Jason’s Top 10 SXSW Take Aways

The dust has settled from SXSW 2011. I’ve had a chance to catch up on email, get over the conference crud I brought back, and my hearing in my right ear is slowly returning, so I thought now would be a good time to share some of the things that I learned at SXSW with you.

The great news is that you can read a full description of each session and podcasts from several of the sessions mentioned below are already posted online. To listen to them, just click the link and look for the embedded audio player. Not quite as good as being there, but a lot cheaper (and less risk of hearing loss).

1.  You have to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a core principle of your business if you want it to succeed. — Your Business + Social Mission = Happiness + Ka-Ching

2. CSR is good, BUT CSR is shallow and anti-political which leads to...the conflation of market and public concerns, which leads to… public failure. — Be Evil: Does Corporate Responsibility Matter?

3. Design inspiration comes from four sources: Man, The Many, The Machine, and Momma (Mother Earth). — "It's Nature's Way": Innovative Tech Design Through Biomimicry

4. More kids would try to become class valedictorian if it was called “Dark Paladin Level 20.” — Keynote from Seth Priebatsch

5. What is “age appropriate” is a constantly shifting target. Creating a hierarchy is imperative for children under six, but older kids want to see everything up front. — Designing Stuff Kids Will Use and Love

6. Cross-browser/platform/medium web design is simple with media queries and a little “fancy” JavaScript. — One Codebase, Endless Possibilities: Real HTML5 Hacking

7. The six key factors that affect online influence are bandwidth (frequency of posting), relevance, timing, channel alignment, and confidence (trust in source). — The Science of Influence

8. You have to introduce all of the major characters in the first 45 minutes of a movie or you will lose your audience. — Of Fanboys & Fidelity - Adapting Comics For Broad Audiences

9. Google Refine is a great tool for cleaning up data sets. — Why Visualizing Government Data Makes Taxpayers Happy

10. When tackling “Wicked” social problems, it’s important to pick an agreed upon point on the horizon for everybody to move towards. — From an impromptu un-conference that sprung up after a speaker didn’t show up for their session on innovation and government.