socialmedia

SXSW is just a couple of days away and the whole tech world is gearing up to fill their boots with the latest and greatest from one of the biggest events of the year. Last year the event saw attendance of over 49,000 from all over the world, with ±40% of that number firmly in the Tech camp - AKA Interactive.

So with the tech world watching, and the entire event on the look out for the next big thing, its no surprise that SXSW will be awash with a flood of new product noise, as founders and start-ups jostle to promote the next big thing.

So this year to help out, Publicate and Sarah Austin from Pop17 have joined forces with a host of companies (Rackspace and StartUpBus to name a few) to host The Founder Awards 2012, a big celebration of the good, the bad and the bust of the start up world.

With all the speculation surrounding the EU’s Directive on Online Privacy it’s easy to lose perspective about getting compliant and forget that all we are being asked to do is talk to consumers about what we do, how we do it and why.

It is the manner in which we ask permission to continue using cookies and other tracking technology that is up for discussion.  No one is suggesting there is a one-size-fits-all solution. The onus is clearly on the website owner to become more transparent.

Google+ could surprise the doubters, says GlobalWebIndex founder Tom Smith.

It’s not hard to find critics of Google’s attempts to harness social in recent the years. But the sceptics should be wary of underestimating the power of the Mountain View behemoth.

The latest data from GWI.6 suggests that although widely known for its core search product – reaching more than 85% of global internet users every month (up from 76.1% in GWI.1) - Google+ is becoming the exciting new contender in social media.

Social Media Week London is officially done and dusted for 2012 - wow, what a week! 

Over 180 events took place in celebration of social media and over 15 000 digital lovers flocked to sessions all over Central London. 

Now, we realise that alot of amazing sessions clashed throughout SMWLDN and appreciate that one can't be in 5 places at once! Thankfully, we had Kinura on board as the official SMWLDN Filming Partner to stream online several of the events that took place at the SMWLDN 2012 Hub. So, head to Livestream and catch up on some of those fabulous events you may have missed.

Here's a hot list for you to muse over:

Are you making the trip over to Austin, Texas next month to South by South West?

Team Chinwag will be there, along with the UKTI Mission to SXSW companies, so if you'd like to catch-up, please come and find us! Check out the list below to see where we'll be.

Also, if you're heading out and would like the chance to chatter with other UK delegates who'll also be there, come along to our Pre-SXSW 2012 Mixer, 6.30 - 9.30pm on Wednesday 29th Feb in Central London.

You may also find it useful to check out these 50 Essential SXSW Tips.