A Video: I35

I35 in Austin Texas at 10pm. Eery. Fascinating. Hypnotizing. Soothing.

A video: Impressions from SXSW Tower Showcase

Wow. Totally cool. The Tower Showcase @ SXSW. Great bands, tons of people everywhere - greate vibe. Too much beer. Took a little long to post it. Oh well.



I don't know about iMovie... it took about 90 minutes to render the movie to a .mov file. That's nuts.

Are you bored?

I sure am not. I'm busy with all kinds of stuff.

So who is bored? Who has time for videos, podcasts, chatting, finding new friends online, going through user profiles etc etc etc?

Let me guess: Kids in School and College. Who else? Can't think of anybody else.

So what does that mean? Who's the target audience for consumer social media?

Kids. School kids. College kids.

Or am I missing something here?

Quick Release Cycles

Great post here on why quick release cycles are becoming more and more important.

I really can relate to that - it's all about getting in there and doing it. I have never been a fan of writing business plans mapping out everything from start to finish. You can't really know what you're going to do until you're actually doing something.

You do, however, need to have a general strategy/idea of what you're doing, who you're targeting and what in the heck it will be that will get your users to tell their buddies about what your doing. The viral thing is soooo vital these days - what startup can afford the funnel model. I really liked Seth Godin's talk at Google where he spoke about tipping the funnel. You've got to come up with something that your users will talk about in the first place. And then keep them talking by keeping them happy and adding in new amazing stuff all the time.

Not an easy task.

The Sound of ZZZ

Wow. These guys rule. Dan and Bjorn. They're from Amsterdam - play the wildest music - are awesome live and are the coolest guys. I interviewed them at the Tower showcase... it'll be online soon. Here.

Listen. Here. Here. And Here. I'm listening.

Check out the sexy tunez by zZz, the Sleaze Steamin' Locomotive from Amsterdam. Organ 'n drums is all it takes to give you that zZz feeling...

Towerpod.com by Uta!

Check it out - towerpod.com - design by Uta.

Uta & I at SXSW

Had to add this - a photo of us at SXSW from JD

My iRiver @ SXSW

Wow. My (old model) iRiver really did a great job. We interviewed about 1000 bands (hardly anything is uploaded yet, probably monday) - and it worked great.



I've got to warn you - don't buy the new iRiver (T30) - it only has a line in so you can't just plug a mic into it - you have to use the built-in one. Can't really say if that mic sucks or not - probably does.

Tower Showcase @ SXSW

Wow - more bands, more interviews - more great music, more great bands, more great people.

My head hurts.


That's Me!


That's Uta!


Bill, Morty & Dave


Ok Go & Sonny


ZZZ From Amsterdam - OMG - They're absolutely amazing.


Twin-A


Isobel

SXSW Music Video Mashups @ Outhink.com

You've got to check out the music video mashups at outhink.com. The music is from bands featured at the SXSW IODA showcase - the videos are from the coolest video bloggers. They are soooooo well done!

SXSW Band Interviews & Music @ Towerpod.com

Yeah! Just finished the 6th show! Listen to them all at towerpod.com.

JD and I interviewed these bands:

Dengue Fever
Heavyweight Dub Champion
Magneta Lane
Oranger
Phosophorescent
The Cuts
The Herms
The Mutts
The Teeth
Tina Dico

The thing that really amazes me is that they are all absolutely wonderful people. ALL OF THEM! I don't know why I'm amazed - maybe people are always nice when you show interest in what they're doing... but I suspect that they are all just nice, amazing and cool people. Period.

Off to the Tower showcase tonight - more bands, more interviews, more great music, more great people! SXSW rules!

SXSW - Interviewing bands

Yeah! Interviewed tons of great bands here at SXSW in Austin from the IODA showcase. Check out the photos - the interviews JD and I have been doing will be up soon at towerpod.com.

More showcases and hopefully interviews today, tomorrow and Saturday. I'm Lovin' it!


Outhink Media with Dave, JD and myself




Phosphorescent


Magneta Lane


JD & Tina Dico


The Mutts


Heavyweight Dub Champion

Alternative Chris Podcast @ Towerpod.com

Yeah! I'm Alternative Chris on Towerpod.com. I love it. I love the music. I love the bands. Love Love Love. Yup!

Make it up as you go along

Found this here. Snippets from SXSW. This is how I work. Don't like it? Tough.

Make it up as you go along. You're in a much better place to make a decision when you're in it, than when you're planning.

SXSW & Towerpod

Wow. Towerpod is up and it's looking great! It's Tower Record's podcasting site. Check out all the podcasts including mine!

Heading to SXSW tomorrow - I'll be interviewing some bands at the IODA showcase and posting other reports at towerpod. That'll be soooo much fun - really look forward to it.

Pancakes

Ok, now you got me started.

Pancaked organizations. Good idea. Bad idea. Whatever.

Let's take cars: You have an assembly line. Are you telling me that the guys installing the windshields are supposed to be discussing money with the guys in finance?

Ok, bad example. How about media. Is the guy cutting deals with the major labels supposed to be talking to the guy pushing the buttons on the Pro Tools rig? Sure, maybe about the weather, but I'm not quite so sure about what else. There has got to be some sort of mechanism in place that somehow sets a direction, a strategy. Can everybody in an organization be involved in all the discussions? Or do the people who happen to be at the water cooler make the decisions?

Could somebody please tell me how this pancake thing is supposed to work?

Oh - wait - I get it - a pancake has all sorts of layers.... maybe that's a clue....

Well, I'm off to bed. Ahhhhhh - pancakes with maple syrup in the morning! Yummmmmmm!