AlixCompany didn’t make it in to SXSW Interactive. Feedback from SXSW included, “Your session was up against some other strategy related sessions that were a bit stronger and we felt this wasn’t enough to cover a workshop, yet was too broad to be a one hour session.” And, the major GoDaddy (my host) outage on September 10th didn’t help, “Unfortunately in your case, the link that was supposed as other supporting materials appeared to be a broken. While this is most likely unintentional, the Advisory Board didn’t know how to completely review the proposal. Here is a comment from one of the board members: “The Alix Company website in the supporting materials is broken, which does tend to put a damper on a solo proposal.”

I’m not exactly sure what the first bit means [“not enough, yet too broad”] and the GoDaddy thing is a lesson learned on supporting materials. As a sidebar, GoDaddy was kind enough to offer me a month of free hosting after I called with the emailed letter referencing a direct AlixCompany business consequence of the outage.

I am always working to grow my business and I had high hopes for having a workshop during SXSW Interactive in 2013. I’m curious who else got the reject note for the interactive portion of the festival and also curious if there’s an interest in a HCHD Interactive gathering – you know, to represent ‘the other side’ [HCHD is the other side of the alphabet from SXSW]. Perhaps we can think of something for HCHD to represent or maybe HCHD is good as is (much like IPSOS which is not an acronym for anything else). Perhaps we can also work together on the concept in an agile and lean fashion.

Please email me at alixmorrow@alixcompany.com or call 917-623-5854 if you’d like to chat this up a bit more.

Sent out this mailer to 986 of my closest contacts. Please click-through for a brief description of services and add your email to our mailing list, if you’d like, by clicking on the link at the bottom of the mailer.

Mailer link:  http://e2.ma/webview/p4cwd/925c05a07c6fdb4b5db8fc9b5c3b2687

Interesting article on who’s tweeting and who’s on Twitter but not tweeting here. I got on Twitter (@AlixCompany) a few years ago for keeping up with the latest. I think it was spurred by a call from my sister asking if I was near a lockdown. It bothered me that I was in the city, close to the lockdown, but was not aware it was happening. It also bothered me that she was not in the city, not close to the lockdown, but was aware of the happening.

I subscribed to Twitter that day to follow local, national, and global news sources. I follow various folks/business/resources on Twitter for this reason. Following feeds reminds me of listening to the CB. Growing up we didn’t sit by the CB, but a few of my friends’ parents did. I also remember being very young and in the car with folks who had CB radios and using the CB for family roadtrips when we had a few cars and wanted to keep up with one another.

Twitter is for the latest. Tweeting might be for something else.

10-4.

On Tuesday, September 11th, I will be teaching my market research class at BiGAUSTIN. I hope you’ll join me. Register here.

Understanding Your Market Class Overview:
Understanding the context of your business is imperative for long-term success. We will start with the definition of market research. We will continue by identifying areas of interest and defining the usefulness of each area for your business. The session will conclude with considerations for continued market research success given the product life cycle model. After attending this session, you will have the proper context for gathering meaningful and relevant market research for informed decision making.

Click here to register (registration required):  http://bigaustin.org/ai1ec_event/understanding-your-market/?instance_id=247

Vote for and share AlixCompany’s “Integrating Strategy” workshop here- http://shar.es/vQs9Q

(login required)

Workshop Description:

Strategic integration is imperative for business success in today’s multi-faceted media world. The rules for successful strategic planning haven’t changed, but the landscape certainly has. In this session we’ll discuss how to center and drive digital content with strategic planning integration. We will start by understanding the relationship of your product/service to consumers and the marketplace. After a brief discussion and exercise on differentiation, each attendee will craft their very own positioning statement. At the conclusion of the session you will have the proper tools to build and leverage your strategy effectively across all forms of communications.

We’re at the crux of digital + strategy + purposefulness. An excellent post from Fast Company’s Co.Create speaks of CP+B’s POV and I think CP+B has it right. A timely read for marketers and advertisers.

http://lnkd.in/Xtyx8U

“…these days people also want to know ‘why’. This has fundamentally changed branding and it’s been accelerated by a digital and social ethos. It’s not enough to be great at something or to be an expert in your field. The world is buying your bigger mission, in many cases, first. This has to pervade and drive a brand’s messaging and actions no matter what the ‘media’.” And, of course, my fav part, “It starts with strategy.”

More on AlixCompany’s “Me, My, Why” construct here- http://www.alixcompany.com/beyond-social-media-crap-chatter-2/