Jordan Stone (wefail, sofake), the most professional and kind human on the planet, rocked out the South by Southwest Web Awards again in 2006. His site for eminem was a winner in the Music and People’s Choice categories duplicating his 2005 accolades.

Mr. Stone also won for Best Acceptance Speech for appropriately pissing off all the bloggers.

Our friends at Interactive Knowledge were nominated in the Art Category for Off the Map, but the AIGA Design Archives took the home the award.

~ David Tisdale

The Opening Remarks for South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive 2006 in Austin Texas were awesome. Coming straight out of a 3 hour car ride from Dallas, it was a great point-of-entry into the next four days of web goodness.

It was a funny beginning. After finding a seat, I was finishing up a Flash project for one of my clients in Charlotte when a guy tapped me on the shoulder and wanted to know about what I was working on. Turns out it was Mike Downey, Senior Product Manager for Flash. We chatted about future of Flash and After Effects and he gave me some quick tips in Flash 8. A Pretty nice run-in.

Jim Coudal began the program. His headshot makes him look like a boring guy but he is far from it. He spoke about several projects Coudal Partners has launched including The Show
where a team goes on the road with bands (he mentioned the Pixies Specifically) where they record, mix, design and produce limited edition live sets.

When accepting jobs, he and his team considers three questions:

1. Will it be something we will be proud of?
2. Will it make money?
3. Will we learn something from it?

His emphasis was heavy on the 3rd point. Pushing forward and learning new things was the single most important element for a successful creative firm. He segued into his conclusion that the meek will not inherit the earth…the curious will.

Jason Fried of 37signals followed with some of his opinions about approaching the development of software. When addressing how companies often try to “outdo” their competitors he suggested “under-doing” them could result in better products. Under-doing consists of the following:

1. Less time.
2. Less money.
3. Less Software.

All of which ultimately contribute to a streamlined, simpler product. The only thing he suggested more of was constraints. By adding more constraints on a idea development, the purest elements are squeezed out.

These guys really opened the floodgates for the creative river. You can listen to the audio recording on this podcast.

~ David Tisdale

As I was putting together my calendar for SXSW Interactive 2006 I kept bumping into two key terms that are currently floating around the web world: “Web 2.0″ and “Digital Convergence”.

Web 2.0
A buzzword marking the Internet industry’s transition from the dot-com era. Whereas dot-coms attempted to take a brick-and-mortar operation — such as a bookstore — and replicate it online, Web 2.0 companies draw on the Internet’s vast pool of information and technical resources to deliver new user experiences.

My Thoughts:
Recognizing one’s weaknesses and using resources to compensate for them is a crucial tool in owning a new-media business. As long as accountability is present, everything is kosher…I’m proud to proclaim that this blog was a pre-built application called WordPress.

The implications of Web 2.0 vary. An inexperienced internet business could thrive by using (and reselling) open-source applications and design templates. Developing a conceptual and unique product is out the window. While a new media specialist could utilize the resouces to deliver a product that is far superior, and cheaper, than what could be developed from scratch with a large inhouse workforce.

Digital Convergence
A concept that was born during the dot-com era but is just now becoming a reality. The process by which all these separate media become digital and come to be delivered via the global network is known as Digital Convergence. i.e. Books, photographs, movies, televisions, stereo systems, letters, post cards, baby pictures, billboards, telephones, fax machines.

My Thoughts:
Acquiring tangible items is a basic need for all humans. True, this might evolve into a need for more data and a screen to look at, however, the suggestion that books will be extinct is pretty bold. All information is not on the internet and getting it there will be a long time coming. Go to a library. Travel. Shake hands with a person.

The most important aspect of Digital Convergence is the impact on Communication and Knowledge. Communication becomes easier which makes the world much smaller. Knowledge becomes broader and brighter which makes the world better.

~ David Tisdale