It’s never easy to say goodbye but when two members of our design team decided it was their time we made the best of it by doing a collaborative design project. Our way of saying goodbye became a variation of layer tennis where typically two designers send a layered photoshop file back and forth battle it out through design. Instead of doing that we took an additive design process starting with one person and making its way through the team with each person adding their own personal mark to the design. We started with photographs of the team shot by designer/photographer Elsa Kawai. Designers added various things from inside jokes to simple styling. When Kevin Lawver first heard of this he said something to the effect of “that’s not tennis… that’s hackeysack.” And with that, Design Hackeysack was born! A collaborative, addititive design process and the end results are nothing short of amazing as seen in these designs. The sequence shown here isn’t an exact representation of the design from person to person but it does illustrate the concept through the layering found in Photoshop.
Contributing designers include Valli Ravindran, Justin Kirk, John Clarkson, Meghan Cesario, Benjamin Bennett, Lee Costic, Vince Farquharson, Rob Coburn, Gian Cruz, Jody Thomas, Justin Howard, Julie Bethke, Alisa Schadt, Jayna Wallace and myself.
Oh the joys of Austin and the fabled SXSW interactive conference. Several folks from the AIM design team were there expanding our minds (and bellies).
The Panels and Presos
I’ve learned a little about navigating SXSW to find the best panels in my second year. My satisfaction ratio skewed much higher to satisfied this year by following a few simple rules:
Don’t go by the titles of the panels. They are conceived 9 months in advance with provocative titles and often do not fully come together until days before they take place.
Pick panels that include people, companies or products that interest you.
If you don’t know where to go try one of the bigger venues. They’re in big rooms for a reason. The more popular speakers will occupy larger rooms.
I’m not one who likes to carry a laptop faced with the fight for bandwidth and electricity so rather than exhaustive notes on any one topic here’s some bits and pieces from panels, presentations and events that I attended.
SAT MAR 8
10 Things We’ve Learned at 37signals w/ Jason Fried (37signals)
Jason Fried is a great speaker and was quick to answer any question asked. Its no wonder 37 Signals is as successful as they are. A couple of points offered that resonated: ‘make money by helping people make money’, ‘get 3 things done in 1 week rather than 1 thing done in 3 weeks’ and I can’t help but be intrigued by the 37 Signals 4 day work week. (rating: 5 stars)
Worst Website Ever: That’s So Crazy, It Just Might Work w/ Andy Baio (Programmer/Journalis, Waxy.org), Lane Becker (Pres, Get Satisfaction), Jeffery Bennett (Clever Name), Michael Buffington (Cofounder, Grockit Inc), Lia Bulaong (Jarvis Heavy Industr…), David Friedman (Ironic Sans), David Hornik (General Partner, August Capital), Merlin Mann (43 Folders), Katie Spence (Crowd Control, Mule Design Studio), Ben Brown (XOXCO.com)
From a purely entertainment stand point this was the best panel of the week. Several entrepreneurs pitched their wacked ideas for venture capital. Ideas included human generated image descriptions for sight impaired, allowing people to IPO themselves to raise capital, a social networking sight to follow whose sick and how to avoid them. Merlin Mann from 43 Folders took home the prize with his creation titled FlockdUP. This was the perfect way to end day one. (5 stars)
Frog Design / SXSWi Opening Party (8-11pm) (Mexican American)
The green beer was great in concept but hard to acquire and a little on the skunky side. Fortunately Grupo Fantasmo and the fire people made for a good time. (4 stars)
SUN MAR 9
Magic and Mental Models: Using Illusion to Simplify Designs w/ Jared Spool (Founding Principal, User Interface Engin…)
Jared Spool’s presentations rarely disappoint. He used magic tricks to show how user experience and magic are both methods of delight for people. This presentation had more spectacle than substance but it was still enjoyable and the points were easy to digest. All in all a fun way to spend the morning. (4 stars)
Keynote Interview with Mark Zuckerberg w/ Sarah Lacy (Author/Journalist, BusinessWeek/Yahoo!), Mark Zuckerberg (CEO, Facebook Inc)
Oh boy, where to start? Much has been said about this interview. In short, most of Sarah Lacy’s talk centered on her first and then to Mark Zuckerberg. At one point Zuckerberg stated that ‘You have to ask a question’ to get an answer from him. Due to the power of Twitter a mob mentality turned against Lacy’s interview style and the crowd really leaned into her. Lacy certainly brought on the instant feedback but the mob mentality left me feeling awkward. I had to walk out once the audience questions started. Still it was captivating to see what a young entrepreneur had to say. (4 stars)
Does Tomorrow’s World Need Designers? w/ Alonzo Canada (Jump Associates), David Merkoski (Creative Dir, Frog Design Inc), Helen Walters (Editor of Innovation, BusinessWeek.com), Johanna Blakley (Deputy Dir, The Norman Lear Cent…)
Much talk about getting people to empathize with customers through design and moving from a consumer culture to a producer culture. It seemed to be agreed upon that design sensibilities are increasing in first world countries where access to media is prevalent. The answer to the topic question seemed to be yes that tomorrow’s world will need designers but that design sensibilities will be more widespread as time passes and we’ll find more do-it-yourselfers. Note: there was a request from one panelist for Adobe to add messaging and buddy lists to their products. (4 stars)
Data as Art: Musical, Visual Web APIs w/ Peter Kirn (cdm: Create Digital…), Joy Mountford (VP Design Innovation, joymountford.com)
Another perfect way to end the day. The visuals provided by panelist Joy Mountford were stunning. She’s found a way to present data in meaningful ways through visual language. At one point the moderator was asked a question and so taken by the visuals just had to respond with ‘Well, I was just watching the data.” (4 stars)
Geeks Love Bowling
Special thanks to all the sponsors of the Geeks Love Bowling event at the Austin 300 Bowling Lanes. It seemed like a good time was had by all. Thanks to Chris Dargis, Mike Cummings, Greg Cypes, Andy Wick, George Fletcher, Cindy Aserkoff and Greg Keegstra for letting me bowl on their team. Its apparent that we shouldn’t quit our day job anytime soon. We’re pretty good at designing, coding and managing products but bowlers we are not (though Mike Cummings might be an exception). One hilarious moment involved some folks in the lanes to our left who decided to toss the bowling ball into each other’s opposing lanes. Safe to say both of those rolls were gutterballs. (4 stars)
MON MAR 10
The Care and Feeding of Your Startup w/ Stacey Zuniga (Product Strategist, UnWired Nation Inc), Eric Hellweg (Editor & Managing Di, Harvard Business Onl…), Blair Garrou (Managing Dir, DFJ Mercury), Bill Flitter (CEO, Pheedo Inc), Chere Heintzmann (Central/ South Texas, AT&T Wireless), C. Eric Smith (Pres, UnWired Nation Inc)
A couple of takeaways from this panel were ‘if you’re going to fail, fail fast’ and ‘don’t throw out a feature without thinking about where it is going to go’. In other words, iterate rapidly and always plan your next steps thinking about the big picture. (3 stars)
Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR! w/ Dave McClure (Master of, 500 Hats), Ted Rheingold (Top Dog, Dogster Inc), Jia Shen (CTO, RockYou), Hiten Shah (Crazy Egg Inc), Todd Vernon (CEO, Lijit Networks, Inc)
When the panelists showed up in pirate garb I wasn’t sure where this one was going to go but I’m a sucka for anything that includes Ted Rheingold. At first the presentation by Dave McClure seemed contrived to the pirate theme but in actuality it was well put toghether and as it turns out the theme worked out nicely as an added benefit. Audience participants were asked to begin questions with ‘AARRR’ and given beads as rewards. One person asked ‘AARRR you gonna post the presentation online?’ and ‘What’s the URRRRL?’ to which the audience erupted in laughter. (4 stars)
Browser Wars: Deja Vu All Over Again? w/ Arun Ranganathan (System Architect), Chris Wilson (Platform Architect, Microsoft), Brendan Eich (CTO, firefox), Charles McCathieNevile (Chief of Standards, Opera)
I went to this panel on recommendation by co-worker Kevin Lawver. Most of the technical discussion went over my head but it was good to see some of the faces behind the browsers. Moderator Arun Ranganathan was among the best prepared and was top notch at shooting from the hip and rolling with the discussion (4 stars on the strengths of Arun Ranganathan)
10 Tips for Managing a Creative Environment w/ Bryan Mason (Chief Operating Offi, Adaptive Path), Sarah Nelson (Design Strategist, Adaptive Path)
Like 37 Signals, folks at Adaptive Path rarely disappoint with topical content as was the case in this presentation. At a high level, the bullet points were ‘cross-train the entire team’, ‘rotate creative leadership’, ‘actively turn the corner’, ‘know your roles’, ‘practice, practice, practice’, ‘make your mission explicit’, ‘killing your darlings - if one person says ‘keep it’, it stays’, ‘leadership is a service’, ‘generate products around the group’s creative interests’ and ‘remember your audience’. I loved that they don’t use the term ‘post mortem’ to look back upon a project. Instead they use the term ‘after party’. I love that. Also, I love the idea of avoiding negative feedback by using the ‘keep it’ concept. Silence is better than negative feedback in close working groups. (5 stars)
Building Portable Social Networks w/ Jeremy Keith (Clearleft Ltd), Chris Messina (CEO, Citizen Agency), Leslie Chicoine (Experience Designer, Get Satisfaction), Joseph Smarr (Chief Platform Archi, Plaxo Inc), David Recordon (Open Platforms Tech, Six Apart Ltd)
There were some brilliant people on this panel but nearing the end of the day my notes are sparse at best. Much of the discussion centered around what are ‘friends’ on the web and how do you take them from place to place if that is what you want to do. (4 stars)
TUES MAR 11
Using Entertainment to Create Effective Mobile Advertising w/ Adam Zbar (CEO, Zannel Inc), Lathan Hodge (Co-Founder, Rapstation), Eric Eller (SVP Prod/Mktg, Millennial Media)
I walked in on this one late but it was a topic that seemed to have good resonance with my job. While most examples involved campaigns having to do with the entertainment industry which is probably the easiest to be successful at in the mobile space. One of my favorite examples involved a campaign with Public Enemy at the previous year’s SXSW conference where Flava Flav asked audience participants to send a text to a certain number. After the concert participant received a phone call from the band in response plus free ringtones and wallpapers (if my notes serve me correctly). Additionally, once the music festival started I met 2 other people who seemed to be trying to make a play in this market. There might be something here. I like the idea of fans getting involved and getting something in return be it free ringtones, wallpapers, mp3s or discounts. (3 stars)
Peas in a Pod: Advertising, Monetization and Social Media w/ Tim Kendall (Product Manager, Facebook), Ellen McGirt (Sr Writer, Fast Company), Kent Nichols (Ask A Ninja), Seth Goldstein (CEO, Socialmedia Networks)
This was unexpectedly one of the more entertaining panels largely due to the banter of the panelists primarily between Kent Nichols (Ask A Ninja) and Tim Kendall (Facebook). In one takeaway it was interesting to hear Kendall compare Facebook to television in that ‘Facebook is the network, apps are the shows and the ads are the commercials’. Also, it was said that tradition brands like ‘Proctor and Gamble’ like solutions that are scalable hence their hunger for display advertising. (4 stars)
How Piracy Will Save the Music Industry w/ Jason Schwartz (Prod Mgr, Angelsoft), Randy Saaf (CEO, MediaDefender Inc)
A good panel largely due to the controversy it stirred. Most of the room turned on Randy Saaf with his company’s practice of seeding torrent sites with tracks from bands that were recorded over or sub par recordings. Also the practice of adding ads to cover art did not gain much love. At one point the room erupted in applause as audience participant Doug March spoke on behalf of the consumer. On the other hand, the room had listening ears for Jason Schwartz’s ideas. One that gained my attention was a data service for artists and promoters to offer info on where songs are being downloaded from and at what frequency. Using this data, bands could better plan their tours even down to the better venues thus providing a cost saving factor. (3 stars)
The Trials and Tribulations of Using Music Online w/ Richard Bengloff (Pres, A2IM), Rusty Hodge (GM, Soma FM), Chris MacDonald (Founder, IndieFeed Networks/L…), Elise Nordling (Marketing Services M, IODA), Brian Zisk (C0-Founder/Tech Dir, Future of Music Coal…)
I think the primary reason I attended this session was to find out to what extent posting mp3s was a disservice to musicians and their bands. If you listen to the lawyers and label reps it sounds like they don’t like it so much. But I still wonder, doesn’t posting a track or two only help certain artists gain notice and exposure. I can understand how posting an entire album is wrong and blatant stealing but it seems that even with some light permissioning from the artists or their representatives that you’re only doing them a favor. Let the mix tape live on! (3 stars)
Taking Over the World: the Flickr Way w/ Simon Batistoni (Flickr/Yahoo! Inc)
In all honesty, this was probably a good presentation but I had already cashed in my listening chips. I learned a little about localization and internationalization but lost the mental capacity to focus quickly. Plus, GBV Hoot Night was on my mind by this time. Props to Simon Batistoni who packed the room in this closing event. My apologies for checking out. (3 stars)
The Team
A great time was spent with current and past members of the AIM design team. Some interesting things happened watching the fire dancers at the Frog party. There was a moment of concern when one of the girl dancers had her shirt catch on fire. Another involved a male in the audience taking up the spinning torches. At one point a burning ember made its way towards us flying through the sky. Sitting on the ground in front of me were Valli Ravindran, Shadia Ahmed, Ari Kushimoto and Elsa Kawai who made me crack up when they overdramatically screamed and ran to avoid the burning ember that was still at least 10 feet away. I have to admit, I took a few steps back as well. We all shared a laugh.
Another moment (of discovery) happened at dinner one night. Of the four of us sharing food, it turned out that each of us had a musical past. Ben Bennett started by saying he was in a band called the ‘Isthmus Doobies’ as a young teen. Justin Kirk followed by telling us about his punk band called ‘Brown Monster’. I came clean with my experience as lead singer of the ‘Cajun Runts’ for an ever so brief time in college. And the most decorated musician in the bunch turned out to be Jayna Wallace of ‘The Wallace Family Band’ whose accolades include being selected as ‘The Most Musical Family of 1996 by The Ohio Federation of Music Club’. I later ran into ex-AOLer Jason Garber (Mixx) who added his time in ‘Mir’ to the list.
The Food
Anyone whose ever been to Austin knows that its an oasis of food. Its no surprise that their BBQ and Mexican food are among the world’s best. Some places I had the pleasure of leaving table scraps at include Flemings, Boiling Pot, Maudies Too, Ironworks, Malaga and Stubbs.
The Music
What would SXSW be like without a little music even before the big music event starts. With a little research you can find a ton of great acts that aren’t listed in the official SXSWi list. Adventurous attendees included Andrew Wilson (Discovery), Jayna Wallace, Jason Garber (Mixx) and Doug March (Revolution Health) who joined me at various times to check out a bevy of artists including James McMurtry @ Momo’s, The Smithereens @ La Zona Rosa, Matt the Electrician and Bob Schneider @ Saxon Pub, Guided by Voices Hoot Night including Joy Cook @ Club Deville, Two Cow Garage, Glossary, Grand Champeen and The Drams @ Beerland.
