Posted by Kati Llewellyn, creative recruiting coordinator, Draftfcb Chicago

After five days at SXSWi, it's hard to know where to begin, as my head's still swimming with loads of new innovations, technologies, and ideas. I suppose, then, the best way to go about this is to keep this entry organized & present highlights.

Before I get going, however, I’d like to kick things off by saying this was my first-ever trip to Austin for the SXSWi conference, and, for those who have the awesome opportunity to go in the future (one I sincerely hope you’ll take advantage of), here are some tips & tricks to navigating & getting optimal value from the event that I’d like to touch upon. The 6.5 wrap-up:

• Tether Yourself
  Learn to tether your smartphone to your laptop before leaving for Austin. This way, if anything happens with your computer’s wireless during the conference (my wireless card broke- I was less than prepared), you can utilize your data plan to Tweet, blog, and take notes on your laptop which, during highly informational panels, moves a heck of a lot faster than typing on a smartphone.
  
• Netbook It
  If your hotel is a hike from the conference center (word to the wise- if you know for sure you’re going to SXSWi 2011, make hotel reservations NOW), you will carry a backpack around all day, including to all the post-6pm events (read: parties). Laptops are heavy. I brought my work laptop, but in retrospect, I would’ve gotten along fine with my (much, much lighter) personal netbook.
  
• Resort to Paper
  Smartphone service can be SLOW (or nonexistent) during SXSWi. There are computers in the convention center one can utilize, but there are also lines to get to them. Have your pocketbook schedule on you at all times, as it can be the quickest way to figure out where you’re headed to next.
  
• Don’t Overbook
  I got excited. I had five events per timeslot on my calendar for most of the weekend. I don’t have clones or special powers, so this was a dumb move. No matter how many events you WANT to see, narrow it down to two per timeslot (a backup option is good in case the first event is full) & you’ll be at optimal productivity. Even so, be fully prepared for your schedule to fall apart at some point- go with the flow if it’s taking you in a positive direction.
  
• Be Badge Conscious
  Badges contain your name & the name of your company. Wear them to events where you want to network, and take them off at events where you might embarrass yourself. You know, the ones with open bars. Thankfully did not learn this one the hard way.

Now, on to content!

Going in, I had some expectations of content trends- geolocation & privacy most notably.

Geolocation's impact at SXSWi was highly noticeable even for those following along at home. On Day One of the conference, Foursquare, a current leader in the geo space, reached a record-breaking 275,000 check-ins. On Day Two, they hit 347,000. And by the end of the event, users had unlocked more than 10,000 new badges, two of which, (I think) I’m proud to say, belong to me!

SXSWi attendees utilized Foursquare to discover popular panels, popular events, and, yes, popular adult beverage establishments, where, by the way, at one of which I witnessed a couple in the throes of passion up against a Digg poster- only at SXSWi.

Despite all the Foursquare hype, however, my favorite geolocation findings came from SCVNGR's Seth Priebatsch. SCVNGR is "a geo-gaming platform that enables anyone (individual or institutional) to quickly and easily build location-based mobile games, tours, and interactive experiences that can be played by anyone on any mobile device." And geolocation-based mobile gaming isn't all just fun & games- it has very real agency implications- those on the client development end as one might expect (yes, SCVNGR does license its technology), but inside the agency as well. I spoke with Chris Miller & Ross McLean immediately after this panel and, as a result of this conversation, realized that from a recruiting standpoint, a game in the SCVNGR platform- one where you highlight challenges based on various locations you'd like users to visit (this can take the form of tours, augmented reality games, and more)- would be enormously helpful (not to mention impressive) to visiting candidates or recent hires new to Chicago in terms of getting them involved with the digital space & showing them the best Chicago has to offer according to us.

The highlight of privacy talks for me was not Danah Boyd’s enlightening opening keynote (some of which is available here: http://bit.ly/92kj7e), but the “Making Content Relevant To Me, Here and Now” panel which, most notably, featured Hunch.com’s Chris Dixon (#hunch dominated the Twitter hash tags for this panel). Hunch.com is a service that makes recommendations for people by “using collective knowledge for decision making.” It asks questions & uses your answers + some fancy algorithms to make correlations. For instance, Chris Dixon revealed in his panel that there’s a strong correlation between those who like to dance & those who prefer Macs. There’s your recommendation, dancers. Conservatives prefer iceberg lettuce & liberals prefer arugula. That sort of thing. Hunch.com is fun to use & take suggestions from, but its biggest breakthrough in my opinion is its treatment of user privacy. Instead of monitoring web consumption behaviors, Hunch’s business model is this: users answer questions of their own accord, get recommendations based on these questions & correlative data, and click through to Amazon or wherever else to buy said recommendations. Only THEN, at the final step of this journey, does Hunch get paid. It’s not the be-all end-all of consumer privacy treatment, but it is notable (plus, like I mentioned, fun) and has online click-through strategy implications for clients apprehensive to traditional web behavior monitoring techniques.

I also attended several talks on the issue of spreading digital within a large agency, but don’t want to delve in too deep here, as many ideas from these SXSWi segments are tied in with an upcoming internal presentation on spreading digital knowledge at Draftfcb. If you’re curious now, though, please look into my Twitter content (@katidfcb) from Monday, March 15, 2010.

Finally, not that I know what it IS or anything, but there might just be some information on my favorite talk of SXSWi & more (including beer & food, or so I hear) at Draftfcb’s inaugural internal Digital Technocracy event this Thursday, March 25, 2010. Just saying.

For more information now that’s not shrouded in secrecy, head to http://www.youtube.com/sxsw#p/p for a wealth of video content from SXSWi. And for a (slightly less educational) taste of Austin, please visit my Flickr and/or Youtube channel.

I cannot commend Draftfcb enough for its strong participation in this event (including a presentation by Draftfcb Chicago’s own Russ Unger!). A few years ago, SXSWi occupied only one wing of the four-floor Austin Convention Center, and this year, it engulfed the entire building, so clearly, there’s something to this whole digital thing ;) I’m thrilled to be part of an agency excited to tackle the medium & hope our presence at SXSWi and conferences like it grows even further from this point forward. If you have any questions about the event that weren’t answered here, please contact me on Twitter or at kati.llewellyn@draftfcb.com & I’ll be happy to share more of my learnings. Thanks for reading!