Geek Love – A Valentine’s Day Poem from the Schipulites

This February, we’re sharing Tips & Tricks we Schipulites love at schipul.com/love. With Valentine’s Day just a week away, we also wanted to share this love poem with you, our clients and friends.Enjoy!

Geek Love, a Poem from the Schipulites to You!

In Schipul-land this Valentine’s, we want to spread the LOVE

By sharing things that currently have set our hearts abuzz.

You know we love to geek on out, and share the things we know

With clients, friends, and all of you – dear readers of this poem.

Each day this month we’ll share a tip, or trick, or tool, or thing

Like Spotify or Google Chrome or CodeAcademy

See why Eloy loves the Cloud, and Brian loves Zen Desk,

Why Courtney cannot get enough of her fave – Pinterest!

How Erica learned coding from videos online

Or KMe uses Google Docs to save her clients time.

We’ll share one new thing daily, schipul dot com slash love

Keep coming back to see what’s new, and share with all your buds.

Whether it’s your most favorite day, or one that’s just alright…

Category: Official Schipul Blog