17 posts categorized "Web/Tech"
Sunday, March 14, 2010
SXSW Interactive Sketchnotes 08 - @soupiset ((tag: #sxsw, #sketchnotes, #viznotes, #newpublishing)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
SXSW Interactive Sketchnotes 02 - @soupiset ((tag: sxsw, sketchnotes, viznotes)
[Sent from my iPhone]
Paul Soupiset
Toolbox Studios, Inc.
454 Soledad Street, Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78205
210.225.8269 x102
877.225.8205
210.225.8200 fax
210.787.8968 cell
[email protected]
http://toolboxstudios.com
Where ideas work.
SXSW Interactive Sketchnotes - @soupiset ((tag: sxsw, sketchnotes, viznotes)
[Sent from my iPhone]
Paul Soupiset
Toolbox Studios, Inc.
454 Soledad Street, Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78205
210.225.8269 x102
877.225.8205
210.225.8200 fax
210.787.8968 cell
[email protected]
http://toolboxstudios.com
Where ideas work.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
SXSW Redux: six takeaways for youth media publishers, designers, game developers and marketers
six takeaways for youth media publishers,
designers, game developers and marketers:
click to see my original post at Toolbox Studios' blog:
6. Teens [still] don't Tweet.
While Twitter was hands down "the" tool at this year's SXSW Interactive
(and one we recommend be part of any company's corporate communication
plan... see more at #5), the 140-character micro-blog trend isn't being
as eagerly adopted by teens. Anastasia Goodstein's YPulse teen panel
again validated this hunch: You're just not going to reach a majority
of 14-to-18 year olds with the über backchannel. Better to occupy the
mobile space and MySpace. Facebook is there as well, but the "I wanna
customize my
space" fave MySpace is still top dog among this cohort. Should be
interesting to see how this trend develops as Facebook and Twitter
continue to dominate and grow the microblogging/lifestreaming space.
5."Not making plans is so totally Web 3.0." — this line from Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, framed a second, related truism—Twitter was clearly still the rockstar and darling of sxswi. As McCarthy pointed out, when lines to get into parties at the Austin confab got too long, flash-mob intelligence via Twitter created new meetups, new parties, on the fly.
With a multitude of third-party tools and add-ons, Twitter offers increased freedom and mobility to stay on top of news and events in whatever niche you're interested in following.
And to those following the youth crowd, just because they aren't all on Twitter (yet), that doesn't mean their socializing isn't happening on the net—teens are embracing MySpace and Facebook, but moreover, they're embracing the relationships emerging from those connections. As Harvard fellow and youth media scholar Dana Boyd points out, "We have this belief that kids are just addicted to social network sites. If anything, they’re addicted to their friends. This “addiction” to friends is precisely what makes social networks so important, especially for tweens, who are more limited in their socializing options (until they can drive). There’s school, extracurriculars and the movie theater on the weekends, but with social networking they can be sure not to miss a single OMG moment.”
4. Get out of the way and let your audience explore. Interestingly, this reminder came out of an interactive game development session, although it was emphasized in later Web 2.0 panels as well. As one gaming expert stated, "the complexity of our gaming interfaces should level up with our users as they proceed [with gameplay]." The key idea here seems completely intuitive, but it found new currency with me at the Playing On! Interface Lessons from Games session: when we design games, instead of front loading the game with tutorials or a discursive set of rules, we should allow the player to start gameplay and learn progressively.
In the 2.0 panels, this prioritization of the audience surfaced more in the context of public relations and customer management. With social media, we all know you can't exert control over everything online as you once could. You can't play by the same rules, either. You have to learn to listen to the conversation, insert yourself/your company genuinely, and be okay that you can't predict or dictate the outcome. You can only monitor and react to it.
3. Design is still king. Evidenced everywhere I turned. Good design creates context. Good branding creates curiosity, loyalty, buzz and desirability. Too many examples to name. Okay, maybe one: Alex Bogusky's B-cycle (bicycle sharing) initiative.
2. It's all about R&R. Not rest and relaxation, but rewards and reputation. A fascinating seminar borrowed from the language of game playing mechanics and found parallels to be brought to bear in all of our social media apps. Rewards will need to move beyond simple point-tallying and actually show bling for levels attained (exemplary games display which level a user has achieved, which in turn earns him/her instant street-cred). The best of these apps incorporate some kind of collecting mechanism as well—a metaphoric trophy case—to show off those accumulated points. Whether it's medals on an army officer's uniform, merit badges on a girl scout's sash, or a collection of karate level belts, humans collect visual indicators of our advancement. Finding creative ways to do this on the application level rewards your avids, and offers a clear path for noobs who want to engage with your brand.
1. A Social Vote for Change Probably the most memorable session I went to was a lunch at Stubb's BBQ, where the topic was "Social Media for Social Change" — a lot was said about the distinction between using social media for charity and using the same tools to effectuate actual social, systemic, societal, or institutional change. 700 people RSVPd for this lunch. I was lucky to arrive early, which means I got in the door, actually ate a great brisket lunch (ironically/awkwardly eating my BBQ sitting next to two new friends who work at PETA2), and settled in for the conversation. The panelists included pioneer Beth Kanter, David Armano, Scott Goodstein, Stacey Monk, James Young and Randi Zuckerberg. For an engaging overview of the conversation, read Kanter's brilliant summary blogpost here.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Liveblogging from SXSW
Greetings from the TechSet Blogger Lounge here at SXSW. I'm taking a brief rest here before attending a 3:30 breakout session. We just heard Zappos CEO give an opening keynote. I've been livecasting some of my comments on Twitter (follow me @soupiset). Anyway, just wanted to say hello to my readers, to let you know that you can follow me on twitter, and I'll try and give a wrapup sometime soon.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
another good use of webcams
Besides Shannon's tracking of elephants and zebras in Africa, another good use of webcams I've recently found is checking ferry arrivals and departures via ferrycam.com. My friend Scott lives on Bainbridge Island and rolls his motorcycle onto the Bainbridge/Seattle Ferry every weekeday morning to commute.
I needed to talk to him this morning, but wanted to wait to call until he was on the ferry for a nice, long, uninterrupted non-throttled phonecall. So I perched myself (okay, I was multi-tasking) in front of the webcam site (you can get frequent manual screen refreshes which is cool) and got to "see my ship come in."
Although the Slip#3 Seattle-side cam is working (see spider, right), the requisite Bainbridge-side webcam was on the fritz; however, I think I caught Scott exiting the ferry on his crotchrocket. So I waited a few more minutes and got him in the office. How's that for technologically timing a phonecall to avoid causing a motorcycle swerve? Thus endeth todays technology report.
We used to have one (webcam, not motorcycle) pointed at us whilst working, and another on the Riverwalk years ago in the earlier days at the studio)
unrelated: had a great lunch with Jeremy today. what a neat guy.
fleas navidog.
Monday, December 19, 2005
shot (herd) round the world
george and shannon pointed their readers to the Kruger National Park Webcam in South Africa, updated every 30 seconds. So I just geeked out: I caught some wildlife when I checked the site (thanks to that crazy spherical planet we live on, it's morning waterhole time there, as I'm getting ready to go to bed), thanks Africa, thanks George, thanks Shannon, goodnight moon.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
laptopscreenrip
the Powerbook G4 you've seen me using recently was a loaner from my studio. i was always a little nervous carrying it out and about. and as careful as i could be. or not: a few weeks ago what must be a small tear in the LCD monitor membrane (subcutaneous). It only affected a small corner of the screen and looked like the beginining of a windshield crack under the surface... Well, a few days go by. I plug it in again this morning and it has continued across the screen (so, the windshield metaphor was truer than i had realized). see my artist's representation here. half of the laptop is now unusable. ack.
has anyone else ever seen this? rob (the owner of the studio) was very gracious about this. but yikes.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
ICC Calibration
Ahhhh.
Just got my monitors (Apple Cinema Display 15" and 23") calibrated by one of the best in the business. Scott calibrates NASA monitors as well as Texas Monthly Magazine, Motorola, Budweiser, etc. Good enough for me. He also calibrated our EPSON 7000 and 9600 the last few days, as well as all the other monitors in-house. Toolbox has been an ICC (International Color Consortium) calibrated environment for quite a few years now. Most of our vendors are as well.
I also got chided for not having a neutral (gray) desktop pattern, as it affects color perception. For those who care, I just moved to a neutral, slate grey desktop pattern.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Paul Soupiset
Paul Soupiset is a graphic designer, illustrator, songwriter, liturgist, youth media consultant, journalist, mentor, typophile, husband, father, and self-described armchair theologian who lives in San Antonio, Texas, USA, with his wife Amy and four children.
Recent Comments