Tuesday, October 13, 2009

SXSW - Shoes and Canadians

I've done the music. I've done the films. I've never done interactive. I've heard the buzz, however, and think this is an important convergence of ideas indeed. Here are a couple of intriguing speakers from the past that I chose to take a look at:

Tony Hsieh – CEO, Zappos.com - 2008 SXSW panelist
As the head of an online company that’s been named one of Fortune’s 100 best to work for, it’s hard not to take note of Tony Hsieh’s words of wisdom. Zappos is known for turning out satisfying products (shoes!), excellent customer service and treating their employees well by including them in the decision-making process, among other things. As a company Zappos has kept up with all the social media developments (blogs, twitter, etc…) and maintained a dedication to old-school values that make the customer happy. It seems this kind of combo is what success in 21st century business is all about.

Lauren Bacon – raisedeyebrows.com – 2007 SXSW panelist
Her site name intrigued me so I looked her up – it turns out that’s the goal of Lauren Bacon’s work. She is the co-founder of a web design service for nonprofit, government and progressive business sectors. She and her partner have built their business to include several designers and web experts. They advertise their services to include online strategies and long-term communications planning, which seems to include everything from visual design to more subtle content decisions and general business plans. A women-powered, Canadian web service who seems to be tearing it up online? Of course they showed up at South by.

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