I have two submissions to SxSW 2009 and would be delighted if you would consider voting for them please:
> Taking Platforms to the Next Level
Companies are finally realizing that in order to find market success they must build their products as platforms and empower their technical audience to embrace and extend their core proposition at the edges. But what comes next? Where is this all heading? What does a platform ubiquitous internet look like? Where does this all lead to?
This is a panel with my ‘professional hat’ on. I want to bring together some visionaries in the platform space and brainstorm a little on what the future of the platform is. We’ll concentrate on use cases, new ways platforms can work and opportunities for doing cool new thing. This won’t be a circle jerk about who will be the leading vendors, etc… at this point that doesn’t matter so much.
> Puppets, Theatre and the Conflation of ’Successful’ with ‘Popular’
Loren Feldman used a puppet to ruin a social media consultant’s career. Every day we witness ego driven squabbles and arguments play out on our twitter streams (often carefully orchestrated between the participants via the back channels). Even Micheal Arrington once went on record as saying he’s in the “entertainment business”. How did our industry deteriorate into a glorified law of the school yard? In an era of economic downturn, what damage is this having upon the rest of us who simply want to build great products, change the world and (perhaps) retire a little early?
Based on a popular blog post I wrote recently of the same title, this will be a candid reflection on the subject of the ego-fueled industry we currently work in and the implications it has for those of us trying to do great things within it.
Although this is listed as a solo discussion (ok, talk!) it is my goal to outline some thoughts and then turn the format into an interactive exchange with the audience for the rest of the session.
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Apologies for the shameless plug on my blog, I realize that such requests soon become a little trite. However, this will be my first SxSW and I’m so stoked at the idea of presenting something!