Are you at SXSW and have a Facebook profile that’s not up to par? Perhaps you think your profile gives off the right first impression but in reality, you are just turning people away! Whether or not you have a tight profile game, you should come get a free professional makeover today followed up by a discussion about optimizing your online persona.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you are looking for a job in social games, you better be ready to be guided by metrics and not just your creative genius. That’s what Scott Jennings told a small groups of gaming enthusiasts and curious minds during a conversation led by him and James Au at SXSW 2010. It was in response posed to him by Social Times about what specific skills social game developers need that traditional game developers don’t have.
Read the rest of this entry »

This Friday marks the beginning of SXSW and with the lead up to the event there is significant buzz surrounding the two leading location based services: Gowalla and Foursquare. While many are questioning the value in sharing their location, most SXSW attendees used Twitter as a way to let people know where they were at past events. Instantly hundreds or thousands of people would descend on parties as they learned from popular users where the hot spot was. Will Gowalla and Foursquare reignite the flashmob revival at this year’s SXSW?
Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we formally announced our upcoming Social Developer Summit in San Francisco, however some people are still confused about the event. This post offers some clarifications. In the social web economy, many use the term “developers” when describing organizations that build applications on top of platforms. While it’s not inaccurate to use this term, it has unfortunately replaced the true “developer” term which is a reference to software engineers.
Read the rest of this entry »

A Twitter backchannel caused quite the stir at the Web 2.0 Expo this week in New York. As Danah Boyd, social media researcher at Microsoft Research New England, spoke about “Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information through Social Media,” the crowd tweeted their critiques of her talk. Many complained that she spoke too quickly and read her speech, as opposed to connecting with the crowd. Others quipped about dating Boyd. The audience chuckled as these tweets appeared. Only Boyd wasn’t in on the joke. She had her back to the screen and couldn’t receive the feedback needed to tweak her presentation.
Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s be honest, listening to people talk about tweeting for 8 hours gets kind of annoying. Given that I had never previously attended a Twitter conference I thought I would at least give one a shot. Thankfully the people over at Modern Media brought a Twitter conference to D.C. and it wasn’t as hype-filled as one would expect. At the end of the day though what we’re always listening for is valuable anecdotes and Twitter is the perfect platform for sharing those.
Read the rest of this entry »

The second annual Social Ad Summit is coming up in three weeks in New York City and we’ve finally lined up our speakers and have finished most of the preparations. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, it’s not too late! Are you still on the fence about going? Below are seven reasons you should attend. Also make sure to enter your email in the form at the end of this article for a chance to win a free ticket. We’ll be giving 5 away over the next few weeks at random to members of the Social Ad Summit list.
Read the rest of this entry »

As the deadline for this year’s Social Times 25 came to a close last week, I received a lot of submissions. Many companies have also asked for an extra few days. Given that we’ve been busy rolling out other projects, and that it’s August and many people have been on vacation, I’ve decided to extend the deadline by one week (this Thursday, August 27th). Also, we’ve decided to allow nominations from those individuals who don’t work at any marketing firms but have seen social media marketing programs that illustrate excellence.
Read the rest of this entry »

Social Times, Venturebeat, and DEMO have put together a last minute meetup in Washington, D.C. This Thursday (tomorrow), we will be hosting up to 100 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, and interested parties at Hudson Restaurant and Lounge. The venue is located a couple blocks south of Dupont Circle at 2030 M St NW. Venturebeat and DEMO are covering the first 30 people’s drinks. In order to determine how many people are interested in attending we’ve set up an eventbrite page.

Please go fill out your basic information so we can keep track of how much interest there is. It’s definitely last minute but there’s never a bad reason to take some time out to network with fellow entrepreneurs and investors. Go visit the eventbrite page. Also Venturebeat said they are good for the first 30 drinks.

It’s almost time for TECH Cocktail DC 4. Coming up later this month, the 4th TECH Cocktail in DC will be held on Thursday, February 26, from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. The location for TECH Cocktail DC is at LeftBank wired bistro lounge in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.

This is a new location for the TECH Cocktail DC event, but it’s got a laid back vibe to match the casual and welcoming theme that TECH Cocktail is known for. The event is free to attend, as usual, but you’ll still need to RSVP. Get there early enough to grab a drink before it gets too crowded.

The TECH Cocktail series has grown a great deal in the past couple of years, starting in Chicago and making its way across a number of cities, including DC. Hosted by Eric Olson and Frank Gruber, the TECH Cocktail events have proven to be a great way to meet others on the tech scene and get the word out about your company. If you’re interested in sponsoring the event or learning more about TECH Cocktail DC, click here for more details.