The River

The personal professional blog of Pamela Parker -- musings on marketing, advertising, media and technology.

Social Media

Twitter: The Heart Is Smart

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https://twitter.com/twitter/status/661558661131558915

Since the announcement yesterday, there’s been a lot of discussion about Twitter’s decision to change its “favorite” icon from a star to a heart. So, I thought I’d join the fray with a brief commentary.

I’ve been on Twitter a long time, but I wasn’t one of those who participated in crafting the way the service was used.


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Not Just Gingers And One-Offs: The Enrichening Of English Around The Globe

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This morning, I caught up on the news by reading about the recent terrible accident in Glasgow that took six lives. Most headlines I saw referred to it as the “Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash.” Here, we’d call it the “Garbage Truck Crash.” Sad as the incident was, It got me thinking about a less-tragic cultural phenomenon that I’ve been observing for some time.

When I was a kid, I wouldn’t have had any idea what a “Bin Lorry” was. I remember having to look up words like “treacle” after I’d come across them in books. And books were nearly the only places I ran across such words. I met an exchange student from Australia in high school and was fascinated by slang he taught me like saying “no worries” rather than “you’re welcome” or “not a problem.”

I also remember being confused about the term “mince” or “mince meat” — I thought I’d figured out that “mince” was what we termed “hamburger meat” or “ground beef,” but then I heard about a “mince pie” or a “mincemeat pie,” which sounded like dessert to me. And speaking of dessert, that Pink Floyd song that asked “how can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat!” mystified me a bit, too. I thought I knew what pudding was, but this seemed an odd usage of it. [Read more…] about Not Just Gingers And One-Offs: The Enrichening Of English Around The Globe

SXSW Interactive: Beyond The Hype

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sxsw-squareAs much as people love SXSW, there’s definitely a backlash. Some blame the conference for the ever-growing tide of immigrants to Austin, which is stressing infrastructure and heightening fears about water shortages. Others decry it as just another tech conference, or bemoan the hipster factor. (Can you tell I’m a local now?)

I see more and more people tweeting with dread (myself among them) rather than excitement about the event, so it seems we all need to take it down a notch.

Remember that, at heart, SXSW is still a “festival” — not a conference. Where else would you find panel discussions on things like: “Making More of Ourselves – Sensory & Multimodal UX,” “Unearthing the Atari Graveyard: The Search for ET,” and, um, “Orgasm: The Broadband of Human Connection“? (Heck, there’s even a Ping Pong Tournament.) [Read more…] about SXSW Interactive: Beyond The Hype

Surviving and Thriving at SXSW: Make It Your Show

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Photo Credit: Brittany Ryan via SXSW

I know everyone‘s doing it, but I can’t resist. I’ve only been to SXSW interactive a few times, but that’s long enough to make lots of mistakes and learn from them.

  • Prepare, But Be Flexible. Later on this list, I’ll suggest you disregard your carefully-prepared schedule, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need one. In fact, it’s best if you have a schedule prepared that allows for Plan B and even Plan C.Say, you’ve decided you want to go to one panel, or one party. If something doesn’t work out — and shit happens — be ready to move on to the next opportunity. Maybe you’re stuck on the wrong part of town, maybe you let yourself get caught up in conversation with someone you met, maybe a thunderstorm starts up just as you were heading out — whatever the wrinkle, don’t let it bother you. Just have Plan B ready to go, and pivot.
  • Take Care of Yourself. You’ll want to pack as lightly as you can, because you are likely walking everywhere you go, but be sure to have a few key items: Water, so you don’t get dehydrated. A snack (maybe peanut butter crackers or nuts), in case low blood sugar strikes at a time you’re not ready to go in search of food. And, this year, a small umbrella. Along those same lines, wear comfortable, broken-in shoes. There’s nothing worse than hobbling. The same applies to your drinking strategy (yes, you should have a strategy). I don’t agree with the “don’t drink” philosophy, partly because I’m a bit shy and having at least one margarita helps me make conversation with strangers. But, moderation is key. Don’t embarrass yourself, and don’t ruin the rest of the show for yourself. Perhaps set a limit of 1 or 2 drinks per day, and drink club soda the rest of the time.
  • Go With The The Flow. It’s easy to get uptight. Either you become too married to your schedule — so you spend your time rushing around from one event to the next. Or you become a party-chaser — always convinced that the best party is the one that the guy you’re following on Twitter is attending. Guess what? The best party is the one you’re at, right now. The best food truck is the one you stumble upon when you turn the corner. Allow yourself some serendipity. It’s your SXSW, and it may not be exactly as you planned, but it’s likely to be pretty darned good if you seize the moment.

I’ll be aggregating links and such to good posts I find on the subject, posting them below and continually updating. Feel free to drop more in the comments. Thanks!

P.S. On the beer subject, I’d recommend the Real Ale Brewing Company’s Fireman’s #4 — it’s awesome.

On the Move

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Photo credit: jypsygen

Over the next few months, I’ll be blogging entries with the theme “City Girl Moves to the Country.” Oh, wait, has that been done?

Seriously, though, after growing up in the fourth largest city in the country, then living ten years in the undisputed largest — notwithstanding three years in the SF Bay Area — I am slightly nervously packing my bags for a hamlet with a total population of 1,600. We’re going from a Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood with a population density of 47,716 per square mile to a town with 57 people per square mile. Can’t you just imagine the tumbleweeds rolling by?

OK, so, I’ll admit, this tiny town is on the outskirts of a pretty darned cool, and fairly populous, city — Austin, Texas. You know, the place where SXSW is held. The place with the amazing start-up scene and the burgeoning social media community.

I’m a Native Texan, and most of my family still lives thereabouts. We’ve loved living in New York and San Francisco, but, as the years have gone on, we’ve missed being close enough for family barbecues, pool parties, weddings and baby showers, not to mention the occasional hospital visit or funeral. We want our kids to have the kind of family relationships I grew up with, and have grown to cherish even more as I’ve gotten older. It just didn’t seem possible to give them that living so far away. (With the lower cost of living, we hope to be able to visit our Scottish family more often, too.)

It’s hard for me to believe that we’re at this point, given that this move has been more than a year in the making, but, by next week, we’ll be in the Austin area, with the kids settled into their new schools and us unpacking at our new house on three acres out in the boonies.

As for work, I will be leaving Federated Media at the end of the week (after 4 years!), but I’ll be doing some part-time consulting work for the company and continuing some of the key projects I’ve been a part of — after I take next week off to get my bearings and unpack a few boxes, of course. I also expect to do some freelance writing and editing, and am keeping my eyes open for interesting projects. Feel free to get in touch with ideas! (pamela *at* pamelaparker.com, @pamelaparker, http://www.pamelaparker.com)

Austin peeps, I look forward to getting in touch, or getting back in touch, in the coming weeks and months! Let’s do lunch or coffee!