Internet Geek Girl

A few weeks ago I was introduced to the Bob Woodruff Foundation and their fund raising effort TweetToRemind, a campaign focused on raising $1.65 MM by Memorial Day.  This money will be used to help service members get the help they need as they integrate back to society.

As you know, I believe in the power of social media and in particular Twitter and Facebook to help energize others for good. People like Chris Brogan, Missy Ward, Shira Lazar (and let’s not forget Ashton Kutcher)  have mobilized online to support a variety of charities.

Today, Bob Woodruff challenged us to answer a simple question – Who Are Your Heroes? For me, heroes are volunteers. People that spend their time and efforts on behalf of helping others and who do it for free. It can be committing to regular, small, random acts of kindness toward strangers; helping out at your local church, school or charitable organization; or even online efforts like this one and those listed above to help raise money and awareness for a good cause!

My best friend since 5th grade, Amy Callahan, is one of those volunteers and my greatest hero. Amy lost her fiance on 9/11 and took that sadness and pain and did two things: a) built a camp for children who lost parents and relatives during 9/11 and b) built a beautiful life for herself and rose up from the ashes and found love. Both are equally important to me. Until we learn to care for ourselves, we cannot care for others.

Regardless of how you feel about the war in Iraq (or war in general) there is no denying the sacrifice and effort military personnel provide on behalf of American citizens and our ideals. I know it is so depressing and hard to hear all the sad stories and read statistics on death and killing.   I often feel like I don’t know what I can do to help. As we gear up for the kick off to summer and zero in on our Memorial Weekend plans, I’d like to suggest a small way you can get involved – donate dollars and tweets!

I am using TipJoy to give $5.25 per day leading up until Memorial Day (which is on 5/25). Won’t you join me in giving either through PayPal or TipJoy?

P.S. Big Thanks to Rick Calvert at Blog World Expo

I don’t always know the exact contacts to make something happen. But rest assured, I know the person that knows the right people.  So when it came to supporting TweetToRemind, I reached out to my good friend Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo.  Rick has been a long time supporter of the online community supporting military personnel, their families and friends – the “Mil bloggers.” Thanks to all of his contacts that energized their networks.  I look forward to meeting you all in Vegas in October!

Tomorrow evening I’m joining Marian Salzman, Peter Shankman and 100 of PepsiCo’s top communicators for a Twitter conversation about global trends. I hope you can login and join us for part of the time. It’s from 7.30 – 9 pm EST tomorrow, Wednesday April 1st. Sign up now. The hashtag is #peptrends.

How cool to have so many smart people talking together on Twitter about important issues that face marketers (and consumers) today. BTW – Marian is a internationally recognized “trend spotter.” Here’s a little taste of what’s to come. We’re excited to hear your thoughts and feedback tomorrow night.

From Marian:

Right now, consumers are being shaken awake to confront a pretty gross reality: We (and our natural resources) are overextended, overweight and overwhelmed. We are spent in more ways than one. Our reaction has been to pull back and say less, less, less. We crave a simpler existence. The push away from megaconsumption is the megatrend of the moment. Thrift is high prestige. Credit feels faulty and uncertain while cash is solid and sensible.

At the same time, technology is booming, and short is what’s happening. Social media is the communicator in a time of less is more. It brings far-flung people together cheaply and instantly around a shared interest. It gives us all the power to make news and break news, share thoughts and share links. Short and simple can say so much. That’s why I’ve chosen Twitter as a tool for our talk Wednesday. Short is smart and powerful. It sparks conversations, connects thinkers, shrinks distances and engenders change.

Some trends I’ll be talking and tweeting about:

•Total Convergence: Old familiar boundaries and categories are dissolving, blurring black and white into shades of gray. Private with public; fact with fiction; news with entertainment; young with old; life with work; home with office; offline with online.

•Tapping Social Media: The potential of social media as a business asset is hardly yet determined. Smart companies are now leveraging switched-on (younger) employees to help understand and shape it.

•Local Is Now Global: Today, home is the safest yet most exotic destination of all. You’re always just a click away from anywhere in the world. And just down the road you can find people and cuisine from every continent.

•A Return to Value and Values: What’s it really worth and how is it really important to me? These are the questions that rein in our impulse purchases in times of recessionary living. Followed by thoughts of, which stores or brands will supply what I need?

Check out the neat twtvite widget!

It’s FollowFriday. And if you are not following @gapingvoid by now, you should be. Hugh Macleod is one of my favorite people in the whole world. He’s brilliant, kind and genuinely in love with Texas. I proudly carry my “Jersey girl” hugh card with me wherever I go. You can read lots about Hugh online and view all his great work for Microsoft, Stormhoek, his lithographs and 4×8 foot paintings (he just finished Desert Manhattan).  His newsletter, Crazy Deranged Fool is probably the best way to keep up with this prolific artist-cum-marketer.

When I met Hugh he had just landed in Silicon Valley from Scotland and was beginning the journey that would lead him to Alpine, Texas. I haven’t been there, but when I do go, the first place I will stop is Harry’s (seriously – check out Harry’s webpage, you will crack up).

Hugh’s fantasy application is representative of his passion and empathy – an app focused on enhancing his experience as an artist that can be used by artists everywhere to help them achieve their dreams.  Like the title of his new book implies, “Ignore Everybody, and 39 other keys to Creativity,” Hugh’s message helps others tap into their own brilliance and unleash it on the world. I know it’s true, because, he did that for me!

Here’s to Hugh.  Now go rank and comment on his fantasy app (especially if you are an artist).

By now, most of my fellow SXSW Interactive attendees have made it home and unpacked. Hopefully you have caught up on your lack of sleep and have warded off the SXSWsars (unfortunately I didn’t – can you hear my sniffles and scratchy voice?). If you’re like me, you’ve been digging through your email and reviewing the huge stack of business cards you collected in Austin. Processing all the information and inspiration takes time, especially for a show which overflows with both.

Unquestionably, SXSWi was a qualitative and quantitative success. There was a reported 25% increase in attendance year over year and the blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates show nothing but love for this ritual “geek spring break.”

For me, the highlight of the trip was obviously the honor of co-hosting the TechSet Blogger Lounge with my co-founder @BrianSolis (and our event partners at Tokita Bethune, Inc.) The lounge and party were sponsored by Windows Mobile. The Windows Mobile team provided a great service to the community of bloggers, developers, marketers and influencers that set up shop in The Austin Suite. With great bandwidth and great company, the Windows Mobile lounge was THE PLACE to be every day (especially during our tweet ups from 4 – 6 pm – thank you AMD and Zappos). Plus, check out the videos that a bunch of well known geeks made in the lounge – Can you say Fantasy App? We were even lucky enough to have live entertainment one day from Paula Nelson (Austin native and Willie’s daughter). Big thanks to 1938media and John Rosenfelder (@earbender) for putting that together.

On the social front – I enjoyed going to Stubbs for the Diggnation event, The Salt Lick, Gueros, and of course, attending the many parties. “Best in show” include, Alltop, Facebook, Mashable and of course, The TechSet. The best pictures from the entire week come from Laughing Squid, Brian Solis and Wm. Marc Salsberry. Huge shout out to Joie de Vie salon and all the ladies from there that helped make me pretty every day (thanks Amanda, thanks Erin and the other Jerseygirl Steph).

For the last few years the Geeks have taken over the town before the music festival swings into full force. If you stay for part of the transition time, it’s funny to see the difference. My cab driver summed it up best – “the geeks are way more quiet and they are always playing on their phones.” He just doesn’t realize we’re making a ton of noise online and talking to our friends (who are sitting next to us in RL) on Twitter!

If you missed the show or like me, were too busy to attend most of the panels, here’s a short list of some recommended recaps:

• BlogWorld Expo Radio Podcast with yours truly and Jim Turner!
• The very awesome Nicole Jordan on her blog, Kicking Sand. She captures the style and substance.
• Nothin’ but SocNet’s Zena Weist has a great list of other recaps in addition to her insightful musings. She doesn’t just chat about social media – she lives it.
• Omar Gallaga from the Austin Statesman has a bunch of good stuff (with a local spin) on Austin360, with individual panel/party/videos here. Omar also did an NPR segment last Monday which was very cool.
• Pamela Lund on Massively Networked reviewed some very cool panels, which included tidbits of advice from: Thor Muller (Get Satisfaction, Inc.), Patrick Moorhead (Razorfish), and Ben Rigby (Mobile Voter), Barrett Fox (COCO Studios) and Jeroen Lapre (distant-galaxy.com).
• Jeff Beckham’s SXSW Scorecard looks back at the 19 panels/talks he attended, and he ranked them.  Very good stuff.
• RJ Owen of O’Reilly’s InsideRIA had at a great take on parties and panels!
• The ever-good-spirited @technosailor shares his journey and musings. Love the shout out to the Blogger Lounge!

BTW – David Carr wrote a nice piece in the NYT today that tells the story of the founding of the entire festival and it’s impact on the town. Plus his insights about the THRIVING Austin Chronicle, which has fueled this multimedia event since its inception, are especially intriguing given a market where many newspapers are failing.

All I can say is….keep Austin Weird and Geeky!

I’ll leave you with a video from my friend Guy Kawasaki that he did from his Kirsty-Alltop Party. Ya gotta love Texas (especially once / year in Austin)!

I really love Austin, Texas. And it’s not just because I’m obsessed with Allen’s Boots and love to eat at Guero’s and drink margaritas and beer.  It is a town full of smart, driven, cool people and a tech community that has been growing steadily for years.  The music scene is of course one of the best in the nation. Hugh MacLeod visits regularly. And of course, LANCE lives there! P.S. – Lance is on Twitter so follow him! LiveStrong baby!

Next week, Brian Solis (my TechSet partner-in-crime) and I will head down to Austin to celebrate the launch of BizSpark with Microsoft and with our local partners, the Startup District. Please be sure to also follow us on Twitter for more details:

@techset

@bizspark

@startupdistrict

You are cordially invited to join us at The Speakeasy at 7 pm on Thursday, November 20th. The event is *free* but please RSVP here. There will be free drinks and appetizers, so come early.

(Please note these are the boots I bought in March at SXSW and I will be wearing these for sure!)