It's been over a fortnight since I posted about the "SXSW Experiment" -- the techniques our large, scattered group at SXSW was using to organize ourselves at the conference. Time to report back! And what would a good lab report be without a few bullet points?
Textmob: I had high hopes for our txtmob group, but by the second day we realized that half of our messages just weren't going through, depending on the phones used to send them. No good. We switched to Upoc, which had a more complex setup but was more reliable. Still, few changes would have improved the experience. Think of the below as mini-best-practices for setting up your organizational mobile-based groups.
- Introductions: Simple introductions establishing who was on their list and connecting "Upoc handles" with real names.
- Topical: The list should be for sharing information...from "I just saw Lyle Lovett" to "We're heading over to the Iron Cactus". In my opinion, questions ("what are we doing for lunch?") are better asked of one person...otherwise you're venturing into tragedy-of-the-commons territory, and it's doubtful you'll get your answer at all.
Overall, a useful tool. Michael, anything to add?
Wayfaring map: I can't speak for anyone else, but I *loved* our personalized map. I very much like knowing Exactly Where I Am at all times, and getting my bearings before I even left DC meant that I arrived in Austin already centered and ready to take on the city. I even made a similar map for my trip to Chicago, complete with wireless hotspots.
Group calendar: Didn't end up being that useful, mostly because SXSW is generally a spontaneous conference. During the day, people flit from panel to panel, and at night, where you'll end up is a total unknown. It might be more useful for the music side of things, when nighttime events are more structured.
And then, of course, there's the Flickr group. Perhaps not a traditional organizing tool, but definitely an aid to group cohesion...ridiculous photos can do more than all the text messages in the world to bring a group together.
