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South By Social Honeycomb SXSW Recap

Amanda Gravel — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:14:37 +0000

I’ve always heard that things are supposed to be big in Texas. And you know what? It’s true. SXSWi was huge. My first experience at SXSW Interactive was full of big conference rooms, big conversations, big cameras, big parties, big meals and big personalities.

Most of people I talked to weren’t able to catch a ton of sessions (poo-poo on you), but I’m glad I was able to hit six interesting panels and conversations while I was there, which I’ll post about over the next few days. These sessions spanned topics from augmented realities on mobile, connecting with and empowering your audiences online, getting girls interested in video games and technology, and the ethics of blogging your sex life. A little something for everyone.

Outside of the sessions, I spent a lot of time doing the tweet-n-greet, let’s-share-a-power-strip thing in the TechSet Blogger Lounge, with peoples like Brian Solis, Steph Agresta, Aaron Brazell, Corvida Raven, Aaron Strout, Brett Petersel, Steve Hall, Peter Kim, Geoff Livingston, Allen Stern, Jason Falls, Giannii, Laura Fitton, Justin Levy, Steve Woodruff, Uncle Brogan, Melissa Pierce, CC Chapman, Loren Feldman and some guy with a cane.

I also had the pleasure of dining on some delicious Texas BBQ at Iron Works with Jane Quigley, David Armano, Kaitlyn Wilkins, Doug Meacham, Paul McEnany… and about two tons of beef. Greg and I also managed to have a date night, during which I had my very first steak and grits at a restaurant. Thanks to Lambert’s in Austin for making it memorable and delicious.

Oh, and then there were the parties. (P.S. I know anyone who’s at Music right now is rolling their eyes…) As photos will attest, I made appearances at the Brown Bar tweetup (honoring Mr. Verdino, of course), TechSet, Diggnation, All Hats No Cattle, Mashable, and UNLISTED.

What a full, fantastic week. I’ll be writing more about my takeaways from the sessions I attended, and I hope to keep the great conversations going that we started down in Austin.

After all, that’s what this stuff is all about, right?

Let’s Say Howdy at SXSW

Amanda Gravel — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I can’t believe March is already here. This means that SXSW Interactive is finally right around the corner! w00t.

Are you going? I’m hoping I can meet a lot of new friends and influencers while I’m there, and connect with others I haven’t seen in a while. I’ve never been to SXSW before, so I’m super excited to see some great sessions and hang with the coolest geeks around, including, of course, the Verdino party machine.

So if you’re going to be there, let’s say hello, tweet, high-five, clink drinks, chat about our work, take some “tiger” pics, practice our Texas accents, whatever.

Thanks again to Mashable for the Interactive pass. Can’t wait to see everyone there!

Sakurako Shimizu’s Tech-Chic Creations

Amanda Gravel — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:32:55 +0000

It’s all about the accessories, right? Right. Innovative artist Sakurako Shimizu has found a way to elegantly marry technology with chic jewelry–this stuff is wearable, clever, and amazingly cool.

There’s the HTML earrings that put your head in between code:

The HTML Jewelry-Tag necklace:

And the Waveform series, that turns sound waves into shiny accessories. This one is a giggle:

Hat tip the lovely Jessica Sutton for pointing out this talented artist.

Car of the Future, or Car We’ve Already Had?

Amanda Gravel — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:34:15 +0000

Via Popgadget, via Engadget:

The Chrysler GEM Peapod might be the car of the future, or it could be just the grown-up version of the coolest toddler toy evah. They look like they’re about the same size, anyway…

You be the judge:

Chrysler

Little Tikes

It’s a Pirate’s Links for Me!

Amanda Gravel — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:17:52 +0000

It’s National Talk Like a Pirate Day AND National Respect Day. Let’s celebrate!

I don’t usually do this, but I call the shots around here, so I’m posting a few links. Think of it as randomly finding really cool, honey-flavored pirate treasure on the Internet.

HP gets glitzy with the Vivienne Tam designed Digital Clutch: when your laptop becomes your hottest accessory

Thoughts on Airplane Mode and (Dis)Connectivity: when does a phone stop being a phone?

Send Your Respect in a Text!: when SMS becomes part of National Respect Day [Arrrrrrrrrrr (e, s, p, e, c, t?)]

From Tin Foil Phonographs to iPods…

Amanda Gravel — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:00:39 +0000

Earlier, Greg told me he had some sort of old-fashioned phonograph contraption, which got me thinking about how we listen to and have listened to music. I’ve grown so accustomed to my iPod and iPhone playing music at my command, on-the-go, in high quality and with great choice, that it’s now hard to imagine a world where that wasn’t possible.

I remember having a CD walkman and a CD player, which at the time seemed so cool because you could choose songs without waiting, even if the machines skipped sometimes. And before that, I think I recall a cassette walkman, on which I would play mixtapes I had recorded off the radio, pausing, rewinding and fast-forwarding the songs I loved when I was 10. Before that, I have vague memories of an old radio my dad kept in his workshop in the basement, where he would play classic rock while he built adirondack chairs and American Girl doll furniture. I had seen a few record albums in the basement, tucked away here and there–Billy Joel, maybe Earth, Wind and Fire–but I don’t know that I’d ever heard music play from a record player. (Greg showed me one once while we were walking around in NYC, but it was in the window of a store that was closed–so, no music.) Long before I was born, jukeboxes were installed at the Wonderbar Restaurant, owned by my godmother’s family in Worcester, Mass. When I worked there all through high school, the music was always playing–Sinatra crooning away as hungry families ate Italian.

I never really thought about music players dating before that. But this timeline from Steven E. Schoenherr (that unfortunately only takes us through 2005) gives a detailed history of how people jammed out to their tunes all the way back to the first recording of a human voice on a tin foil phonograph in 1877. Now we can share music online, start our own Internet radio stations, discuss the meaning of lyrics with people all over the world with the click of a button–hard to believe it all started with a clunky phonograph in the 19th century.

What’s interesting too, is that I associate certain songs and artists with certain music players. When you think about it, technology can drive our music memories. Do you have songs or albums that you think of in the context of the technology you use or used to listen to them? And how far back do you remember? Growing up, did you ever imagine that we’d carry music around in our pockets, listen to it from our mobile phones, never hear a skip or have to fast forward to the song we really wanted? I didn’t. Thomas Edison probably didn’t. Did you?

Vator.tv is Startup Heaven

Amanda Gravel — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:43:08 +0000

I recently stumbled across Vator.tv, which is essentially a social network for startups. The tag line here is “What’s your pitch?” The twists are that Vator really does focus on the network aspect, it’s a place to legitimately announce and share news, and you’re encouraged to upload homestyle video. There are layers of participation, and it’s hopping with great ideas and talent.

A lot of up-and-comers are on here like Zivity, EveryZing, Vivaty, Xoopit and thousands of others. You can browse startups by categories ranging from Green Technologies to Lifestyle & Travel, Internet Video to SaaS. It’s interesting to see what’s going on out there in terms of entrepreneurial endeavors and to then see CEO videos with a boiled-down attitude, sharing enthusiasm, news and wisdom.

I recently spoke with Vator.tv CEO Bambi Francisco, who took me around the different parts of the site and got me excited about how this could be a really innovative tool for startups. From my talk with Bambi, I saw that Vator is super passionate about connecting entrepreneurs, VCs, publicists, etc. with the right people to get businesses exposure in front of audiences who are seeking what they’re saying, sharing, and selling.

If you’re working at a startup, I recommend that you check this site out. Fill out a profile, convince your CEO that uploading some sincere, off-the-cuff videos about your brand and vision are worthwhile, and invite people to your network. Chances are you’ll connect with other folks (who says ‘folks’?) who may become influential in your success. You may even learn lessons from others who are in the same boat, navigating your same choppy seas. At SHIFT I work with several emerging businesses, and I feel that sharing the energy you find at a startup (like what happens at Web Inno and similar events) in one place is so cool.

Is your startup on this site? Invite me to your network!

TotSpot and InternshipRatings.com at Web Inno 18

Amanda Gravel — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:46:41 +0000

I was gabbing a lot at Web Inno last night, so I didn’t have too much time to take video. Luckily, I did manage to capture Michael from TotSpot and the Lauren/Stephanie dynamic duo of InternshipRatings.com with the Flip.

TotSpot is a scrapbook-like social site that allows parents to safely share all things “my cute kids” with friends and family. I obviously only got a really brief overview, but the site seems cute and certainly of interest to new and eternally excited parents. Thinking back to some of the choice photos from my early teen years, I’m thinking my parents would totally use this site to blackmail me… But oh, how I would get them back. Check the footage:

InternshipRatings.com wasn’t presenting at the event, but I’ve really enjoyed seeing Lauren Grunstein and Stephanie Gurtman, two Boston University students, take an idea and run with it over the past year. I met these two at last year’s PodCamp Boston 2 and since then they’ve launched their site and are seeing a fantastic level of participation from students across the country. The premise is that students go on this site and rate/tell all about their internship experiences at various companies across various industries. The site also serves as an advice hub for students curious about internships and career paths. Take a look:

This post can also be found on SHIFT’s blog http://snackablepr.com. (And yes, it’s important to know what people’s favorite snacks are.)

How I Felt About Web Inno 18

Amanda Gravel — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:36:22 +0000

This is so video diary-esque, but I wanted to say loud and proud that I had a fantastic time at Web Inno 18 and definitely plan to attend more of these events. As I say in the video (which is long-winded and in which I think I say “psyched” about 17.4 times), I just love the energy around emerging businesses and startups in this space and I had a blast seeing it all in action tonight. Special thanks to my rockin’ client 211(me) for letting me loiter at their table and help explain their personalized mobile mashup service to interested passersby.

Web Innovators Group, you are teh cool.

[UPDATE: Allen Stern has alerted me that beyond saying "psyched" too much, I also say "you know" roughly 10,934 times in this video. Thanks for the heads up, Allen. This is why I don't make many videos...]

Ridiculosity: The Philips Smart Handbag

Amanda Gravel — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:27:56 +0000

My bud Brian Polensky pointed this techie handbag out to me, and I obviously had to share it here. If this thing ever becomes reality, someday I may be plugging my handbag into my laptop… Sexy.

clipped from www.engadget.com

Bags that charge your gadgets aren’t exactly a new concept, but that apparently hasn’t stopped Philips from trying to patent the idea, as evidenced by its recently-revealed application for a so-called “Smart Handbag.” This bag is somewhat unique, however, in that it has separate compartments for your various gizmos, each of which contain their own electric conductive circuit that’s used to top off the devices as needed (the bag itself is apparently charged simply by plugging the strap into a power outlet). As if that wasn’t enough, the other end of the strap would apparently be outfitted with a USB connector, which’d let you plug the bag into your computer and instantly have access to all the devices contained within it. Of course, that’s assuming computers still have USB ports whenever this thing actually makes it off the drawing board.