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By: Jessica Malnik
As we prepare to jet off to Austin to attend the 25th annual SXSW interactive conference, we compiled a list of 6 smart phone apps that all attendees need to have. Besides the two obvious apps (i.e. Twitter and Facebook), here are six other apps that will make your time at SXSW a little more organized.
With more 10,000 attendees expected to flock to Austin next week, it could be a bit crazy to navigate through the masses of events, panels and parties. Not to worry. Plancast is one of the best apps for finding out about all the planned events and parties that will be going on.
Hashable is an app that lets you keep track of all the people that you meet. You can simply type in #justmet and it will instantly keep track of that person’s name and/or Twitter handle.
It seems natural that SXSW would have it’s own app. Among other things, the app includes a full schedule, a map, and links to all the SXSW social media channels. This is one app to make sure you download before arriving in Austin.
Take your pick or check-in at a both. Both location-based services will be a great asset to finding out about the impromptu gatherings that will pop up at SXSW.
Tip: Since Gowalla is based in Austin, it may be a good idea to check in there.
Bump is another great app for keeping in contact with all the people that you meet. You simply bump your phone against another and it exchanges and stores the person’s contact information. This makes it a lot easier to follow up with all your newfound contact.s
SXSW wouldn’t be complete without a spiffy way to share photos with other attendees as well as non-attendees. With instagram, you can take photos, edit them and then send them to alll your social networks.
Evernote will be a useful app for jotting down notes during panels. It can also serve as a makeshift to-do/to-see list and you can even type blog posts with it. The app syncs between your smartphone, iPad, iPod, laptop and desktop. It’s a must-have, both at SXSW as well as in the office.
Yelp is a great app for discovering things to do and places to eat while in Austin. Simply go to the app and it will pull together all the nearby restaurants in the area.
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Earned Media: The New PR?
By: John Levy
In 1977, legendary band manager Malcom McLaren arranged a publicity stunt around the release of the Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen.” The stunt resulted in McLaren being arrested. The song also went to # 2 on Billboard and was claimed to be the highest selling single in the UK at the time.
Everyone knows getting arrested is a great way to gain publicity (especially if you’re a rock star or an activist), but getting arrested is not, by itself, an idea, anymore than going viral is an idea. It’s like saying, “let’s do some PR that will put us on the map.” Sure, we’d love to be “on the map,” but for what? I’ll say what I’ve heard many publicists say before, sure I’ll get you PR, but you need to do something that’s newsworthy first.
In today’s terms we could replace the word “publicity” with the words “earned media.” This seems to be a relatively new buzzword in the industry, but according to Wordspy, the term “Earned Media” was first coined by Jonathan Alter and Howard Fineman, in their article “The Search for the Perfect Sound-Bite,” in Newsweek back in January 18, 1988.
What is “earned media.?” It’s really just PR 2.0, but it’s interesting to see so many businesses from ad agencies to TV networks flock to create PR or “earned media” for their clients. But just like PR, there’s not always a division between church and state. In fact, the drivers of these intended viral campaigns sometimes resemble advertising or “paid media” with the kind of money they throw at it. Going viral is a lot of work and time is money. The truly viral pieces are relatively rare compared to the rest of the noise that’s out there. Who knows? Maybe by ad agencies simply showing up, they change it from PR to pure marketing. In any case, to be truly viral, you still need a hit.
Just today a co-worker sent me an article from Tanzina Vega which ran in Wednesday’s New York Times. The article is about a You Tube video that totally captures the “get arrested” model. In the video, a man presumably hijacks jumbo screens in Times Square with his iPhone. According to Vega, “[the] video has been watched by more than half a million viewers in the last four days.” The video has also spawned a debate over the exact question you’re probably asking yourself right now “Is it real?” Who cares? It worked. Turns out, this stunt is part of a promotion for a new film set to be released later this year. The answer, by the way is no.
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, iPhone, iPad and Android, etc., these are all great media platforms, but the game is still pretty much the same. You have to get yourself arrested and create buzz. That’s the way to set a Guinness World record for adding one million twitter followers in 24 hours. Just ask Charlie Sheen.
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By: Jessica Malnik
The SXSW interactive conference may be over. But if you are lucky enough to still be in Austin, there are still plenty of great film screenings and music concerts to attend.
Our Click 3X creative team’s work will be displayed on the big screen during the SXSW music festival. The documentary, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, will be shown at 12 p.m. on Thursday, March 17 at the Boyd Vance Theater, which is located at 1165 Angelina Street.
The Story of Fishbone documents the highs and lows of a Los Angeles punk-funk-ska band. The band helped paved the way for future punk-rock bands in the 1990s and 2000s.
“With a blistering combination of punk and funk they demolished the walls of genre and challenged the racial stereotypes and political order of the music industry and the nation,” said Levy Anderson, Film Director. “Telling it like it is, the iconic Laurence Fishburne narrates Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, a story about music, history, fear, courage and funking on the one.”
The Click 3X team was brought in early in the process to help with the animation and visual design and effects process. Creative Director Steve Tozzi said the majority of the work involved cell animation.
“Cell animation is when you are drawing and coloring every frame,” Tozzi said. “It could take you 3 weeks to do one half of a frame.”
The idea for doing cell animation was inspired by the hit 1980s comedy cartoon show, Fat Albert.
“I think the band is one of my favorite bands,” Tozzi said. “The film really encapsulates what goes on with them and where they are now. I think it is a good fit for SXSW.”
Will you be watching the music documentary at SXSW on Thursday? If so, share your thoughts on the comments section below.
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Click 3X worked on the newly released spot for MTV in conjunction with Obama’s anti-bullying campaign. At the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, Obama stated, “MTV is leading a new coalition to fight bullying online, and they’re launching a series of ads to talk about the damage that’s done when kids are bullied for the color of their skin or their religion or being gay or just being who they are.” Click is proud to be a part of this anti-bullying initiative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KsGTIeO7A” title=“Watch the video here”>Watch the video here
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There is a lot of time, filming and editing that goes into making one thirty second television spot. We are giving you a behind the scenes look at the making of a television spot we did with Uproar for Topps Baby Bottle Pop Rattlerz. The shoot was a live concert with the band Kicking Daisies. The band turns into CGI animated characters and trash the stage in true rockstar fashion. We simulated the falling instruments by shooting them falling individually and adding them in post production.
Directed by: Mark Szumski; Uproar Agency Producer: Amy Shore
