The History of Typography – Animated Short from Ben Barrett-Forrest on Vimeo.

For those who aren’t aware, Userconf is a conference entirely around customer support, specifically geared to community managers, support managers, product managers, and anyone interested in learning how to create awesome customer touchpoints. It’s put on by Uservoice and CoSupport.

The caliber of the content, speakers and attendees was amazing in itself. But, what struck me even more was the smaller touches.

The fact that they saved all the Q/A to the end, where they then called all the speakers to the stage. Then, they took questions from the audience and social media. It allowed it to became a true open forum rather than a one-sided discussion.

Or, the no pitching rule. None of the speakers were allowed to give pitches. After sitting through quite a few panels at past events, which were glorified pitches, it was refreshing to listen to well thought out content with actionable insights.

Or, the fact that the conference organizers really practiced what they preach. All of us in attendance were in the practice of creating great customer experiences (hopefully). The organizers switched it up and aimed to go above and beyond for all us conference goers. They monitored Twitter and were replying and getting actual stuff for attendees in real time. This included Dr.Pepper, a sweater and even $100 to the crazy group who decided to walk up 12 flights of stairs for lunch.  And how can I forget the free froyo and booze. Special Thanks to Adam Britten and 16 Handles!

The thing is they didn’t need to do any of these smaller touches, because the content was already that good. Did I mention, the speakers included the head of support for Mailchimp and community managers from Vimeo and Über? However, they still decided to go above and beyond.

As ironic as it may sound, they have become the “Zappos of conferences.” In my opinion, they are the gold standard for what conferences should strive to be.

“2013 is the year that we start to think about the unique qualities that define our own markets and how we can leverage industry advice based on custom metrics that drive meaningful analytics instead of a knee jerk reaction that incorporates advice without taking into consideration the wants and needs of our own communities.”

I couldn’t agree more with John’s analysis. The days of carefree social media experimentation are over. It’s no longer about throwing money at the wall blindly, and seeing what sticks. Most brands have a social media strategy in place now. The next stage is all about connecting and fleshing out the social media strategy with their overall business goals.

As John mentioned, there are countless social media case studies and best practice posts out there. However, every case study is different and even the best intentioned advice may not be the right course of action for your brand.

In fact, blindly following the latest “social media guru’s advice” is setting yourself up for problems. And, it becomes even more problematic when you try to mimic successful case studies. (Ahem, all the brands trying to be like “Oreo.”). That’s because what works for one brand may not work for another.

Every brand has a different audience and a different story to tell. Marketers, community managers, PR pros, advertisers, etc, need to embrace that.

I believe we’re headed towards the convergence of big data and storytelling. That’s the holy grail, where we can begin to create the custom metrics, KPIs and analysis tied to our distinct communities.

I’m guessing for many of you, it’s probably been at least a few months. For many marketers, advertisers and PR pros, QR codes were (and in some cases still are) the shiny object that was supposed to help bridge the offline and online world. It sounds perfect. For example, X ad agency creates an ad outside a local mall. Then, people scan this little bar code. They are whisked away to your  store’s website (hopefully it’s mobile-friendly), where they magically receive a promotional code or coupon. Sounds peachy, right?

What’s not to love about a way to find new ways to reach and engage with your customers and potential customers? However, QR codes have been around for awhile now. And, the initial buzz of the 2008-2011 era has fizzled away. The QR code never went mainstream.

1. No clear calls-to-action 

Most marketers literally slap a QR code on their ads willy-nilly with no clear call to action. A good chunk of people don’t know what to do with a QR code, let alone want to scan it without a reason. You have to provide people with an incentive or reason to want to scan your QR code.

Placing a QR code on an ad with no clear CTA is like placing a Facebook or Twitter icon on a TV ad w/ no URL.  It’s the push and pray approach, and that doesn’t usually end well.

2. Poor execution  

Another pitfall is that most are not thinking about the most conducive environments to scan a QR code. Mobile behavior is very different from desktop PC behavior. They don’t have 24” of screen real estate (unless you have the freakishly large Samsung Galaxy Note). They are likely on the go and multi-tasking. It’s a lot harder to get a mobile audience to stop all the things they are doing to waste 30 precious seconds to scan a code. The fact that marketers are placing these QR codes in some of the worst places ever, such as on highway billboards, subway stations/trains, and yes even in public restrooms, doesn’t help this scenario.

Why would you put a QR code in a place that has no or limited WiFi, like a subway station?

Or worse, on a highway billboard sign?

It’s a bad enough that people put on makeup, eat their lunch and text while driving? The scariest thing in the world is to think someone out there is holding up their phone, trying to scan a QR code all while driving 70mph on the Interstate.

3. QR code flawed tech  

Even with the worst execution errors, the tech behind QR codes never innovated. It was another app for people to download on their smartphones. Then even if you had a QR Code app, it could be clunky to use and required a solid 3G/4G signal or WiFi. In the minute it took to download, you could have easily just queued up the website or gone to the one of the company’s social media pages.

Do you think QR Codes are dead? Please share your thoughts below. 

2. Banner Ad Overload

“Don’t let anyone tell you no. . .

Don’t let anyone shoot you down.”

Sometimes, there are videos that we watch that we will never forget. This is one of those stories.

It’s a mini-documentary about a persistent and tenacious paralyzed motocross rider, who won’t give up despite all the obstacles in his way. The best four minutes you will spend all week. Pinky swear.

Follow along with Darius Glover  (@Darius117)‘s journey on Twitter. I know I will be.

1. Have a plan
SXSW can be overwhelming for everybody. Let alone, someone who has never been before and/or isn’t familiar with Austin. Panels will be spread out across the convention center and several downtown hotels. And, the parties can be spread out even further. It’s best to have a general gameplan beforehand. Or else, you may find yourself sprinting between the AT&T Conference Center Hotel and the Convention Center in 15 minutes. Not recommended.

2. Be spontaneous
I know this may seem counterintuitive to my first point. And, it is kind of. One of the best things about the five days of  SXSW interactive is the serendipity that occurs in the streets of downtown Austin. You are pretty much guaranteed to run into people that you know on and offline. Don’t be afraid to throw your plans out the window to go grab a breakfast taco or a beer with a Twitter buddy. It’s all a part of what makes this conference unique and great.

3. Reach out to other people who are attending
I’ve created my now semi-annual Twitter list. This is where I compile a list of people that I know will be in Austin for SXSWi. It also makes it incredibly easy to open up just one stream on Twitter to connect and make plans with people during SXSW.

4. Carry your charger(s) with you.
You will use your smartphone and/or tablet more than you ever thought possible. And your battery will likely die faster too. Having a charger on you will ensure that you stay connected throughout the experience. Oh and if you want to be really nice, bring a power supply or small extension cord too. Power outlets are a huge commodity. This is a guaranteed way to make fast friends with other wired attendees. Power buddies!

5. Embrace the chaos and the late nights!
You are guaranteed to have long days, late nights of partying and probably too little sleep. You may even lose your voice (I did on only Day 2 last year). Just embrace it.

Bonus Tip: Pack for all kinds of weather.
**All of you out-towners, make sure to check the weather before you come out here. It will probably be 65 or 70 degrees the entire time you’re here. But, it can get cold in early March (It’s currently going to be 39 tonight. Brrr.) and it occasionally rains. So, make sure to pack that umbrella. (Everyone, who went last year, can attest to this last point!)

What are your SXSW tips? Please share them below in the comment section.

1. Mailbox App 

Email productivity at its finest. Think Clear app, but for email.

Meet Mailbox from Mailbox on Vimeo.

2. Evernote Hello  

Now, if you have read my blog for any amount of time, you would know that I’m pretty much an Evernote addict.  So when I discovered that they now have a meeting organizer/business card reader app, it was a no brainer to download and try out. It essentially makes remembering people that you meet (and/or about to meet) a lot easier.

3. Dropbox 

Now, this cloud-based file-sharing/archiving app has been around for a long time. But, it always amazes me how many people still don’t use it. Hands down, one of the most useful and underrated apps out there.