So when the guy asked me how I got the Gowalla shirt, I was honest with him. I said “I paid for this shirt”. He looked really confused, he said “wait, you paid money for that shirt?”. My response: “Yes, I paid cash money for this shirt”.

I love the design of Gowalla, so I am willing to pay to wear their brand. However, I was not really using Gowalla at SXSW. I was not willing to check in everywhere just to get a shirt, but I was willing to pay for one. That’s the difference between loving the design and loving the service!

I love Foursquare, and the new update makes me love it even more! Foursquare bringing back the leaderboard was smart! It feels like a game again. Every check-in counts and I’m loving it.

Foursquare is also showing me more about my check-in history. Gives me extra points for hanging out with the same people, and really is helping me to explore my city.

This is going to make foursquare tips more useful. Just the other day I got a thank you on twitter for a foursquare tip I left over a year ago.

My Gowalla shirt from SXSW 2010

It’s things like this that will make me add more tips because I know they are really useful to my friends. I also think this will turn into certain friends becoming experts in the categories of places that they check-in most. Of course my friends are going to look for my tips when they are looking for a good vegetarian place to eat. Hopefully foursquare will start to reflect the expertise that your friends have. They had the data, why not use it!

Gowalla hasn’t lost me as a user yet, I just use foursquare more at this point. That is why you will see me wearing a Gowalla shirt, while checking in on Foursquare.

#1: GroupMe: I don’t normally use group texting in my everyday life, and the reason I know I’ll end up using GroupMe at SXSW is because I’ve already been added to 4 different SXSW related groups. One of the reasons I like GroupMe is because it’s more than just group text messaging. You can also share your location with your group (which is nice if you want to tell your friends where you are but don’t want everyone you know at SXSW showing up). GroupMe also allows you to share photos. Another app to note is Beluga (which was just acquired by facebook). Beluga has very similar features to GroupMe, but GroupMe seems to be more popular with my group of friends so it’s what I will be using at SXSW. Since GroupMe is a NYC based startup, I foresee a little east coast/west coast group messaging battle playing out at SXSW. Very similar to the Foursquare/Gowalla preferences last year.

#2 Plancast: While it is impossible to keep any kind of a schedule at SXSW, using Plancast helps me to at least know what I wanted to attend that day. The only way to plan anything for SXSW is to make “plans” is to make them before you go down to Austin. Plancast makes it easy for me to get a preliminary list of things I’d like to attend. I am using Plancast over the official SXSW schedule, or sched.org because I like the design better and I find it easier to use.

#3 Hashable: I have a love hate relationship with Hashable, but I will be using it at SXSW to keep track of people that I meet.

What made me decide to start using it again was the realization that I can keep all of my Hashable connections private if I want to.

#4 Foursquare/Gowalla: In my personal life I use Foursquare but I will be using both at this year’s SXSW for two reasons. Reason #1: I have friends on both platforms. If I really want to get a good idea of where everyone is, I need to look in both apps. Reason #2: There are more companies that have partnered with Gowalla this year, so I suspect you will need to check in on Gowalla to get access to different official events.

In general it’s just a great way to see where everyone is when you are in Austin. Things change pretty fast down there.

#5 picplz: Officially my photo sharing app of choice for SXSW. I like it because it doesn’t force me to make all my photos square, it will upload to facebook, twitter, tumblr, foursquare, posterous and even Dropbox! I want to make an effort to take more photos this year at SXSW, but I don’t want to be carrying around my DSLR. So my iPhone will have to do.

With SXSW quickly approaching I have more an more things on my to-do list. Hopefully these apps will help me keep it all together in Austin. And if you are going to SXSW, please say hi!

So at the risk of being redundant, here are some tips that you may or may not have heard already.

1. I usually to say forget about the schedule. What I mean by that is don’t worry about making it to all the panels or all the parties. Just go with the flow, you’ll have more fun that way.
2. But a certain amount of scheduling can be good. For example: If you really want to spend some quality time with people, put a meal on the books. Schedule time to meet up, sit down, and eat something.  This way you will actually get to spend time with the people you want to see. I will be holding Ohours at SXSW for this very reason!
3. If this is your first time going to SXSW If you are going to SXSW, you should fully expect to be worn out when it’s over. Make sure to drink lots of water and take extra vitamin C, to prevent getting really sick when you return home.
4. You will walk….a lot! Everything is usually close to the convention center, but that’s going to mean a lot of walking for you. Be sure you are comfortable with what you are wearing.
5. Enjoy the serendipity. South by can be a very serendipitous place. Crazy things happen, you end up in awesome conversations with amazing people, and when this happens just enjoy it and stay in the moment. You don’t need to take pictures and tweet while this is happening (let’s be serious, you can tweet about it later)
6. Don’t forget to eat! It sounds silly, but with everything going on it can be very easy to forget to eat. My advice, schedule meetings around meals. This insures that you give yourself a brake, and get a chance to eat.

A little tip on what to eat at SXSW from your friendly vegan friend, Sarah Cooley (hey, that’s me!).

Remember to eat your veggies! At SXSW, there will be tons of free BBQ to partake of (in fact MapQuest will have a bus trip to Salt Lick BBQ) So I understand that it might be more difficult to fit veggies into your meals. But do your best to try and eat some greens at least once during the day. Trust me, you will feel better because of it!

I’m thinking of putting together a small casual vegan meetup at SXSW (vegans and non vegans welcome). If you would be interested, leave me a comment below. If there is enough interest we can figure out a time and day in Austin that works for everyone.

If you want to meet up in Austin, feel free to sign up for one of my Ohours slots. Or you can try more traditional methods of tracking people down at SXSW, but that usually doesn’t work.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?