Our first SXSW experience via : learnings, observations, and all those regrets.
Documented and collected with Anisha Ahluwalia, Dan Buczaczer, Lynn Lim, Pinterest Superfan Sarah Chiappetta, and Stephanie Huynh.
Page one features 2 reinventions:
* In an interesting twist to the reimagining world theme we often discuss, Picture Cook takes the stuffy old recipe format and redesigns it with a focus on experimentation. Even if you’re more into the cut-and-dry recipe format, these flowchart-like versions of recipes will look great on your kitchen wall.
* Travel Time Tube reworks the classic London Tube map. A fixture in the design world, this site completely changes the focus of the map from relation to time. Put in two stations and watch it change forms based on routes that take the longest.
Page two looks at two captivating photo collections:
* Ghana- The Electronic Dumping Ground of the World highlights the dark side of technology and electronics. Perhaps the ‘new gadget smell’ isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be?
* Finally, we get a glimpse of a somewhat odd underworld in Taryn Smith’s Contraband. These images showcase 1,000 various items confiscated at JFK airport in New York. Some items make sense, but some…. well you just need to see them to believe it.
Download issue 80 of Reflecteur here!
BBQ sauce stains denigrated inappropriate regions of my jeans, pedicabs ate a chunk out of this week’s lunch money and lines took a toll on my soul (should have used TaskRabbit), while a surplus of Austin food trucks with pun names both further questioned and restored my sanity.
In addition to joining the mostly Asian Wives and their escort for SXSW Interactive, I stayed to indulge in the music portion. With thousands of options for panels, keynotes and bands, I stumbled upon lots of awesome and sprinkles of crap.
7 days in Austin left me with the extremes of Evil and Good, which were equally enlightening. And below is what ultimately stuck amidst the alcohol haze.
Greetings, fellow marketers. It’s me. Benny. I come bearing a simple request from the Game Developers Conference. Play deliberately. In your daily life, realize when you are playing something. Then, pay attention to why and how you’re playing what you’re playing.
It can be anything. Texas Hold ‘em with your buddies. Monopoly with the family. Angry Birds on your phone. Call of Duty: Black Ops against your brother from . Just play and pay attention to why and how you are playing. It’s really that simple. The why and how of this simple request are just a click away. If you’d love to read, mosey on down.
Dear Foursquare,
It is today, your two year anniversary since becoming the belle of the ball at SXSW, that I write you this letter as someone who cares. I used to pull out my phone to check in and it was fun- beating others to it, trying to become mayor, showing off badges, explaining animatedly what you are. Now I’m a bit, well, embarrassed. I find myself checking in surreptitiously for fear of being judged. Just the other night I was at dinner with four other guys who at one time used your service. You should have seen the heaps of scorn thrown my way. “Really? You’re still using Foursqaure?” You would have thought I had pulled out a map and a few quarters for the pay phone the way they mocked. After the teasing and incredulous looks, the next question is always the same:
Why do you still even use it? What’s the point?
It’s a fair question.
