Yesterday I had the honor of putting together a panel of my peers to talk about how we use the web! Our panel was titled “Growing up with the Real-time Internet” and it consisted of myself, Corvida Raven, Kelly Sutton, and Lauren Litwinka.

The video is embedded below. Please watch it and comment. I would love to continue the conversation that was started at #140conf.

For a good part of the beginning of the video, the camera guy didn’t realize I was on the panel, and I guess thought I was just the moderator. So he cut me out of the shot. But he figures it out half way through.

Twestival (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. Last year on 12 February 2009, the first Twestival Global was held in 202 international cities to support @charitywater, who were doing incredible work to help the almost 1 billion or 1 in 6 people in the world that don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water.  Over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors fundraised $250k+, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people. I was unable to attend Twestival last year because it sold out before I could get a ticket!

This thursday I will be attending Twestival Global 2010 in NYC. People in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to support Concern Worldwide by hosting local events organized through social media.

As one of the largest Twestivals in the world, NYC Twestival will play host to thousands, raising funds for and awareness of Concern’s vitally important work around the world.

You can participate as well by checking if there is a local Twestival happening in your area. For more information on Twestival NYC, please visit newyork.twestival.com or follow @NYCTwestival on Twitter.  Tickets can be purchased directly by visiting http://bit.ly/twestivaltix.

Trying to process what goes on at SXSW can be difficult. When you first get come you are on such an adrenaline high that you don’t know what to do first, what to blog first, you are just excited. I think I captured some of that excitement in the video I made the day I got back from SXSW.

So much happens during the conference that it can be hard to remember it all. One new thing that helped me this year was the SXSW community on Lunch. (client) Because I was reviewing panels as I was sitting in them, I had good notes that I could go back to and see what I really got from different sessions.

But of course, SXSW isn’t just about the sessions, it’s really about the people that you meet. This being my second year, I really felt like I got a chance to meet some great people, and to even get closer to friends I had met last year. Last year I was taping a video podcast at SXSW, and I met some amazing people. But I didn’t really take the time to get to know everyone lat year, the way I did this year.

Chances are if we met or had a conversation this year at SXSW I was probably crying. But it was being honest about what I was going through that brought me real friends. Changing your diet can often times product a detox affect. And a lot of times, one of the symptoms of a detox can be emotional moments. South by was no exception. But once I got home I didn’t feel alone, I realized that I have this amazing group of friends, who live all over the world, who will always be there for me.

So, with that in mind, here are my top 5 things from SXSWi 2010:

1. Twittering Through Chemo – Survivors Unite: It was hard to pick a #1 between Gary’s Keynote and this panel. They were drastically different ends of the spectrum. In the end this is my number one for making me realize a lot about myself. My biggest takeaway from this session was that everyone needs support. It’s not just the person going through chemo, but everyone around them needs support as well.
2. Gary Vaynerchuk Presentation: This talk was amazing, not just because of what Gary said, but because of the amazing audience that gave Gary a run for his money. I also realized in this session that I didn’t really want the kind of job I thought I wanted.
3. Speakeasy: This is a great venue and I went here a few times this week (this was where the TechSet party was), but this #3 is for the night of the Sunday, March 14th. All my friends ended up here, just hanging out on the couches. Great friends, great laughs, and a night I will never forget! Thank you all!
4. Community Management: Future Skills You’ll Need to Know: This panel really opened my eyes. For the longest time I thought that what I wanted to do in Social Media was really called marketing. Now I realized it’s Community! This will probably be the biggest eye opener for me at SXSW. Stay tuned…
5. The Driskill: There were so many nights where I had an awesome time hanging at the Driskill. But my top night has to be the last night of SXSWi. I really got a chance to spend time with my close friends, and have conversations that I will never forget.

There is still so much more I want to mind dump from SXSW, but that’s all I could get out for now. To my SXSW family, I miss you all! And if you couldn’t make it this year, I hope we see each other next year in Austin!

That’s what I was saying as I walked passed every person who tried to hand me a Zone bar at SXSW.

Now I normally don’t care what other people eat, but when you a handing out a product, telling people it’s a healthy choice, lets give them the facts here.

Here are the ingredients in a Zone Perfect bar (Double Dark Chocolate):

Soy Protein Nuggets (Isolated Soy Protein, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Tapioca Starch, Salt), Chocolate Layer (Corn Syrup, Sugar, Palm Kernel Oil, Unsweetened Chocolate, Invert Sugar, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Milk Protein, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Carob Seed Gum, Gum Arabic, Vanilla Extract With Other Natural Flavors), Chocolate Flavored Coating (Sugar, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder [Processed With Alkali], Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Corn Syrup, Soy Protein Isolate, Chocolate Drops (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Fructose Syrup, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali). Less Than 2% Of The Following: Glycerine, High Oleic Safflower And/or High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Chocolate Powder (Natural Cocoa Powder, Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Natural Flavors, Caramel Color, Cocoa Fructose (Fructose, Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Cocoa [Processed With Alkali], Natural Cocoa, Salt, Carrageenan, Natural Flavors, Tocopherol, Ascorbic Acid), Salt.

Wow, my head hurts from reading that.

Now of course my statement of “No Thank You, those things will kill you” might have been a little harsh, but people don’t know what they are eating!

The product is pitched like this “Excellent source of protein (12g). 19 vitamins and minerals. Rich in antioxidants. [Vitamins C & E and Selenium.] ” But there are 14g of sugar and 210mg of sodium!

This is why next year I really want to get Whole Foods as a sponsor (their HQ is in Austin) and get people handing out Apples on the corners of SXSW.

Think about it, and apple is just as portable, it won’t spoil very quickly, it’s great for you, and best of all…there is only 1 ingredient, APPLE!

Please do not be confused by someone saying all natural to you. Corn syrup is natural, but it’s also REALLY BAD FOR YOU! Soy is all natural, but when it’s super processed the way most Americans find it in foods, it’s really unhealthy.

If you take away one thing from this post, please try and eat food as close to it’s natural state as possible. You will feel better, spend less money on food, and reduce your risk of getting sick. Just by doing that one thing!

I really hope that this post will be seen as less of a rant, and more of a conversation opener. Do you like zone bars? Why? Did you know what you were eating? Please feel free to leave your own opinions in the comments.

This post is going to be a variation of the review I wrote on Lunch.com’s SXSW community (client) of a panel called Community Management: Future Skills You’ll Need to Know, and the panelists were @saulcolt @glusman @thorpus @seamuscondron @ambercadabra @sarahprevette. The review I wrote was titled “You already have a community”.

My favorite points from that session were:

• You can teach anybody social media, but for community management to succeed, it needs to be a senior role.
• We are in danger of slinging around “community” as this big buzzword, but you ALREADY HAVE COMMUNITY, it’s called your CUSTOMERS!
• Your community tells you when you have a community
• If no one is saying your brand sucks on twitter, you’re doing it wrong. You want that opportunity to start that conversation.
• You can’t tell your community what to do, you can only advise them. You don’t own your community, it’s their community.

Please read my review for more specific notes on that panel. But my big take away from that session was, You already have a community, it doesn’t matter what kind of business you are, or whatever kind of brand you are! This made me realize that even I have a community around my personal brand, and I need to actively manage my community.

I have been thinking about community a lot this last week, and I realized that I often find myself only talking about community as it refers to tech, or tech companies. But EVERYTHING is a community. Both in the physical location sense, and in the sense that you are probably a part of more communities then you realize. I realized that I am a part of the social media community, but I am also a part of the cancer community, the online video community, the vegan community, the health community and the New York City community.

I am interacting with all of these people, across all of these different communities, without even trying! Just my being myself, and that is awesome!

So I wanted everyone to reply in the comments with what communities they feel they interact with every day?

Hey guys! I made this video yesterday and I wanted to share it with you all. I hadn’t made a video blog, or even sat down in front of a camera since May 2009. So I get a little emotional about it. But I’m really excited to start getting back to my first love of social media, which is online video. So I hope you enjoy it, and I hope this opens up a really good conversation.

So I’m headed down to Austin again for SXSW Interactive 2010.

While I’m there I have a lot of plans, but SXSW is all about being flexible, and plans are made but they are hard to stick to.

If this is your first time attending SXSW, here are some tips I picked up as a SXSW virgin last year.

1. Don’t stress the schedule! - You will, inevitably, go through the programing and party schedule, and mark out everything you want to attend. But my advice is to just go with the flow. You will probably go to s few great panels, but you will also probably find yourself in panels that suck! When you find yourself in a bad panel, feel free to leave! Nothing is keeping you there.
2. HYDRATE! – You will be out all day and into the night, so be sure to bring along a refillable water bottle so that you can keep hydrated throughout the day. This will really help in preventing you from getting sick, or tired easily.
3. Stick to your guns – If there is a panel that you want to see, or an event you want to attend, just GO! Don’t worry about where your friends are going, or what event seems to be the most popular. I let some friends talk me out of an event that I really wanted to go to last year, and I still regret not going.
4. Wear comfortable shoes/clothing – You might think that you will have a chance to go back to your hotel and change, but that might not happen. Make sure when you get dressed in the morning, that you are comfortable wearing that all day, and into the evenings events. Keep in mind that Austin is casual, so no need to stress what you wear, just be comfortable.
5. Don’t be afraid to say hi – If there is someone you are looking forward to meeting at SXSW, just go up and introduce yourself. Don’t be intimidated by the people that may be surrounding that person. If you want to meet someone, just do it!

I hope to see you this year at SXSW. I will keep you all updated on the goings on here.

This is a great video of the creating of the schedule board at this weekends BarCamp Philly!

I had a great time attending sessions and holding one of my own.

I will write more about BarCamp in an upcoming post, but for now, enjoy this video!

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Google is giving away Free wifi for the holidays

When you’re traveling this holiday season, you can enjoy free WiFi at 47 participating airports and on every Virgin America flight. Just bring a WiFi-enabled laptop or mobile device and stay connected to family and friends for free while you travel now through January 15, 2010.

Here are the participating airports:

Yesterday I had the pleasure of dining at Lily’s (the restaurant at the Roger Smith Hotel). I have eaten at Lily’s before but this was a different experience. Why? Because the Chef was cooking right in front of me! I was a guest for a taping of Lily’s Live. Every day this week the Chef de Cuisine at Lily’s has been taping a live show on the corner of 47th and Lex inside a gallery space the is owned by the Roger Smith Hotel. The live show is streamed to ustream while the chef cooks a full meal for a few lucky audience members.

Yesterday’s audience members were quite the social media crowd! The guests were a twittering bunch, @limespark @aronado @Emilyspearl @vanillabean45. The dining table was full of iPhones as we tweeted, posted pictures and toasted to the camera live.

While I was having a lot of fun I had to ask myself, what’s in it for Lily’s? This isn’t a show going on the food network with a huge budget, so why do it?

It all comes down to visibility. Not only to the people that happened to be watching on the street that day, but all the people watching on ustream as well. The live show had so many viewers yesterday that it ended up on the front page of ustream.com! This is free advertising that Lily’s gets and the show has great entertainment value to boot!

I know plenty of mouths must have been watering while watching the cooking and I’m sure some of those people went to Lily’s to try the food for themselves!

All in all it was a great meal and I was grateful to be a part of it! Special thanks to everyone at the Roger Smith Hotel, and to @bsimi for a wonderful night!