Internet Geek Girl

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)!

It would have been better to get this blog post up on January 1st. What can I say, it’s been a very busy first 2 weeks of the New Year. Today, one of the most important days of our nation’s history, I am thinking about new beginnings and ushering in a new way of doing business. So the timing still feels right to share this.

I’m a fan of every New Year. This is the time of year when individuals and companies think about goals and establish plans for action. It’s a time of rebirth. It is the perfect time to clean the slate, appreciate how far you have come and imagine how far you will go. I don’t call these resolutions, I just know that if I put my desires out to the universe and I will achieve them.

The biggest change this year relates to one specific area of business I have added value in for a long time: The OPM business (Outsourced Program Management) for you non-affiliate folks. For the past almost 5 years I have led agencies focused on helping companies run their LinkShare, Commission Junction and ShareASale programs. OPMs are affiliate marketing experts with established contact bases that help merchants form affiliate partnerships, acquire new affiliates, optimize existing relationships, merchandise products through the sales channel, activate this virtual sales force and drive revenue.

It has been an amazing experience and I have worked with some many people and great companies, including: Acorn Online, Costume Super Center, Constant Contact, Gourmet Monthly Clubs, Avenue, and many more. In the last year, I launched Affiliate Karma, an affiliate marketing brand focused on providing this important service. In 2009, Affiliate Karma joins forces with Schaaf Consulting to deliver the most premier OPM service in the business. Scaling a service business is no easy task. My partnership with Schaaf allows me to continue to be a thought leader and force in the affiliate industry while also pursuing my interests in the area of publishing, social media and events. There is only so much time in a day. More details on this coming soon!

Stephanie Agresta Consulting LLC is undergoing a re-design. You’ll see a new look-and-feel for my sites, exciting plans for the TechSet brand, and a lot more content flowing from these pages. My work will continue to include strategic consultation in online marketing and social media; producing events and experiences that leverage my contact base and online audience; and online promotion of the products and people I support. I will also be adding more advertising units to my blogs (in a tasteful and disclosed way).

InternetGeekGirl will continue to be the blog brand that covers the people, places and products that I love. You’ll see more interviews with my colleagues, more podcasts, and a regular series called, “Ask Internet GeekGirl.” Affiliate-Karma.com will now serve as a resource to anyone interested in securing OPM services for their affiliate program. You can pick my brain for free and I’ll let you know the solution that I think is right for you.TechSet.tv which is still in the works, will let you know the parties, events and conferences you should be attending each week. StephanieAgresta.com will serve as the central hub for it all and thanks to the talented people at ContentRobot and WeFixWP you will see that site changing soon!

I often look to my friends and colleagues in the industry to guide my way.  People like: Chris Brogan, Tara Hunt, Hugh MacLeod,  Jeremiah Owyang, Brian Solis, Shawn Collins, Gary Vaynerchuk, CopyBlogger, Jeremy Shoemaker, Loren Feldman, Sarah Lacy are great examples of people delivering quality content on a regular basis, in multiple formats to an interested audience. Inspired by these folks, I will get more prolific.

But the secret sauce is the combination of all that we do. And I’m a do-er. As much as I love writing, I love doing. Stay tuned for big announcements about SXSW, web2expo and Blog World Expo. I hope to see you in a city soon.

It’s 2009, and change is finally here!

In the last few weeks I’ve been chatting with my “girlz” about how important it is to me in both friendship and dating to find people who “get” the technology we’re using today… i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc. Not only that, but we all felt like we knew so many incredible single people – both guys and girls – who we would love to introduce to our other amazing friends. I’m here in San Fran / Silicon Valley – the “mecca” if you will – attending the Web2.0 expo, and I thought – there’s no time like the present to bring it all together.

Please join fellow technophiles this coming Monday, April 21st at 8 pm, for a fun, casual way to expand our rapidly-growing social circles, IRL! We’ve planned a laid-back evening with one goal: meeting new people. We all loathe the so-called “singles” events, so this is anything but – just grab a few awesome, like-minded folks who aren’t afraid to Twitter out their most ridiculous thoughts while sipping on an adult beverage (or four.) To make it even better, we’ve teamed up with Engage; they share our views on matchmaking our incredible friends & have kindly offered to sponsor the drinks for this event! What’s better than that!? Oh yeah, plus give away some really fabulous T-Shirts.

And, what better way to celebrate Web 2.0 than to feature some of the more prominent (and single) people helping to define the new Web. Stephanie Agresta (that’s me), Tara Hunt, Pete Cashmore, Willo O’Brien, Aubrey Sabala, and many more will be running around!

RSVP HERE!!

Twitter it.

Facebook it.

Pownce it.

Get it on FriendFeed or Tumblr or talk about it on Seesmic.

The Who, What, Where, When, Why
Who: Fabulous Singles and Their Friends Who Love Them

What: A Monday night kick-off event and videos throughout the week at Web2.0 Expo

Where: Harlot, 46 Minna St., San Francisco, http://www.harlotsf.com

When: Starts at Harlot on Monday night, April 21st at 8 pm

Why: Because we believe in Love 2.0!

PLUS, if you’re single happen to be at the Web 2.0 expo, come by and record a video with The TechSet (a collaboration between InternetGeekGirl and @briansolis) .  Check out the very Bub.blicio.us Post Brian did.  We’re meeting with interviews of the best and brightest SINGLES in social media sponsored by Engage throughout week. Send me a note to stephanie.agresta@gmail.com, to set up an appointment. I can help you get a discounted pass (or even a free pass) if you need one in order to come by to shoot your segment.

Gary Vaynerchuk is good people. In addition to WineLibrary.TV, Gary hosts an inspirational show at GaryVaynerchuk.com that reminds me regularly to count my blessings and remember the BPP. Tonight Gary announced a FlashHoliday (thanks @pistachio).

Watch it here.

Tomorrow I celebrate all the good people in my life.

The truth is, my whole life is about good people and I try hard to meditate on that every single day. The success I have had in business is solely due to the good people I surround myself with. And ultimately, I care more about the people than the business. I guess that’s why I succeed.

To put a list of all the good people I appreciate and care about would be impossible. My friends, family, and cherished colleagues that give me strength, love and support mean everything to me. Really – I know you know who you are. I do my best to tell you and show you regularly. I am grateful for each and every one of you.

Money, career success, big home, fancy car? Means NOTHING! Good energy people are everything. For me, success is defined by how much LOVE you share!!! That’s it. Thanks for the reminder @garyvee.

Namaste my friends (the light in me honors the light in you).

([The SXSWi 2008 schwag bag, designed by Hugh MacLeod. Photo courtesy of Laughing Squid.]

SXSW Interactive is off and running. Characterized by some as “Spring Break for Geeks”, the best and brightest in social media and online strategy have descended on on Austin, TX (which we all know is the killer app – see picture above).

It’s 10:15 AM – the bloghaus isn’t officially open yet, but already we’ve got a bunch of cool people hanging: @davidparmet @maggiefox @gapingvoid @heiko @technosailor @1938media. They just keep streaming in!

Sponsored by AMD and b5media, the room is full of rock stars, refreshments and rebel blogers.

PLEASE COME BY: Get to the 3rd FLOOR and then look for ROOM 7. You can also check out EVERYTHING on sxswbloghaus.com and on the Twitter channel.

The BlogHaus TV Channel on Mogulus will also be live streaming throughout the day.

It’s a furry of activity. Social objects everywhere. Come join in on the fun.