5 Key Takeaways from SXSW!

Alas, SXSW has ended, my mother has flown back home, and Ultra is no longer pounding in my head… Now, I’d like to share with you my recap of SXSW! 

Not going to lie, I’m basically copying and pasting what I already wrote for my Firm’s blog post recapping SXSW, but these are my 5 major takeaways from this year’s conference:

1. Content, content, content!  Have you ever heard the expression, “content is king?” Well this is true now more than ever. Content strategy, creation, and curation were covered in multitude. Creating good content is not an easy task, but thought leaders shared some helpful tips:
   1. Create a content strategy that includes workflow, substance, structure, and governance revolving around your core strategy.
   2. Experiment with different types of content: text, photos, graphics, videos – and be sure that all content is flexible and tailored to your audience and platform with a specific goal to achieve.
   3. Write with a journalist mindset. Content is all about real-time marketing, storytelling, and an editorial point-of-view.
   4. Do more with less. Increase the quality of your content, not quantity. And it’s smart to re-use and re-purpose good content.
   5. Don’t forget to use a little humor.
   6. Is your content compelling to readers? Visible to search engines? Linkable to partners? Shareable through social media? And transferable to mobile devices? Make sure it is!
2. Social media is here to stay. It’s evolving and becoming even more personalized. Integrate social media efforts into the entire marketing plan, and turn your employees into your online activists. And how do you prove ROI? That’s still a burning question among all the experts… My favorite tips include creating your own value system, benchmarking, and paying attention to the final outcome of your efforts.
3. Data is no longer boring. Data is now fun, interactive, and visual! All companies have mounds of data that can be interpreted visually to create stunning infographics, interactive charts, and useful, eye-appealing content.
4. Search engines aren’t what they used to be. How do you improve your company’s Google or Bing ranking? There are many solutions such as creating great content, focusing on the user experience, including meta descriptions, leveraging social media, and much more.
5. Future technology is really cool and a little creepy. Creating an online, automatic, and personalized alter ego from online data is already possible. Google Plus Your World is changing and personalizing our search results based on our profiles, searches, and friends’ online activity. Augmented reality is soon going to become reality. Instead of revolving around your mobile phone, your phone will revolve around you. And location-based technology will be even more interactive and automatic.

What did you learn at SXSW? Please share in the comments section!

SXSW – I’m Coming for You! Here’s My Top 10 Tips and Bucket List.

It’s now March 2012 (what the…where did the time go?), and that means March Madness on steroids! It also means it’s time for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival! Although there are three sections to SXSW (interactive, film, music), I will be attending the interactive portion only (for work). This is my second year to the wonderful city of Austin, and hopefully I learned some valuable lessons last year that are applicable to this year.

Things like…

1. Expect 5 hours of sleep per night (if you’re lucky).
2. It’s pretty chilly – bring cardigans, sweaters, sweatshirts, etc.
3. You could survive on free food and drinks the entire festival. Seriously.
4. Sometimes your schedule of sessions relies entirely upon geography – some of the hotels are spread out!
5. Network, network, network!
6. Go to some “personal” sessions for yourself – in whatever interests you. You can apply anything to your line of work and industry.
7. Even though you’re walking around downtown Austin A LOT, you’re also eating A LOT (mmm bring on the BBQ and tex mex)!
8. Take advantage of the phone charging stations in the Convention Center. You can literally drop off your phone, and they’ll lock it up in a box, charge it, and you can come back whenever to pick it up.
9. Talk to the people sitting next to you in the sessions. Don’t bury your head in your phone/computer/tablet.
10. If you don’t like the sessions you’re in, check out the other sessions’ hashtags to see if they’re worthwhile to switch into. Just be careful that its session/room isn’t full. Otherwise, you’ll be left in the hall…

This year, I’ll be conducting a fun Twitter campaign for my Firm – Kaufman, Rossin & Co. Therefore, between March 8-14, I’m asking all of you to tweet @KaufmanRossin and me (@Aubrey_Swanson) why you love accountants with #ILoveAccountants. I’m literally going to wear a bright t-shirt every day at SXSW and approach strangers, asking them for their #ILoveAccountants tweets. I also have some sweet Kaufman, Rossin sleep masks to hand out to some lucky twitterers! Click to learn more about #ILoveAccountants.

I’ve also made a SXSW 2012 bucket list 🙂

1. Ride a mechanical bull
2. Eat my weight in brisket
3. Run 3 miles at least 3 times
4. Gain at least 100 #ILoveAccountants tweets
5. Sing karaoke
6. Late-night chicken and waffle truck run
7. Take a picture with a CEO or founder of a legit (the average American would recognize) company
8. Ask a Google employee, “Seriously, what were you guys thinking when you created Google Plus?”
9. Make it to Gary V‘s #secret_wine_party 😉
10. Tell a stranger, “Save a horse. Ride a cowboy!”

Have a good SXSW tip or something to add to my bucket list? Leave a comment! If you’re coming to SXSW, email me or tweet me, and let’s meet up!

31 Things I Learned @ SXSW

Click the image below to view “31 Things I Learned @ SXSW”

Why in the World is an Accounting Firm Sending ME to SXSW?

Hey “It’s a Perfect World Subscribers”! Read my latest blog post on Kaufman, Rossin & Co.’s blog, See Beyond the Numbers, and find out why they’re sending me to SXSW!

As you’re reading this, I’m hopping on a plane to Austin, Texas (this was written yesterday when I was literally on a plane. I’ve arrived safely to Austin!). Why? I’m attending the biggest, most innovative, tech-savvy, social media and interactive conference in the nation – South by Southwest (SXSW)!

You may have heard of SXSW, as it refers to one of the most popular music festivals in the country. I will be participating in the 5-day interactive and film portion. Each day of the interactive and film section is filled with media-rich content relating to technology, social media, metrics, mobile apps, web development, forecasting and much, much more! This information is presented via panelists, speakers, workshops, book readings, organized meet-ups and social gatherings. It’s actually an incredibly overwhelming process just to prepare for this social highlight of the year! Each day  has programs that run from 8am to well past midnight including the film premieres. Sessions for each day are organized by topics, time and location (Austin Convention Center and participating downtown hotels). But within each allotted time frame, attendees must choose from one of the 30 – 40 different presentations to attend – all very useful and interesting! See for yourself by clicking here to visit the SXSW schedule. The conference ends with the Interactive Awards which has been phrased as the “Grammy’s” of social media. After all, Twitter and Foursquare were launched at SXSW!

So you may be wondering… why in the world is an accounting firm attending SXSW? Shouldn’t Kaufman, Rossin & Co., one of the top CPA firms in the country, be participating in conferences relating to accounting, tax, audit, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), etc?  While these conferences reap tremendous value for our accountants at Kaufman, Rossin, we also want to see beyond the numbers.  Our firm is dedicated to innovation and providing valuable resources for our clients, prospects and community.

One major way Kaufman, Rossin has embraced innovation is by hiring a full-time social media coordinator – me! The Firm recognizes the importance and value that an online reputation brings to our brand and its ability to strengthen relationships. Therefore, SXSW is the perfect opportunity to learn how to think outside the box and be fueled by the latest tech and social media trends.

I will be absorbing heaps of information within the next week, and I look forward to sharing it with all of you. Be sure to check back for a recap of my experience and some creative ways I’ll be documenting my trip!

Aubrey Swanson is the social media coordinator at Kaufman, Rossin’s Miami office.  Kaufman, Rossin & Co. is one of the top CPA firms in the country.  She can be reached at aswanson@kaufmanrossin.com. Connect with Aubrey on Linkedin. Follow Aubrey on Twitter.

March Madness!

In my opinion, March is the craziest month of the year! I’m overwhelmed just thinking about everything that’s going on. Summer is just around the corner and March marks the epic… SPRING BREAK! This will be my first time that I won’t be partaking in SB… Well, in the literal sense that I won’t have a week off of work/school 😦 Here’s an overview of March events that I’m interested in and /or attending! Hope you can join in on the fun with me 🙂

Bold = I’ve already RSVP’d!

• Miami International Fashion Week: March 3 – 6
• Miami International Film Festival: March 4 – 13
• Coconut Grove Art Stroll: March 5
• Wynwood Food Truckers Meetup: March 5
• Carnaval on the Mile: March 5 – 6
• Miami Sailing Week: March 7 – 12
• Mardi Gras: March 8 | New Orleans, LA
• Winter Music Conference (WMC): March 8 -12
• South by Southwest (SXSW): March 11 – 15 (Interactive + Film) | Austin, TX
• Bob Marley 9 Mile Music Festival: March 12
• Wynwood/Design District Art Walk (WAW): March 12
• Wynwood Food Truckers Meetup: March 12
• Calle Ocho: March 13
• St. Patty’s Day: March 17
• Bird Road Art District Walk: March 19
• Wynwood Food Truckers Meetup: March 19
• Sony Ericsson Open: March 21 – April 3
• Miami Music Week (MMW): March 22 – 27
• Ultra Music Festival (UMF): March 25 – 27
• Coral Gables Wine & Food Festival: March 26
• Taste of Brickell Food & Wine Festival: March 26
• Wynwood Food Truckers Meetup: March 26

Phew! I hope I can hibernate a little in April…

For more events and information, please visit my friends’ websites: What Miami and Soul of Miami!