Internet Geek Girl

I get extremely excited writing about Dave McClure. It’s like blogger Viagra. Or since I’m a female, we’ll call it blogger Zestra. Why you ask? Well, Dave McClure, like all my guests here on InternetGeekGirl, is fantastic. I know I am a fan girl – actually I am for all my amazingly smart colleagues – but Mr. 500 Hats himself is truly special.

The self-proclaimed “D-List VC”! [Dave sees himself as the Kathy Griffin of Silicon Valley (except Geeks are his Gays; and he likes it!] Personally, I think Dave is funnier than Kathy Griffin (and she’s freakin’ hilarious). And while Kathy is brilliant, I doubt she can match Dave’s masterful mind and intellect.

By day, Dave is an angel investor at the Founders Fund. By day and night actually. He travels all over the place looking for cool startups to invest in. Companies like Twilio and SlideShare. That’s the inspiration for Dave’s fantasy application – a desire to stay more connected to his family.  Like most of us struggling to balance life and work, we’re always on the look out for new, effective tools and strategies. Mobile technologies obviously have a big impact for staying organized and connected. Watch Dave’s fantasy application and imagine a world where staying connected to your loved ones is that much easier!

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!

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!)

I’ve been a “startup chick” for a very long time. Having worked at early stage companies as employee number 2 and number 240, I have experienced the wide array of challenges faced by companies growing new markets.  In fact, established markets never interested me much (boring!!!)

I’ve guided my professional development for 15 years by one simply rule: surround yourself with the smartest, most hard-working, super effective entrepreneurs you can find. Despite the fact that these individuals and environments can be crazy and chaotic, it has been a very fun journey. Like the road less traveled, it has also made all the difference in my life.

Over the next few weeks, Brian Solis and I will be celebrating our mutual love for startups by presenting Ignition, an event to commemorate the launch of Microsoft BizSpark – a new program for those who contribute to a dynamic ecosystem to help startups flourish. It seems to me that in this economy, everyone needs something to celebrate. It is also an exceptional time to start a startup and take advantage of all the opportunity out there.

Brian and I cordially invite you to another TechSet Series (with some free appetizers and drinks).  We kick off our four-city tour next week in New York City on November 11th.  You need to RSVP here. As all the locals know, that’s the night of the New York New Tech Meetup, which will feature a presentation by Microsoft BizSpark staff. Be at both or be square!

We head to Austin, Texas on November 20th, LA on December 2nd and Silicon Valley on December 4th.  Stay tuned for links Facebook invites and RSVP pages on Eventbrite.

Be sure to check out the benefits you get from the BizSpark global program – namely – software, support and visibility. Hope to see you there so you can learn more and have a great time doing it!