I’m still catching up on my SXSW reports and feeds even though SXSWi has been over for a week now!  I found three posts from TheCanadianGirl with her notes from some of the sessions:

• What Teens want online and on their mobile phones (btw it’s more than ringtones and porn)
• A/B Testing
• Cognitive Seduction (aka Kathy Sierra’s talk)

Reading up on these sessions I’m torn between wishing I had gone to them and wishing the SXSWi guide gave better descriptions/titles for the sessions.  When you have a multitrack conference, you just have to give people good information about each session so they can choose wisely.

Of course, I still might have wound up hanging out in the BlogHaus most of the time.

Continuing my usual cheerleading for Web 2.0 in Canada, here are some good links highlighting folks who have been on panels recently (SXSWi, Convergence Integration) and just have some good news to share.

First off is Aidan Henry’s list of Victoria startups to watch:

A few of the start-ups that are paving the way in the Victoria pure-play Internet space include:

• DailySplice - Personalized, daily podcast radio.
• Indochino - Affordable, tailored men’s suits online.
• Teampages - Simplified team and league management tools for sports.
• Oprius - Web-based application suite for network marketers.

Two other early-stage players include Zumer and Utilium (both in private Beta) .

Then we have folks at ThoughtFarmer presenting at Convergence Integration 2008 and Kris Krug at SXSWi (thx to Heri for linking to it).  Coming up at Massive Technology Show (Apr 1) we have Rebecca Bollwitt and Michael Tippett speaking.

Last but not least, Austin discusses a new startup fund for Montreal (linking to these sharp folks as well):

• Marc MacLeod, CFO at MobiVox (who writes a great blog on CFO life at a Startup)
• Boris Mann writes about the fund at Bootup Labs.
• Heri at Montreal Tech Watch covers the announcement and the investment in Standout Jobs.

And I ran into Eric, formerly of MyBlogLog, in the BlogHaus at SXSWi and he told me about the new MBL widgets to add to my side bar (check it out) so I’m also doing the verification for MBL hence…Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification.

SXSWi was awesome.  I took thousands of pictures and posted over 900 of the ones I liked.

To that end, as part of my process for getting the pictures online I didn’t do much individual tagging of pics.  A lot of you have started to put your own tags in … which was exactly my plan!

Pretty much when you’re trying to upload a few hundred pics at a time and people are asking “are the pics from last night/morning/afternoon up yet…” I tried to just get them off the camera, delete the crap, do general tagging (sxsw and sxswi), and upload.

I am going to be adding tag groups or collections or something covering each day of SXSW 2008, look for those later today.

Please wander over to my entire Flickr set from SXSWi and tag/comment/note to your heart’s content.

What a week.  Okay it hasn’t been a week per se, but man it sure feels like it.  In the halls, over meals, at the end of the day–my friends ask me “what sessions did you see…” My answer has been “I went to one all week, Darren’s.”.  Why?  It’s pretty simple really.  You might have noticed I’ve been taking a few pictures here (my SXSWi Flickr set), my mornings have been loading photos onto the camera (while talking to people), editing photos (read delete the crap), uploading to Flickr (while talking to people), doing a few interviews for Intruders.tv Canada, then lunch.  After lunch, repeat until it’s time for the parties.

Fun?  Of sure, of course, but the real fun has been hanging out with the rest of the Web 2.0 crowd in the BlogHaus.  Yes, it’s cliche, however it’s cliche because it’s true.  The conversations here.  The buzz.  The video and podcasts going on are awesome.  Pity today, the day I’m spending the most time here, I’m totally wiped out and spent.

So, what’s hot?  I haven’t seen the “next big thing” or the “new shiny toy”, but I have seen the nexus of video, Twitter, blogging, images, and audio really being cemented here.

That’s why the conversations are in the halls.  At least that’s what Scoble said.

It’s Sunday.  I’ve been here in Austin since (late) Thursday night and wow this is an experience.  Yesterday I didn’t catch a single panel, and I didn’t mind at all.  The BlogHaus was where people were hanging out and chatting and, well the chances of learning something cool was pretty good.

Today I got up bright and early … that’s a story alone (remember that we had the time change last night so the 6:30 AM sunrise became 7:30 AM sunrise–enough said)…to go to Darren’s panel on online advertising.

Sure I’m not really the target and, yes, Darren is my boss–so I was there as a supporter.  Member of the team you know.

Back in the BlogHaus I did some impromptu video with Loren Feldman and later with Gina Tripani.  That’s my goal for today.  Video interviews for Intruders Canada—that’s a big priority.

You know me though, my videos are pretty rough cut.  One take, not staged.  I like it that way, hope you do to.

The rest of the day … few more networking events and, this should be funny, Geek Bowling.

Tired?  Yes.  Rather.  And there are two more days to go?

While the BlogHaus is awesome.  It’s also buzzing with activity.  Lots going on and very hard to focus.

Overheard here in the press room “I think SXSWi has jumped the shark…”  are we getting conferenced out?  Or is just this one person jaded?

Frankly, not a lot of the sessions seemed interesting to me.  Tomorrow and Tuesday those are the days that I’m going to be doing more session time.  Now picking which sessions to go to … yikes

About to start here at Darren Rowse’s at SXSW on Online Advertising…

Live Blog:

Online Advertising for Newbies SXSW

(03/09/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

Close

10:00

Good morning from SXSW!

10:02

Heath Row is starting the opening remarks … Heath is from DoubleClick (soon to be Google I guess).  I’ve worked with Heath on a few projects … sharp guy

10:05

Heath is doing a great job of getting a feel for the room and what the level is … always important for topics like online advertising…

10:06

Panelists … Heath Row   Research Mgr,   DoubleClick Darren Rowse  ProBlogger Rett Clevenger   Online Media Mgr,   Backcountry.co. Wendy Piersall   CEO,   eMoms at Home Jim Benton   VP of Sales,   AdBrite Inc

10:07

[Poll]

Do you have/want ads on your blog? Yes  ( 50% ) No  ( 0% ) Yes, but they don’t work  ( 50% )

10:11

Darren  — make money from your blog directly (advertising, etc) or indirectly (like consultants). Flavours of advertising … huge range here … we’ve grown beyond just the Adsense ads most of us started off with.  Text link ads used to work well for me, but since Google is nailing those who do … they are long gone.  Which is unfortunate because they were really easy to use.  Maybe that’s what the problem was.

10:17

Wendy’s story is interesting because her break into fame was a link from Darren, the ProBlogger, himself.  I think that’s how a lot of bloggers get into it.  When your blog suddenly becomes popular … getting into advertising becomes compelling.

10:20

Diversity in online ads is key … when text links had to go, Wendy was ready with alternative — if she hadn’t she would have taken a huge (huge) hit in income. Her move from using ads from others to using an ad network/firm–hers I believe–was part of the scale and growth of a popular blog.

10:24

Jim Benton of adbrite is giving good advice about picking a network.  He stressed transparency and control.  I would also add what the depth and breath of inventory is….serving crap ads doesn’t help.  As Wendy said in her comments, your readers are coming to read you not click on ads.  This has been my experience and why I haven’t worked on the ads on my personal site much (I need to start though)

10:26

Rett Clevenger is getting into affiliate marketing arena.  One part that is important to know is that good affiliate marketing needs to be a symbiotic relationship…

10:27

PIcs http://www.flickr.com/photos/tris/2320567341/in/set-72157604061602690/

10:27

You have to find the affiliate that will let you match the offerings to your readership … direct sales, comparison shopping, etc.

10:28

[Poll]

Affiliate links…good thing or bad for blogs? Good  ( 50% ) Bad  ( 0% ) Beyond evil  ( 0% ) Just send me my cheque  ( 0% ) Good, but tell us  ( 50% )

10:29

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tris/2321384740/in/set-72157604061602690/ pic of whole panel

10:31

Man I have couple good questions to ask, but ….here I am live blogging.  I might just have to get up and go to the mic.

10:31

[Comment From Sam Harrelson] how do they recommend finding those affiliates? that's the toughest job for any affiliate network or affiliate manager.

10:33

One part that is coming up often is tracking and metrics.  Now I know the tools are better than back in the day, but they still have a ways to go.  But advertisers are getting data that helps them find better performing blogs.

10:34

From adbrite … advertisers are now willing to pay a premium for ads targeted to small, niche groups (males, 24-30 in Austin, TX)

10:35

Be right back … going to ask the question from you all … post your questions here and I’ll go to the mic with them

10:40

Darren on Digital Photography School http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/ has a site-wide disclosure but not on every link.  On ProBlogger http://www.problogger.net/ Darren puts a disclosure on all the links.  Wendy didn’t at first … but now is.  Both Darren and Wendy agree that it depends on the type of site.

10:41

Darren and Wendy have found that when they disclose an affiliate link, they perform better … because you know that it’s helping them personally

10:43

Paid reviews: Darren doesn’t do them.  Wendy (like me) experimented with them…she hand picked her reviews.  “People don’t like their advertorials mixed with the content that they love.” — Wendy Wendy doesn’t do them anymore … because like Darren said (and I as well), what I recommend says a lot about me.  If the product is crap, and I say it’s good … it’s my rep, not the product’s that is tarnished.

10:44

[Poll]

Paid reviews? Yes  ( 0% ) No  ( 100% ) Open question  ( 0% )

10:44

[Poll]

Disclosure policy for affiliate ads, etc Site-wide  ( 50% ) Every link  ( 50% ) Hybrid  ( 0% )

10:47

Tracking and metrics… This is key.  Crazy Egg, Google Analytics, click tracking … MyBlogLog … I think this in GA, but I haven’t seen it either.  I think I’ll sit down with Wendy and see if we can figure it out. Click data helps you figure out the best ads and such for your blog. Again … it’s all depends on the blogs.

10:49

What are the demographics of people who are clicking ads…the report that came out that said people who click are young unemployed males … the writers of the report sell behavioural/demographic targetting for ads

10:49

[Comment From Sam Harrelson] do they monitor the search channel for how bloggers are using keywords to drive traffic towards ads? any concern about trademarks, etc?

10:50

Good question Sam … great I have to get up again.

10:51

I didn’t note that Heath called me out “Are you Tris?” … cause we’ve worked together.  And Sam’s question got the “I know Sam!” from Wendy

10:52

What is the right metric?  Clicks aren’t the whole ball of wax.  There are many ways.  Does an ad for something you buy offline in the store … clicks?  Or track traffic to impressions to sales?

10:52

[Comment From Sam Harrelson] yep, wendy and i go way back. dammit, i need to be there!

10:52

Doh!  I didn’t give the link to this when at the mic … Wow queue coming up to the mic … Sam, maybe I’ll get your question on video for you!

10:56

How do you get in the door with a company who you want an affiliate?  Darren suggests Googling your niche (it’s neesh not nitch btw) … the Commision Junction, Performix, LinkShare … the biggest affiliate networks.

10:56

[Comment From Sam Harrelson] no worries! keep on bloggin'

10:56

Adify.com network of networks.  Great selection, Wendy says that their UI sucks, though.

10:58

Good point … this has been very blogger heavy.  For dating sites, myspace layouts, emoticons, etc… affiliate links, no dice.  You’re going to have to look for a good network.  adbrite, I’d say adsense too … thinking of others, but stumped.  Comments here, pls

11:00

What is the threshold when you go from using the networks to doing it yourself?  Wendy is right, it depends on your niche.  500 uniques is a good time to start approaching advertisers. Darren has a great point, which I had forgotten, which is put ads on from day one, because if you add them when you hit 1000 uniques, you’ll get a user revolt.

11:01

Regional networks … but local search … city, geotargetted … this works pretty well.  yes.  If you want to by a camera, you don’t want an add from a place you can’t buy from.

11:02

And that’s a wrap!  Thanks everyone for reading.  When this closes you can leave a comment on the post.

11:02

[Comment From Sam Harrelson] don't forget the CPA networks like MarketLeverage, NeverblueAds, RocketProfit, and the new Pepperjam network… easier to get in the door at those (typically) than CJ or Linkshare if you're just starting out

11:02

This Live Blog has now ended. CoveritLive is a 2008 CNET Webware.com Finalist! Vote for CoveritLive

Good panel…really enjoyed it. Not just saying that because Darren is my boss ;).

Brian Layman is liveblogging his session…enjoy!

It’s morning here in Austin.  Why no live blogging from yesterday?  Well there wasn’t much to live blog.  The sessions didn’t start until 3:30 (because badge pickup started at 10 AM) , I’m told that badge pickup at SXSW is always insane-I wasn’t disappointed, it was long.  About an hour.  But I have my badge, my cameras are tagged with the magic green tag that lets me take video and such where ever I (pretty much) want.

The first day here at SXSW was all about catching up with people and taking lots of pics.  Lots.  My SXSW Flickr set is growing so check it out.

Sessions today you ask?  Well I’m not sure yet.  I haven’t seen many that thrill me in the morning.  But, that’s just me because Brian Layman just swung by the AMD-PodTech-b5media BlogHaus telling me that the design and coding session was great.

I think after the last of yesterday’s pic finish uploading, I’ll wander a bit.  Maybe corner some folks for impromptu Intruders Canada interviews.

Keep watching here … who knows what you might see.

If all goes according to the (by the seat of my pants) plan I’ll be attending my first SXSWi this week.  I’m going to be doing double duty there covering it for b5media (therefore blogging here) and for Intruders Canada (Intruders is sending me there).

I’ll be a little busy I’m guessing, but I think we should have a Vancouver/Victoria/Canadian blogger meet up somewhere somehow.  Rebecca has the list of BC folks attending and Colleen Coplick is reporting for Techvibes.  Not to be left out, b5 is running the blog network camp chock full of cool folks.  So there should be lots of opportunities for folks to figure out a place time.  I’m thinking the b5media SXSW ranch is a good candidate…

Now, I just have to buy my plane ticket.