meet real people when you travel
Jared Goralnick has some excellent advice on how to use social networks to improve your travel experience.
And this isn't just a theoretical blog post. Jared practices what he preaches. I met Jared at SXSW, thanks to his efforts on Facebook and one of the SXSW social sites. Now Jared's traveling the globe and meeting interesting people along the way. And he's detailed exactly how you can do the same on your next trip.
If you've ever wondered how social networks could benefit you personally, here's yet another wonderful example. Jump in. The water's fine.
Labels: social media, sxsw, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
1 comments
the caveman has some nice moves
When I was at SXSW, I got to see the Caveman's moves first hand. Now they've built a campaign site for the Geico Caveman, so that the world can see the caveman hustle. You can even download screensavers, and have the caveman dancing all over your machine.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
0 comments
what has the internet done for you?
Irina Slutsky shares the answer to the most important question of all. What has the internet done for you? See some internet famous and other people, taped while Irina was at SXSW. Always cute and funny.
Labels: pop culture, sxsw, technology, webdev
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:47 AM
0 comments
sched.org: people really dig this
Some are saying that the big hit to come out of SXSW this year is Sched.org. You can view the schedule I attempted to stick to here.
People used it to get a feel for what was happening at the conference, to see what their friends might be doing, and to keep track of where they were supposed to be going. It exports to your iPhone, and so much more. I saw it open on countless laptops while at the conference.
Made by Chirag Mehta and Taylor McKnight, this is certainly a tool that has some wonderful opportunities - and at the very least, should be a part of every future conference.
Labels: productivity, social media, sxsw, tradeshow, web2.0, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 AM
0 comments
don't you wish your moleskine looked like this?
Mike Rohde took some really good notes, while at SXSW. Yes, he captured the most salient points of the panels he attended. But unlike you or I, he managed to beautifully illustrate them.
These super glorious notes weren't done after-the-fact. This was done LIVE, during the panels, sometimes even in the front of the room, on a huge sketch pad, for all to see. I watched them myself during at least one of the panels. And now you can enjoy them all, in his Flickr photoset. Amazing.
You should invite him to your next event's keynote, and then give limited edition prints of his notes to all of the attendees.
Labels: creativeinspiration, illustration, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:12 AM
0 comments
what's the difference?
While David, Rob and I were at SXSW last week, one of the events we popped into was 20x2. They ask 20 people a question, and each person gets 2 minutes to share a response. The question for this event was "What's the difference?"
One of the best responses was presented by Thomas Crenshaw, with a video, which just found its way to YouTube. Enjoy. (Conservatives: Contains the F word in it's printed form. Hopefully you won't faint.)
Labels: creativeinspiration, social media, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM
0 comments
the free economy is coming
Maybe you've read some of Chris Anderson's writings about the coming 'free' economy. There was a good discussion regarding the theory at SXSW this week, between Mark Cuban and Michael Eisner.
It's happening. The free economy saved David's life the other day. We had just enjoyed some "nuclear" tacos at the SXSW conference. Rob was crying like a little baby, and his nose was running, and his belly was aching. Then the hot hit Dave. He ran out of the taco area, like a man on fire. And what did he find?
The Ice Cream Man. Not just any ice cream man - but the Ice Cream Man who's on a quest to giveaway 500,000 free ice cream treats. Through sponsors, love and goodwill, it's working.
What could your brand make free?
Labels: branding, sxsw, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:10 AM
2 comments
sneakers as a conversational tool
I'm not much of a conversationalist. Especially when it comes to introducing myself to strangers. But I love sneakers. Really, really love sneakers. And sneaker culture has become its own phenomena - turning shoes into an unexpectedly cool tool, for me.
While sporting some sweet Adidas Gazelles yesterday (above), I met Henning Von Vogelsang, at SWSW. Our paths would likely have never passed, if he didn't stop to comment on my shoes, and on his love for Adidas.
That's when I realized that odd sneakers are my conversation agent. It's a starting point in situations where I might not otherwise introduce myself to people. And it works like magic in a room full of strangers.
Later that night, attempting to meet someone that I only know through the internet, I twitter him to "look for teal and yellow adidas sneakers" at the Google party. Because other than that, internet geeks pretty much all look the same. At the Google party, my internet friend successfully found me, and as he announced that it was the sneakers that gave me away, another complete stranger shouts out - "I just read about those sneakers on Twitter." And another introduction was made.
Today, I'll be sporting my flourescent yellow, pink and green Nike's. Watch out. Lots of new people to meet.
Labels: fashion, sxsw, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:03 AM
0 comments
avatars for your hands
Internet avatars are so yesterday. The coolest people are wearing physical avatars.
While at SXSW, we met John Unger, who among other things, has created Emoodicons - the the first ever mood ring/emoticon mashup. One of those "wish I thought of it" ideas.
(Be sure to watch our continued coverage of our SXSW experience on the BrandFlakes SXSW edition.)
Labels: fashion, illustration, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
1 comments
twitter lovefest at sxsw. Mat says FU.
I've gone on and on and on about the wonderous tool, Twitter.
It popped big time at SXSW last year. At this year's conference, it's the communication medium of choice, too - as attendees use it to share what parties are hot, what panels are interesting, what celebrities are at the taco joint on Sixth Street. Which is awesome, if you're at SXSW, but might be annoying, if you're not.
Well Mat was fed up, and is now getting everyone back. He's at home in San Francisco, but tweeting as if he's here at SXSW. Pretty funny stuff, if you've been annoyed at all of the SXSW tweets of the last few days.
Related, (and sure to annoy the crap out of Mat), twemes.com is a cool mashup of Twitter, that allows the tagging of tweets with the same theme. So you can track whatever meme of the moment might be important to you. The SXSW version is pretty much on fire, as you might expect.
(I just realized that if my mom were to read this post, she'd have absolutely no idea what that last sentence means. Buzzwords out of control.)
Tweet on.
Labels: mashup, social media, sxsw, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
0 comments
this week at Plaid
Here's what happened this week at the world's most 'don't mess with Texas' design and branding firm:
Today was Matt's birthday. I don't know how old he is, but he's freaking young, so he's got nothing to worry about. At Plaid, we love our birthday cake. Mmmmm. Some of the team is at SXSW, so we setup an ooVoo chat (pictured above), so that David, Rob and myself could sing the birthday song along with the rest of the crew. I'm sure that Matt's saving us each a piece of sweet cake.
So David, Rob and I are rocking out at SXSW. What an awesome time. (If you don't count the closing of Dallas airport, and the breaking of the iPhone.)
We found out that a poster David designed for Westport Playhouse is going to be used as a prop in a movie, A Kiss at Midnight with Annabella Sciorra. They actually sought out the poster, after seeing it, and wanted to feature it. I fully expect David to win an Oscar for this.
We began beta testing the most awesome project for Segway. Lots more on this one, soon.
We're interviewing like mad for a couple of positions, and should be narrowing the field down a bit next week. Can't wait to get new fresh faces at Plaid. We're all getting a little tired looking at Dave's ugly mug.
Stay tuned with what's happening at SXSW over at our SXSW Edition of BrandFlakes. David, Rob and I will be posting to the blog, and our individual Tumblr pages. Here's links to the Tumblrs, which are lots of fun:
Darryl Ohrt
David Plain
Rob Biddiscombe
Have a great weekend. If you're in Austin, please connect with us. There's still some Texas beer left in town, and we're not leaving till it's dry.
Labels: iphone, sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:18 PM
2 comments
we're off to sxsw!!!
Rob, Dave and I are on the way to the airport, heading for SXSW. We'll be blogging our trip in as much detail on our SXSW Edition of BrandFlakesForBreakfast. Check in often - we're expecting to meet some fabulous people, learn some new cool thinking, and show Austin how to party.
I'll be keeping BrandFlakes up to date, in between panels, meetings, work and beer. Should be interesting.
Labels: plaid, sxsw, technology, trends
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:03 AM
0 comments
follow plaid at sxsw!
We're goin' to Texas!
We're pretty stoked that a handful of us get to go to SXSW this year. David, Rob and I will embark on a Texas adventure like no other.
We plan on sharing the entire experience with you, sharing found ideas with you, and sharing new tools, tips and technology with you. We've started a SXSW edition of BrandFlakes, which will serve as the hub of these activities. Bookmark it now, and stay tuned for more information and details.
And - if you're also attending, let us know. We'd love to share a Texas-size drink with you.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:16 AM
0 comments
cool promo idea for geek events
Design firm Mule found a really good promo idea for internet workers. Temporary laptop stickers. Promotional stickers that you can put on the back of your laptop for a week, a month, or an event. Mule will be giving them out at SXSW. Sweet idea.
Labels: branding, creativeinspiration, sxsw
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
0 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the word's sweetest design and branding firm:
We visited Segway headquarters!! Met some great people, had some productive meetings, and more important than anything...we got to see where Segways are born. The factory. They even let us test drive an x2. (Which Giuli won't stop talking about.)
I started using AskSunday. If you haven't already heard about it, check it out. Pretty awesome service. Basically, you get to outsource yourself. This week, I used Ask Sunday to research airfares, book airfares for SXSW, and renew a magazine subscription that had lapsed. All stuff that I didn't have time to do on my own.
Our CARPET ARRIVED!! If you've been following our remodeling saga, we've added a new area to our space. Construction has been completed, other than carpet, for what seems like 2 years. Today, the carpet installers arrived, and the space is ready for action. We start moving furniture into the joint next week!
Matt launched a site for A Fine Frenzy, just for Valentine's Day. You can still send your lover a sweet little Fine Frenzy message, if you'd like.
We've started to prepare for our trip to SXSW. We're going to be sharing our experience, with an eye toward what's cool for clients. We'll be blogging, twittering and broadcasting everything. Even when David gets really drunk and starts yelling at people. Should be a blast. If you're attending, please let us know. We'd love to share a BrandFlakes beer together.
We're off to enjoy a nice three day weekend, thanks to some dead presidents. You should too!
Labels: sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:35 PM
0 comments
this week at Plaid:
Here's what happened this week at the world's most superbowl-ready creative agency:
They nearly finished our addition. It's pictured above. The custom wainscoting and lights were installed. All that's left is some staining, and carpet. All due for installation next week, if we're lucky. It's looking AWESOME.
Big news: We've decided to embark on another Plaid road tour, this summer! It's looking like we're coming to the west coast, for a couple of weeks in July. Brian's already mapping out potential routes. We'll begin sharing details real soon.
We were featured in Inc Magazine! Well, if you can call a paragraph in an article on blogging a feature, I guess. Maybe that's a stretch of the word - but we're proud anyway.
A few of us are going to SXSW!! We're totally stoked, as none of us have ever gone before. And we've never been to Austin, Texas, either. Should be a Texas size load of fun. We're planning on sharing the entire experience with you. We're setting up a special edition of Brandflakes, and will be blogging, Twittering, and more live from the show. If you're going, please let us know - we want to buy you a drink!
We're off for a weekend of beer guzzling, SuperBowl watching, and ad criticizing. Happy SuperBowl, everyone.
Labels: plaid, plaidsummertour, superbowl, sxsw, thisweekatPlaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:16 PM
3 comments
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