Going to conferences can be pretty hit or miss. I think it is fair to say that you don’t really get big ideas or too many actionable items from attending them. If you are going to a conference expecting an “ah ha” moment or to find your next great campaign idea, you will probably leave disappointed.
The best things I get from these events are what I like to call “nuggets”. What that translates into is a great quote, small idea, cool fact or interesting thought from a speaker that gets written down in my notebook and filed away in my mind somewhere. These nuggets may or may not lead to something great one day but at least at the time I found them useful or insightful. 
Conferences are made for Twitter because these nuggets I speak of are perfect for 140 characters. I hate to say it, but it terms of just the sessions, you probably could have just followed SXSW via Twitter and hashtags and got the same out of it as you would have sitting there and paying for a pass. Of course you would miss all the networking, parties and giveaways, but you’d have about $2,000 more in your pocket.
Here are 38 nuggets I got from the 2011 SXSW Interactive event. Unfortunately most are not attributed to who said them because I didn’t write that all down but these were all from speakers at SXSW so they have to have some credibility right? I’d love to hear which ones you found useful or interesting yourself in the comments. Enjoy!
38 NUGGETS FROM SXSW 2011
1. Sports arenas are the 2nd most popular place to check-in on Facebook behind airports
2. There is no win column for the legal department when it comes to social media, only losses. It’s almost like they want social to fail sometimes so they can say ‘I told you so.’
3. You have to start somewhere with social media, why not Customer Service?
4. Don’t start with too much out of the gate – if you aren’t using social yet, 4sq promotions are probably not the place to begin
5. If you are struggling to get buy-in from execs for social media, point to your competitors to get $$$
6. Put the social media budget in terms the C-suite can understand – “one TV ad can pay for a year of social media”
7. You would never expect an exec to understand how to build your network infrastructure so why should they need to understand every detail/ participate in social media for it to work
8. Throw out made up metrics – align metrics with P&L – “I’m pretty sure I have never seen RT’s or Facebook Fans on a 10k report”
9. The myth of ‘Fail First’ really means no clear strategy and planning and gives you way out
10. Pay influencers with information, early access, help with designing and input into your process
11. When someone says “you suck” that isn’t actionable and doesn’t deserve a response
12. Keep an eye on competitors’ influencers and when you can jump in
13. Create your own Influencers – find heavy users, give them insider info, beta access or direct line to someone at the company when they have input
14. People expect instant, real time solutions on Twitter when talking to brands but when you call a help line you expect to be put on hold
15. There is You and then there is the curated story of You on the web
16. The line blurs of what is good and bad on social networks
17. Social media is about moving fast
18. Skittle wanted to employ the double rainbow guy but they waited too long to talk about it internally and Microsoft scooped him up
19. It’s like you need a fast strategy and then an overall strategy when it comes to social media
20. Yelp is probably the most important thing that small and medium sized local businesses are ignoring. There is more to the web than Facebook and Twitter.
21. Advertising is now in perpetual beta. Always evaluate online and social campaigns and make changes on the go
22. “Every Facebook post is liking giving birth for some brands”
23. Influence is topical
24. No one has ultimate influence over everyone
25. Klout connects lazy marketers with influencers
26. Influence is qualitative, not quantitative
27. Go to influencers to optimize product, not just promote – Hashable founder
28. Influence is a lightning rod
29. The CEO and Founder of Klout never considered ego side of scoring influence
30. If he could do it all over again, the Klout founder said he wouldn’t make score 1-100 but probably do 1-1000
31. You have to know the risk of marketing to influencers – could hate your product or service
32. Giving influencers special treatment doesn’t mean giving everyone else crap service
33. Klout CEO likened his service to Google in ’97 – so much data out there right now and they are just scratching the surface
34. You can’t forecast luck and you can’t forecast virality
35. Kids are now posting their homework questions to Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers and Quora
36. “Dumb people need media too” – Darren Rovell of CNBC
37. The official NCAA guide for players in this year’s March Madness tournament told them not to post on social media about injuries because gamblers are looking for that to gain an edge
38. Social Media Coordinator for a professional sports team is the next great job in sports – Darren Rovell
Please let me know which ones you found interesting in the comments section below. Also, what in general do you think about conferences and the information you gain from going to them? Are they still worth it?
