A telling moment at the South by Southwest Interactive 2010 festival was when Mobile Roadie was one of the winners of the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator award. Mobile Roadie enables users to build mobile applications and submit them to the iPhone App Store and the Android App Market. Mobile Roadie started by developing mobile applications for bands, and rapidly expanded to business, media, sports, and other organizations including churches. AdMob, a research firm, did a study released in January 2010 that showed Android and iPhone users spend an average of 80 minutes per day using applications.

The Mobile Roadie platform cut its teeth in the entertainment industry, being the platform for Ashton Kutcher and Taylor Swift, but they were quickly approached by a wide range of customers from businesses to churches. I use this event to underscore the increasing trend of smart mobile devices and the voracious appetite for information, entertainment, and social connections on-demand. That’s all mobile is, information on-demand. This is a natural progression for a society that inhales its fast food and as no time for the morning paper.

Scott Raney, a partner at Redpoint Ventures commented about SxSw in a Wall Street Journal blog saying, “Mobile in general was a big topic of conversation. People really do believe in these platforms and that they can do a lot of interesting things with them. You’ve got pretty broad platforms and faster network speeds.”

Mobile is a Condition

As you look at whether your business or organization should include a mobile application as part of its marketing mix, consider the relationship of the information you would offer, the consumer, the location of the consumer, and what the reaction will be once that information is obtained. In the case of SxSw, mobile apps like Levi’s Fader Fort highlights the popular hang out sponsored by Levi’s during the music festival in Austin, Texas. The Levi’s Fader Fort has a popular application built by Mobile Roadie.

The Levi’s Fader Fort is the setting for big name bands and those whose names are yet to become known. Given that attendees are always on the move, the best way to connect with that audience is with a mobile application. Information that has value in that environment includes band schedules at the Levi’s Fader Fort, sample songs, interviews with band members, and the social component for others using the app to comment. Thumbs up or down for a band performance may well change the direction of a small mob within a square mile.



Raney summed it up best echoing what many digital marketers are saying, “If I’m going to do something it’ll be predominantly mobile, or if it’s a traditional online experience, from the ground up I’ll think about mobile.”

Mobile adoption by businesses, venture capital, and developers is occurring at light speeds compared to other platform transitions, radio, TV, and Web, for instance. The SxSw Interactive panels and hallway conversations point the direction of where the consumer wants to go, the mobile web and applications is the next, like right now, big thing.

Is mobile in your planning either with an application or a mobile website ?

Provident Partners donates a food item for every comment received on this blog.

Verizon Wireless sponsored the Marketing Edge coverage of South by Southwest.

South by Southwest a place to see and be seen for sure. It was for music and film the primary focus of the festival for years, and now it is for the world of social interactive media. Any place where you need to be on a list to get into a party will have that kind of cache (typo intended for geek punery). As a DJ in Philly in the early dance era I get the whole list thing. Let’s put celebrity in perspective, SxSw is not the Oscars, but social media is getting its celebrities. Some traditional celebrities enjoy being a part of the SXSW social stream. Comedian Brian Posehn entertained the crowd at Joseph Jaffe’s party launching his new book Flip the Funnel (Greg Verdino shares some excellent photos

The Twitter trend spikes when Chris Brogan walks into a room or when #secretwinetasting signals, the King of Social Media, Gary Vaynerchuk is pouring into, and for, a party, this one was at Big Omaha. sponsored by Silicon Prairie News

But @GaryVee will likely be the first to tell you that there are no kings of social media. That all those at SxSw and those who are active in the social web contribute to the ecosystem of social. It’s an ecosystem that supports quality content in all types of niches. So Ed Bennett and Jane Sarasohn-Kahn are celebs in health care and Becky McCray rocks the house in tourism circles and Gregory Ng is truly the Master of Frozen Food with Freezer Burns, and the list goes on as long as there is an audience to comprise a niche. No they don’t do wine pourings, but they, as does Gary, command the attention and respect of their audience because of their passion for their content. It’s the foundation of Gary’s book Crush It!

Celebrity Closer to the Fan Base

There is still an element of camaraderie throughout the Austin convention Center that on the social web there is a common thread. The connection that every social media celebrity began from a first blog post, or video or podcast. Perhaps it’s a connection that can be maintained at events like SxSw. There is less distance between those who have succeed in their niche and those hoping to learn from that success. Everyone started out the same in social media and there is still the belief that others can achieve the same level of recognition, and in rare occasion, financial success. Why? because the rules of success are the same, good quality content, presentation, and yes, timing and luck factor into success today just as much as they did in the industrial age. Today It’s just less costly to enter and produce.

The question is whether social media will follow the patterns of the majority of other industries, which is early expansion followed by consolidation. Will the wide open landscape that is fertile ground for the first generation of web 2.0 content celebrities morph into the hierarchal, gatekeeper, celebrity maker, structure of the previous century. Just as an appearance on Johnny Carson was the golden ticket in the golden era of television, will todays’ celebrities be tomorrow’s king makers? If this is the case, then what will SxSw look like in 2015?

Disclosure:
My road trip from Minneapolis to Austin and coverage of South by Southwest is sponsored by Verizon Wireless.

Provident Partners will donate a food item to a St. Paul, MN food shelter for every comment on this blog

Time 10:15

Kansas City social media practitioners shared gems at our South By Southwest tweet up yesterday, thanks to local organizer  Lisa Qualls of Fresh ID.   As Rick Mahn and I make our way to the SxSW tech festival  we are asking consumers and producers of social media about the state of the medium, and how businesses are using it (or not).  Also how consumers are interacting with each other and with brands.  The dynamic debate among this group was outstanding.  

As a journalist of these issues,  as well as a practitioner, these gems of opinions from others are data points I keep in mind as I assess recommendations for companies.  There is no “right way” to do social media, and each case, each company culture has a different perspective, which is why this summary should be viewed as a pantry of good quality raw ingredients, and not a recipe for the one size fits all social media strategy.  Some ingredients may be right for some, companies may have the budget to use them all, some may not. 

1. Measure everything, apply tools like Google analytics, www.bit.ly and www.idek.net (last one shared by Bestofjess ) to every link.  – Really I say?  Really, the fact is whether you are an individual blogging about a passion or a Fortune 500 company selling cars, measuring is one of the major ways you know that what you intended to communicate is what the recipient receives.  Don’t leave it up to the response mechanisms like comments to determine whether you have engaged or not.  Measurement to me in social media is like watching someone’s body language when you are having a conversation.  Those gestures, facial expressions and twists and turns are cues which impact the next message you send.  
2. Explain stuff until people understand it.  Regardless of the “advanced” level of the group there is always something new for anyone in the group to discover.  Whether it’s, “this is an RSS feed”  or this is the beta version of Google buzz, heck, this stuff is being made hourly, there are no experts on everything.  There is constant learn and props to groups like the Social Media Club and Social Media Breakfast who are in local communities creating forums for learning.  Bless you. 
3. The relationship between data, individual, and their location is a condition I call mobile which is powerful.  Mobile services interacting with location based applications like Yelp, Layar, Foursquare and Gowalla (to name only a fraction) come as close to getting inside your head as we have today.  An example raised at the Kansas City meeting was telling.  Jenn Bailey was traveling in New York City, stopped in a couple of shops and local landmarks checking into Foursquare at each location.  After her fourth stop she received an invitation that went something like this “You’ve been busy this afternoon, must be tired, stop by our restaurant and we’ll buy you a drink.” 

   As the group concluded, we’ll give up a little privacy to gain something that  may well be very relevant to us at that point in time and space.   The huge increase in smartphone sales is simply making this relationship easier and putting the power in the hands of consumers as they interact with a society on the move.  Analysis predict 50% of web connections will be made via mobile device by 2012. 

You can see the discussion at the Twitterface page created for the event.   Twitterface is a neat application that allows companies to create a brand experience with streaming video, which is also recorded, and the social media stream.  

Time 12:32

South by Southwest is the meeting of music, film, and interactive technologies. This makes it the perfect venue for Phil Wilson of Local Tone Radio in Minneapolis. The concept of Local Tone Radio is to feature local bands, allow website listeners to vote on the ones they like and essentially give greater exposure to bands who otherwise would have to work their way through the gatekeepers of radio stations. This concept of bypassing gatekeepers is something social media does very well. From using LinkedIn to by pass the regular screening of resumes to raising money without an ounce of ink or a single phone call, SXSW has an interactive track that discusses these disruptions.

We chat with Phil Wilson who can be followed on Twitter or on Minnov8 about how he is navigating the conference. Social media is causing many industries to take notice, and the music industry was among the first to feel the pressure from social sharing and the wisdom of crowds. Now bands sell their songs on MYSpace, and DJs, like my Twitter friend DJIRIE are business entities spinning unique mixes and branching off into merchandise and apparel.

The overriding issue that makes SXSW a “go to at least once” event is the integration of ideas, cultures, and innovation. From suits to shorts at the conference, new products and services are emerging from the synergies created in Austin, TX this week. But the irony here is that most of that knowledge is being shared online. Yeah, crazy I know, but much of the ideas in Austin on are online in discussions from Twitter, to Ustream, to blogs. Even more will fill the web in the coming weeks so stay tuned and connected to South by Southwest. Or follow the up to the Tweet action on this Twitter page using the SXSW keyword.

How about the Insider’s Guide to SXSW on Twitter. Or better yet, if you are thinking about going to SXSW next year, join the SXSW community on Ning with more than 1500 members to get a feel for what’s in store when you go.