Well, I had an absolute wonderful trip to Austin (with my colleague Mike Adams) for South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi). Austin lives up to its motto of “keeping it weird”. While it’s weird and you see some things on the street you’d rather not see, I have a whole new appreciation for Austin and the subculture of the South by Southwest franchise. It was an amazing conference that not only gave me tidbits of information, but also a renewed appreciation for Digital life. Essentially, that’s what SXSWi is…it’s a subculture of people that believe in a Digital life and all the promises it brings and will bring.

SXSWi mirrors what we at Empower believe in today – that we live in a world without boundaries and that, eventually, digital will power and drive any and all media channels. These folks have no boundaries and Digital is their sense of navigation. Digital defines who they are, how they live their life, make their money and sometimes even make their friends (insert Foursquare and GoWalla debate here).

To sum up the trip, I’ll share eight happenings of the Digital Life and the culture that I saw and really came to understand as the norm:

1. Bumper Stickers are cool: Not on cars, but on computers. As you’d expect, if you didn’t have an iPhone or laptop in your hand you simply didn’t fit in. And while I had both, I didn’t fit in either because my computer doesn’t have any bumper stickers touting a new site or technology like the one pictured above. I’ll have to get some soon; I just need to make sure I don’t pick any from fly by night companies. With laptops and mobile phones a standard accessory, finding an open power outlet in a room was like finding a hidden treasure.

2. Cussing goes with everything: There was a fair share of “F-bombs” dropped. At first I was surprised because I’d never been to a conference where this was acceptable. I guess I should have known when I went to download the SXSW iPhone app and I was prompted with the question of whether or not I was 18 years of age…a first on both fronts. If at any time on a panel a panelist was not getting a rise in the crowd they just simply dropped the “F” word. For better of for worse, the tactic seemed to work like a charm.

3. Subcultures abound: From hip hop to indie I was reminded of the variety and importance of subcultures in this world. While leaders of subcultures are sometimes not interested in selling out to “the man” (as they put it), they are also not interested “in being poor” (also as they put it). So while they are skeptical of any corporations who want to sponsor them or to be part of what they are doing they are ultimately ok with it. So ok in fact that they referred to corporations or advertisers as “your rich best friend.” 

4. Be interesting: Not only in your dress or in your presentations, but down to the details, including how you introduce yourself. This was the advice of Chris Brogan, famed author of Trust Agents. He suggests breaking patterns. Do something different and don’t be bored, because if you are bored you are most likely boring….I couldn’t agree more.

5. Dedicate yourself to “real time”: Isn’t this what we’re all about today? I thought this was an interesting way to look at the world of marketing. We live in this real time world today and if you aren’t dedicated to it, and to the speed of information that now happens in real time, you’ll get passed by. It helps marketers and brands think about information and consumers today. If brands are skeptical about getting into the participation side of marketing they just need to consider real time instead. It’s the same concept but from another perspective. Real time will allow us to find influence and harness energy at the time it is happening.

6. Hire someone mean: This primarily came from bloggers or technologists. I thought it was an interesting concept. You have all these smart brains with digital ideas and goals to create something cool for consumers. But, in the end, many of them don’t have the tenacity to ask for money – they’re too nice. Their solution was to hire someone mean that knows how to ask for the money. It’s funny, but in a sense it’s true. Many startups believed they were successful because they had someone that was able to be a bit meaner than them and make the tough asks.

7. Beware of asking a question: In every session I attended, if you asked a question you opened yourself up for criticism. While this could be disheartening for some question askers, it was a part of the SXSWi culture. Great debate and controversy was encouraged and no one seemed to get their feelings hurt. The best session I attended was the debate between Mark Cuban and the founder of Boxee, Avner Ronen. It was a cage match and kept the audience thinking. Ronen believes the distribution of video will move completely to the Internet and Cuban believes cable operators won’t let free programming (ad supported) on the Internet win because they’ll introduce better and richer interactive offerings.

8. Creativity is coveted: It was clear that everyone in attendance coveted creative discussions. The first example is battledecks; a battle between people to present slides they’ve never seen before (like the one above) and have no idea when the slides change. This session got rave reviews and plenty of laughs. What a great exercise to get the “right brain” going. And then there was the talk by Ze Frank. It was fun to hear the inspiration behind some of the projects he has created from scratch. A couple that he shared were 52 to 48 and Scared song. It’s amazing how creative ideas like this energize and inspire you.

Well that’s it. Now the task is applying this slice of digital life as relevant to our own businesses, teams and challenges.

Photo Credits
June 5 uploaded by gtmcknight
“Opportunity” uploaded by Laughing Squid Courtesy of Scott Beale / Laughing Squid