Village Post

#villagesxsw

“SXSW is where you experience the future for a couple of days before you go back home to the present.” — Dennis Crowley Foursquare Co-Founder/CEO

Too true. 3D Printing, Social TV, Wearable Technology, Gesture Control, the Visual Web. These are just some of the mind-expanding highlights of this year’s SXSW Interactive. We hope you were following us along via social media, but if you missed it, check out our SXSW Interactive Pinterest board.

Not only is SXSW mind-blowing, so is the host city Austin, Texas — beautiful, vibrant and eclectic as you can see in our Instaslideshow.

VILLAGE&CO. @ #IABWEST

Post by @justinyvr

WHAT

@IABWest and @saymedia host first IAB Canada West event

WHERE

Guilt&Co., @guiltandcompany, Gastown

WHO

Steve Vranakis, @SteveVran, Executive Creative Director, Google Creative Lab London

WHY

Thursday evening, we had the pleasure of hearing (and seeing) from Steve Vranakis about his creative philosophies and noteworthy technology-lead initiatives born out of the great multidisciplinary minds of Google Creative Lab in the UK.

Of the jaw-dropping work shared, the ones that struck a chord and tickled my creative/social/technological funny bone were:

* YouTube Space Lab Competition
* JAM With Chrome
* Google Web Lab and launched just this week;
* Super Sync Sports

A few notable slide-bites:

* Think user first
* Let technology drive creativity
* Know the user, know the magic
* Launch early and iterate
* Make it matter

We’re looking forward to the next IAB Canada West event. Hope to see you there!

Follow the conversation on Twitter, #IABWest.

VILLAGE&CO. @ #SMWNYC

Post by @meganrendell

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Social Media Week New York and take in a series of fascinating panel discussions.

The sessions I attended concerned topics from the role of the modern community manager, emergence of social TV and this year’s most innovative companies on social media.

Throughout the week there were a few common themes - amongst too many Oreo and Harlem Shake references - across sessions that really resonated with me. I’ve shared a few below and would enjoy reading your comments on any or all of them.

1. As the necessity for brands to be present on social media is growing so is the role of the modern Community Manager. Community managers are much more than social media fanatics, they have to be capable editors and content curators for your brand. As the role has expanded, so have the qualifications, now asking for 3-5 years experience amongst Photoshop and analytics skills. Your social profile is a representation of your organization’s voice and as such should not be a responsibility delegated to the office intern. 

2. There has been a shift in marketing style to more organic storytelling - something you’ll notice big brands are starting to wake-up to. 2013 will be a year where the value of your content has the ability to overpower the weight of an organization’s pocketbook. @JPerelman, Vice President at @Buzzfeed, summarized this succinctly by saying, “Great content will find its audience.” 

3. 2013 will also be a year where we’ll see more interactive programming emerge. With the increasing popularity for social TV we’ll be sure to see more scripted content where the audience is engaged to influence the shows content/outcome.

All in all, Social Media Week NYC was a highly inspiring and rewarding experience and attending has sparked excitement in the Village for Social Media Week Vancouver this fall. We hope to see you there! 

————-

Here are some of my favourite references from SMW NYC. Please comment and leave your thoughts/findings below.

Four Innovative SM Companies to Watch in 2013:

@Fab
@Airbnb
@Amazon
@Netflix

The sessions I attended and were recorded can be found below:

• Fast Company: The Most Innovative SM Companies of 2013
  #SMWFastCompany
  
  
• Native Advertising: An elegant solution of just another paid placement?
  #SMWNative
  
  
• Societal Brands in a Social World
  #SMWBranding
  
  
• News from Noise: Discovering and Verifying the Best Content Across Social Networks
  #SMWNewsfromnoise

Most official SMW sessions were streamed live and the full list can be found on this SMW NYC livestream channel.

#SHARETHELOVE

With February upon us, the team at Village&Co. is looking to share the love in the air. And, while we appreciate St. Valentine, we’re doing it without paper hearts, cinnamon candies or the help of Hallmark.

To celebrate this occasion we’ll be recognizing those individuals that spread their love within their communities. Using the hashtag #sharethelove across our favourite platforms, we will be sharing and uncovering stories of these big-hearted folks whose efforts deserve positive recognition.

We hope you’ll play Cupid by sending - posting, tweeting, pinning or instagramming - your favourite #sharethelove stories by mentioning us (@villageandco). We’ll do what we can to share some of your love too.

Do you know a group that deserves from social lovin’ this month?

TWITTER ACQUIRES SOCIAL TV COMPANY

Photo credit: Mashable

How often do you find yourself tweeting while watching your favourite TV show? We’re willing to bet, if you use Twitter, you’ve done this countless times. There is no denying it, social media has changed the way we consume, discover and measure TV and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

If you caught the Super Bowl on Sunday, you may have noticed that Twitter has become a real-time, public mirror for both broadcast content and advertising. Late yesterday news broke that Twitter had acquired Bluefin Labs, a social TV analytics company that measures real-time audience insights. This is a natural (and exciting) progression for the tweeting giant and one that will lead to further advancements in the way we engage with both Twitter and TV.

With the consistent increase in participation with social media, the integration of Twitter into TV this year will further stimulate engagement and discovery.

We anticipate this acquisition will mean:

* An increase in advertising that integrates hashtags and Twitter use

* Commercials that are steered by hashtag use and created by the viewers, using photos and videos and writing the story-line

* Reality TV shows where every detail is created and steered by the viewers (from who the participants are to what colour socks they wear).

At the end of the day, with a price tag of roughly $100 million, this merger is a big play for Twitter. What do you think of Twitter’s decision to take on social TV?