Vanguard at SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is one of the hottest places to be each year for people interested in innovation, music, education, and technology. At Vanguard, we are excited that four workshops we proposed for the 2013 conference in Austin have made it into the first round of voting! Our workshops are designed to empower change makers to communicate their passion effectively and take action to make the world a better place. While several factors determine whether or not we head to Austin next spring, 30 percent of our score counts on your vote. You can let the judges know you want to hear from Vanguard at SXSW through the Panel Picker.
What does that even mean? Watch the video below, visit the SXSW Panel Picker, register, search for “Vanguard Communications,” and, pick us, maybe? Voting is open until Tuesday, September 4.
Our Panel Topics:
Storytelling
“But Officer…” Stories to Convince Skeptics
Description: Whether you’re pulled over at a traffic stop or trying to turn an elephant into a donkey, you have less than a minute to make your case. In the interactive space, you have only seconds. In those seconds, you have to make people like you, tell your story, motivate action and keep them coming back. Whew! This workshop will introduce you to the ART of persuasive storytelling. You’ll walk away ready to bring your cause or issue to life in any medium.
URL: http://bit.ly/PaFecn
Evaluation
Judgment Day: Can You Defend Your Life’s Work?
Maria Rodriguez and Karen McDonnell
Description: The interactive world is bursting with ways to count things—followers, friends, fans, likes, retweets, hashtags, and plus ones (some things count more than others, huh?). But what are you really measuring–and how do you know that your hard work is making any difference? Interactive campaigns—at least the most successful ones—are about more than just reach. They’re most effective when they’re crafted to achieve realistic goals and objectives and monitored for outcomes and impact.
Evaluation gives credence to your work. It can be your best advocate when determining audiences, messages and strategies — particularly those strategies that cost a lot of money. It also doesn’t have to be difficult. Our experienced, dynamic measurement duo will talk about some of the easy approaches to assessing your progress and share their experiences measuring the world’s most critical issues.
URL: http://bit.ly/PVr4b1
Digital Engagement
Partying for Purpose: Digital Engagement Strategy
Description: #workhardplayhard. My mantra. But how do we party at work and have impact at the same time? How do we add meaning to social conversations about celeb gossip and breaking news? By creating a social party that people care about. That’s how.
While blog parties may seem so 2008, social parties are where it’s at. This session will explore the applied lessons from blog parties for mental health turned social. While social and mental health may seem like an odd couple, the right party planner puts them on the red carpet, hand-in-hand, posing for the paparazzi. Leveraging the blog as party central, this case study reveals how social engagement yielded a community of bloggers who seek out one day each year to talk about their personal experiences with mental health and health care – generating volumes of traffic, a deafening echo chamber, and a corps of mental health advocates while they’re at it. Nothing like a roaring party to break down stigma and get people talking.
URL: http://bit.ly/NhWzNm
Communications Planning
How to Waste Money & Piss Off Friends: MKT 201
Description: You have killer events, tons of fans on your Facebook page and a Twitter following in the tens of thousands. So what? What percent of your activities and outreach are driven by your goals and audience? What about them? Are they the ones who have friended you? Are they writing with your logoed pens? De-stressing with your logoed squishy ball? In the blur of creating virtual and actual stuff, have you taken the time to consider what it is you need to do, who you need to do it with, and how best to reach them?
Going down the wrong road wastes time, money, and can alienate people you want to reach, as well giving someone else the opportunity to be the thought leader in that field. Join Jane Tobler as she shares 3 key considerations for your goal and 5 tips for selecting the right audience to change your part of the world. Jane has worked with nonprofits, foundations and government agencies to help them strategize on marketing hot issues and lukewarm ones as well.
URL: http://bit.ly/O7FGUg