Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

SXSW is one of the very best interactive conferences in the world. We've sent individuals in the past and we've always been HUGE advocates for the conference. This year we decided to submit some ideas. The people at SXSW have created a panel picker so attendees can select what they want to see at the conference. With 1200+ ideas submitted, we want your help! It will be hard to find our ideas with all the others. 

Follow this link to see the 4 Capstrat ideas.  (or read below) You must register to vote. Consider doing so. There are a lot of great ideas out there.

Vote for our friends at Campfire, too. 

For more information about the conference, visit the SXSW site .  

Here's what we submitted: 

Microsites. Macro Risks and Rewards.
Microsites can boost you or burn you. Extend your brand, or dilute it. How can you tame them to serve your needs? Come hear what our marketing, branding and technical experts are reporting from the front lines - and learn how to laser-focus your messaging without getting scorched.

1. What exactly is a microsite and how does it differ from other sites?
   
2. What are 4 good reasons to build one?
   
3. How do you navigate the opportunities and dangers of microsites?
   
4. Does using microsites as part of a broader campaign lead to brand dilution or brand extension?
   
5. When implementing a microsite, how do you reconcile rigid IT process with the need for speed, agility and flexibility?
   
6. What kind of interactions and experiences make a great microsite?
   
7. How are microsites like the replicants in Blade Runner?
   
8. How do you define your audience, message and success for your microsite?
   
9. How do you craft rules to guide microsite projects without stifling creativity?
   
10. What will microsites look like a year from now?

 

Who Will Check My Email After I Die?
Ever wondered what will happen to your digital existence after you die? E-mail, domain names, social networking content - do you want to leave it behind, -bequeath- it, or delete it? This in-depth discussion will provide technical, philosophical and legal insights on how to articulate your final online wishes.

1. How can I decide what should be done with my social network profiles and other digital assets?
2. How can I ensure sensitive information is deleted or transferred to the correct person?
3. Can I leave my domain name in my will?
4. Whom should I select to execute my digital estate?
5. How can I inform my online friends of my death and share with them my final messages?
6. Can I protect my digital identity from destruction by my descendants or others?
7. Can I transfer my iTunes purchases to somebody else?
8. How can I keep my dirty laundry out of my obituary?
9. Is there a service that can help with this?
10. How can I be sure that big companies (like Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft) will respect my wishes?
    

 

Physical Computing: from I get it to Sold!
The learning curve is steep, but it's over in a flash. Our panelists bring word from the other side: Physical computing works. And sells. Participants in this session will build and keep their own devices from simple chips and inexpensive parts.

1. What is physical computing?
2. Why is it important to me?
3. How do I set up my Wiring or Processing environment?
4. Can artists, architects, designers, etc., benefit from physical computing?
5. Will my clients be interested in physical computing?
6. How can I build my own computer-controlled device?
7. How can I progress from simple devices to really cool gadgets?
8. What are some good resources on the web?
9. What are some good resources that are not on the web?
10. What are some larger applications for this knowledge?

 

Love in the Cloud: Online-Only Marriages
Could two people really share a life without ever meeting in meatspace? We discuss how online-only marriages could work. What current assumptions and apprehensions will seem quaint tomorrow? What are the barriers, and what answers will technology provide? In a world that's redefining marriage, is this the next logical step?

1. What variables must be in place to have an online only marriage?
2. What new technologies might make this possible?
3. Is anyone doing anything similar to this?
4. What variables constitute a romantic relationship?
5. Is presence or physical interaction a requirement for a fulfilling relationship?
6. Assuming we make a prediction for this, when do we see it happening in the future?
7. What populations could benefit from this ability to have this type of relationship?
8. What are the implications of this for society?
9. What would your mother say? :)
10. What are the detractions for this? - (For example, some inhibitors are: Legal implications, Death - transferable implications, taxes)

We decided to celebrate the opening of the Olympics with international food at Capstrat. 

4:00 pm Opening ceremony begins:

• Olympics theme song from YouTube
• Kevin Craig speaks a few words in Mandarin (he lived in China for a couple of years and is fluent).

4:02 pm Veggie Corn Dog Eating contest (to celebrate America):

• Gold: Chris Haslup
• Silver: Milton Irizarry
• Bronze: Virginia Ingram

4:02:05 International Snacking Begins:

• Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies (Amsterdam, Holland)
• Lays Ranch Dressing Dip (Redneck Country)
• UTZ Pretzels (Bavarian region in Germany)
• UTZ Tortilla Chips (Mexico)
• LaChoy Chow Mein Noodles (China)
• Grey Poupon Mustard (France)
• Inglehoffer Mustard (Germany)
• Swiss Cheese (Swittzerland)
• HT Traders Italian Soda (Italy)
• Manischewitz Soup Crackers (Israel)
• Snapple Earl Grey Tea (England)
• Canada Dry Ginger Ale (Canada)
• Moosehead Beer (Canada)
  
• Coronitas (little Coronas) (Mexico)
• Pabst Blue Ribbon (USA)
• Bavaria Beer (Holland)
• Japanese Rice crackers mix (Japan)
  

Of course, our snacking standards would not pass the real Olympic standards. It wasn't really PC, a couple of countries are over represented (Holland, Mexico and Canada) and there are many unrepresented countries.

It was a great way to start the Olympics.

 

For nearly as long as I have been a Flash guy, I have longed for a better relationship between myself and the drawing tools available to me in the Flash authoring environment. That's not exactly true. I really just wanted Flash to be more like my beloved Illustrator. Now that Adobe and Macromedia have embarked down their road to application Nirvana, I am suddenly a changed man. I get it now. It's intuitive. Drawing in Flash has come a very long way, and I'm finding myself using Illustrator less and less.

This past weekend a friend asked me to clean up an image he found, so that he could have some vinyl wall art printed up for his kid's bedroom renovation. I agreed to help sight unseen, but experience made me reasonably certain of two things immediately:

1) He found a crappy web graphic online of what he wanted, which would never, ever work

2) I would need to re-draw this art from scratch

I was not disappointed. Here's the original image he provided:



As a reflex, I fired up Illustrator and placed the image, then broke out my bezier and went to work. After setting about 10 anchor points, and staring at all the repeated simple shapes, I was possessed by an overwhelming urge to run to Flash. I knocked out the drawing in no time at all, but found myself oddly melancholy after. At some point, after struggling for so long against the but-it's-not-Illustrator effect of learning to draw in Flash, I think I got good at it. And now I enjoy the heck out of it.

Both Illustrator and Flash are powerful, effective and robust tools of our trade, and both have their place in my heart. I officially withdraw my longstanding request to have their toolsets merged. Flash has grown up on its own, and the unique drawing tools it offers have grown on me. Here's the final product. Kid's got good taste in music for a 12-year-old...

Who do I love? Duke Corporate Education.
 
You know what I love?  Well, besides diet soda of course, I love the feeling you get seeing a site that you put your heart and soul into finally launch live on the Web.  Dukece.com launched on Wednesday, check it out if you have a minute.  
 
As we all know, working day in and day out on a project can cause one to get buried in the trenches of day to day project management.  Stepping back from the flurry of activity post launch Wednesday night (with a Coke Zero in hand), I consulted the Blueprint to assess where we finally landed compared to where we started this project almost a year ago.  Looking back on this experience, I fully realize not only the worth of pleasing our clients but also the true value in sticking to strategic objectives defined in the discovery phase.  
 
Thanks to everyone who touched this project and to those who make it possible for us to do work that explores the avenues of imaginative navigation techniques.  Each and every one of you deserve an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper.  I’m buying.

Last week Capstrat's John Romano asked a few questions about the digital afterlife .  I set out to investigate what might happen to my online identity if I were to pass away.

Here's what a few online services say about the deceased in their terms of service.

Facebook

"When we are notified that a user has died, we will generally, but are not obligated to, keep the user's account active under a special memorialized status for a period of time determined by us to allow other users to post and view comments."

Yahoo (Flickr)

"No Right of Survivorship and Non-Transferability. You agree that your Yahoo! account is non-transferable and any rights to your Yahoo! ID or contents within your account terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all contents therein permanently deleted."

MySpace

MySpace does not have an official policy in their terms of service, but I found the following in a CBS News article. "MySpace said in a statement it handles deceased members' pages on a "case-by-case basis" and does not "allow anyone to assume control of a deceased user's profile." Profiles can be deleted if that's requested by family members."

Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Brightkite, ClaimID, del.icio.us and Pownce don't seem to have anything formal in their terms.  So, in short, they aren't obligated to do anything.  My digital identity might live on, or it might not.  What is it going to take to bring this issue to the forefront and force the proprietors of the social web to address it?  I suppose only time will tell.