Slide 1 of “Microsoft Bing: Behind the Scenes of The Decision Engine”

Slide 1 of “Microsoft Bing: Behind the Scenes of The Decision Engine”

When it first got off the ground, we all probably thought that Bing would suck (and perhaps some still do). But, we’re hearing more and more about “the decision engine” everywhere we go. This panel mainly discussed the site’s marketing strategies and what they did to get Bing noticed online. Talking mostly about user engagement through “cashback” attempts with Farmville (garnering over 400 million users in under 24 hours), viral youtube videos, pleas for video submissions, twitter discussions, and other interactive means, the panelists covered value exchange and user participation.

Branding Entertainment: Brands Driving Content

The panel “Branding Entertainment: Brands Driving Content” took place at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. The experience was interesting with a diverse panel of people from areas such as IFC, Youtube and the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation who talked about filmmaking and the incorporation of brands into it. A poll was held at the beginning of the panel that made it abundantly clear that the majority of the audience was made up of filmmakers. An interesting question was posed almost immediately by audience members who questioned Kent Rees of IFC and if he used branding throughout his channel, how truly independent does that make IFC? The panelists took a mostly joint stance on the issue of branding and its need in the industry to finance and produce projects. One panelist remarked that he strongly disliked the term “branded entertainment” and preferred “brand affinity.” The panel did not shy away from multimedia examples during their talk with numerous videos from IFC and examples on Youtube of shows that use branding in a way that works. The crowded room was full of questions and interested bodies that made the experience quick, yet informative.

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture, comprised of Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School, Alex Wellen, Deputy Political Director of Digital Content at CNNPolitics.com, Dan Patterson of ABC News, Tom Serres CEO of Piryx Inc, Amber Ettinger (Obama Girl) and Mark McKinnon Vice Chairman of Public Strategies Inc.

Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture

 

 

McKinnon, commented on the earlier Republican campaigns saying, “Nobody even had Blackberries. The whole process took a matter of days.” Compared to his experience on the McCain campaign he said “we really had what I call a democratization of politics and… the campaigns lose control of their message.”
He said of Dean and Obama, “They knew how to make technology harness the passion and talents of their followers.”

Patterson spoke to the technology gap between generation Y and baby boomers and said that it was “more of a perceived gap than an actual gap,” and that he has not so much witnessed a real technology gap. “It will eventually work itself out,” he said.

Wellen, made a few comments about how they at CNN look at the shift.
“Politics pushes us forward,” he said. “I spend all my time thinking about integration or convergence… It’s starting on TV and its pushing people and attracting them to go to the web” and visa versa. He explained that the Holy Grail is when they are both being used in a “Two screen experience.”

Lessig weighed in on the 2008 election saying “participation was more than just a cool ap. Participation was something that you thought you were going to actually move politics.”
He warned that if things don’t change with Obama, “we’re going to be extraordinary let down if it isn’t something very different.” He went on the explain that Washington is full of ordinary politicians and “the question is whether Obama will be able to carry it to the next level and actually be able to change them too.”

Serres, asked McKinnon to comment on his recent article about how he believes that Twitter has “jumped the shark.” McKinnon exclaimed that “the problem is that people are confused into thinking that more communication is better communication and then it just becomes noise”
“Increasingly we have to be able to step back and think that the message is about quality not quantity.”

Patterson jumped in and defended Twitter based on the utilization of filtering aps and the usefulness of Twitter as a tool for communication. He cited several examples of his use of it in his profession as a journalist.

The conversation then turned the attention to the pop culture side of the discussion as Serres asked Ettinge to describe her experience of being a “human meme.”

“It’s been a crazy, almost two years now,” she said. “People were asking me about his policies and and I was like ‘I just a have a crush on this guy.’”

She said “I’ve hung up my bikini and put on a business suit” and speak at political conventions.

Patterson commented on the participation of pop culture in the recent campaign.
“Obama branded himself in a way that inspired activists. Obama worked a brand and that inspired people.” he said. “Like Amber, he became a meme.”

The subject of political remixes came up and Lessig remarked on the remixes, YouTube usage and copywright.
“The wide ranging use of creativity in this last campaign are going to force change,” he said and then went off on a tirade against current copywright law to much audience approval.

The panel closed with a discussion about online voting. McKinnon agreed with it saying he thought it was a good idea.
“When you plow through it all, the greater emphasis should be on participation,” he said. “Anything that creates greater participation, I think we should encourage”

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht on Late Night

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht of Diggnation were on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. Here’s part of the interview!

South By Morning Bits: March 12

Holy smack, it’s like Christmas Eve in March…SXSWi officially starts tomorrow!

The team at South By Texas State is in hibernation/preparation for Interactive, which begins Friday with a few opening panels. So as you finalize your my.sxsw or sched:sxsw 2009 schedule, we are providing a few ways you can stay up-to-date with South By Texas State reports aside from the blog:

1. Follow us on Twitter (@SXTXState)

2. Check out our Ustream page via your laptop or iPhone. We will be live streaming content at 1:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday. We hope to gather some exciting guests for a quick chat on SXSWi events.

3. Visit our YouTube channel.

4. See our pics on Flickr.

We can’t wait until all the nerdy fun begins. You can get a head start by going to pick up your SXSWi badge today if you happen to be hanging around downtown Austin. As for me, I’ll just stay indoors, grab my badge Friday and do some live streaming as we wait in line. Texas is getting hammered with rain and a cold front right now. Just to think it felt like summer a few days ago…

We will continue to post previews throughout the day, but for now check out this video shot last night as we gathered to discuss final plans and updates for coverage. Does it look like we need a nap?

Morning Bits: Kid tested, Mother approved

Good morning and sorry for the lame post title… speaking of things I am going to say that are lame, can I get a “what what” for SXSW starting THIS WEEK?

Say it out loud.

SXSW. Starts. This. Week.

I don’t even believe my own voice.
So, let’s all get those final RSVPs in, panel selections made, blogs started, new shoes broke in, fanny packs broke out, and Austin Convention Center emergency exits memorized, cause we only have two more days.

Now to news

• Seagate will be giving out free hard drives via a Twitter contest at SXSW. How’s that for hard(drive) news? Like a riddle wrapped in an enigma covered in secret sauce (thank you, Mr. James), Seagate is revealing little details about their plot to back up SWSXers information. Seagate are either incredibly dubious, or just really nice guys wanting to give out some free hard drives. We’ll see.

• Also, the time and location for the ever loved Barcamp has been announced. Next stop, geek-inebriation. The event will be held at 311 East 5th St (RIP Paradox) on Saturday for. 12. hours. Gratuitous? All in good fun? Necessary? Healthy? YES!

• Apple Netbook? Alright, Newton, take two! Perhaps even with Jobs being under the weather, Apple still has a few tricks up their sleeves. DigiTimes reports that “Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for Apple’s new netbook.” Interesting.

• And in other Apple news, did anyone else catchthe famous “1984″ commercial cameo in Watchmen?

• Finally, popular web video page YouTube will be blocking music videos from Britain viewers after negotiations between YouTube and the British music royalty-collecting body “broke down”. Those British royals… when will they learn?

And since we’re in America, lets enjoy a good British band on YouTube

Morning Bits: March 2nd

Happy Monday to everyone! It is a beautiful day in the Austin area, not only because the is weather fantastic but because today begins the 10 day countdown to SXSW. Here to keep you on the same wavelength are some recent SXSWi related news stories.

In recent tech news…..

Zuora’s Z-Commerce for Facebook

Zuora brings a new billing subscription service to Facebook. Z-Commerce for Facebook handles all aspects of transforming your application to a subscription service. It will define subscription products and rate plans, process customer orders, handle invoices and payments and enable access. In return, Zuora asks for 2 percent of each subscription. 

With Z-Commerce for Facebook, you can:

• Transform your existing application to a subscription service.
• Generate recurring revenue.
• Increase trialability with lower upfront costs.
• Easily offer both free and premium versions of your product.
• Enable customers to change their rate plans and update their billing information.

 

Create Custom Video Playlists with Embedr

Embedr is a privately owned and publicly used custom web video playlist creation company.

Their free service allows users to create custom video playlists from all their favorite video websites and Embed them anywhere else on the web.

Embedr’s widget helps easily share multiple videos on your blog or website. 

If you are a serial video blogger, this tool helps to eliminate clutter on your site and prevent the annoyance of continually scrolling down in order to watch all the clips you are sharing.

Embedr can pull videos from third-party services like YouTube, MySpace Video, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, Veoh, Vimeo, Blip.tv and more. 

 

In recent SXSWi news….

Rohdesign Blog

For last year’s SXSW Interactive Festival, Mike Rohdes created 34 pages of amazing sketchnotes that captured concentrated concepts from each of the sessions.

This year, SXSWi has invited Rohdes to design the special souvenir canvas tote given to all Interactive registrants.

You can find more details on his design concepts and ideas for the SXSW Interactive ’09 tote bag at his blog Rohdesign.

 

Last Chance to Win Free SXSWi Registration

There only 10 days left until the SXSW Interactive Festival, which means it is the last chance to sign up for free registration. Sign up to receive the monthly SXSW Interactive Festival newsletter. The newsletter will include a trivia question about SXSW that must be answered correctly in order for your name to be thrown into the drawing for this month’s freebie. The next newsletter is scheduled for release later today.