I am SO GLAD I stuck around for his presentation.

For now, I’ll leave it at the fact that Gary’s talk was amazing and by far the best speaker presentation I attended. And in case you missed it or weren’t able to be there, the audio for his session is here. I have a signed copy of “The Thank You Economy” that I will be giving away when I post my review of the book, so stay tuned for more info on that.

So, starting at the beginning:

A big part of SXSW for me was this whole coming full circle thing. I took two groups of virgin skydivers out to Skydive Temple on Thursday and Friday before the conference really kicked off. This was a great moment for me because I was able to reflect on how far I’d come since last year, as well as introduce a handful of people to the sport I love so much. Big thanks and congratulations to Chris Hoyt, Jenny DeVaughn, Wesley Faulkner, David Spinks and Andy Kaufman for coming out and making their first (Wesley’s second) skydives. I also had the chance to meet Josephine Dorado, who is also a licensed skydiver, and was reminded of just how small our skydiving community is, as she knew several people from my dropzone.

Chris and David, in particular, were extra pumped about the experience. When Chris landed he said “okay…. that’s my new hobby” and he proceeded to bring five more people out during the conference. David was inquiring about what happens after your first skydive. Hopefully both of them get licensed and I’ll have two more friends in the sky!

I made it back to the convention center on Friday, just in time to snag my badge and venture upstairs for “The Steroid Culture of Social Media: You Use?” starring my buddy Kyle Flaherty, Tim Walker, Troy Nalls and Laura Beck. And what a kickass way to start SXSW.

The panel was all about people taking shortcuts in social media, and each speaker had a different view about what is okay and what’s not when it comes to said shortcuts. The audio for the panel is here. I encourage you to listen, because the speakers were ROCKIN. My favorite part of attending this panel, beyond the heckling, was the chance to talk with Troy Nalls. Everything he was saying about his approach to life and business was really resonating with me. He’s one of those people that fall into the camp of completely and totally awesome and one of those people you just want to be around for all of eternity because their energy is ridonkulous.

I also have a mindcrush on Laura Beck. She’s fucking brilliant and when she was talking about why she left agency life to start her own thing I was like that one guy in the back of the church service yelling “YES YES YES” to everything the preacher is saying. She has a theory about finding 100 true fans for your brand versus a cajillion, which she outlines in the panel (SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO THIS SHIT, Y’ALL), and I think she could flip the world upside down with the words that are coming out of her mouth.

One of the highlights of my trip was snagging some much-needed face time with Jenny Blake. We have been chatting back and forth for almost three years now, had finally met in person at SXSW last year, and were able to enjoy an entire brunch together this year at Moonshine. We talked about life, love, work, fun, boys, our friends in the blogosphere (Hi Jamie!) and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Like, wicked delicious. As in, if you’re ever in Austin on a Sunday and you’re hungry – go to Moonshine and rock their brunch scene. Amazing.

In case you are living under a rock, Jenny is the author of LifeAfterCollege.org, which is now, (YAY!) a book, also called “Life After College,” that you can hold in your hands, doodle all over, and call on when you need some of her incredible wisdom. Jenny was kind enough to send me a copy of the book before it goes on sale, so I’ll be posting a review of it here in the next few weeks.

My panel with Aaron went well, I think. We had a bunch of super smart people in the audience and there were some amazing questions about all things mentoring. Doesn’t hurt that we started our morning at the AllHat3 party, hosted by David Armano and Richard Binhammer. A couple margaritas will make any conversation flow a bit better.

The rest of SXSW was a blur of hanging out in the hallways, eating awesome BBQ and networking my face off. I created new relationships, caught up with some people I hadn’t seen since last year (if not longer), and did some business.

So, some of my favorite people I was able to have an actual conversation with, catch up with, or  who I met for the first time this year, in no particular order: Lisa Grimm, Erika Napoletano, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jenny Blake, Andrew Norcross, J. Money, Amber Naslund, Craig Comeau, Jason Falls, Sara Davidson, Colby Gergen, Teresa Cantwell, Becky Johns, Andy Drish, Elysa Rice, Tiffany Monhollon, and a bajillion other people that I forgot to list here.

If you went to SXSW, what was your favorite part? If you weren’t able to make it, I recommend checking out the audio from the panels I listed above as well as SAVING MONEY NOW so you can go next year!

I mean, I was, but I wasn’t. I was feeling like roadkill, looking almost as bad, and in desperate need of a McMuffin and a Gatorade.

Overserved. (Hi, Jenny!)

Some three hours later, I had no idea how much my life would change. No. Earthly. Idea.

That day, I boarded a SkyTeam Aviation aircraft, a PAC 750XL, built for skydiving, which was chasing the sunshine in Texas while its home dropzone, Chicagoland Skydiving Center, was closed up for the winter season. That day, I got back from the jump and got on Facebook and all of my fellow jumpers had “liked” PROskydiving on Facebook. I remember seeing that logo somewhere, but couldn’t put my finger on it.

Me squeezing into my first jumpsuit at Skydive Temple.

We all know that jump changed my life.

Fast forward two months to Memorial Day weekend. I had selected CSC to do another tandem before starting the AFF (accelerated freefall) program to get my A-License. I met Doug, the owner of CSC, and when I had mentioned that I did my tandem at Skydive Temple, he said “oh, then you jumped out of my other plane.”

So let me recap: I went to Austin for SXSW, jumped out of a CSC plane, and then proceeded to get my A-License at CSC, doing several of my jumps out of that same aircraft that I jumped out of at Skydive Temple. Now, CSC is my first client, with which I’ll be working full-time this season, as I start to explore the world outside of Corporate America and start consulting on my own.

Today and tomorrow, I’m taking a handful of fellow SXSW attendees to Skydive Temple to make their first skydive. I’m beyond excited to introduce some new friends to the sport and, hopefully, keep a few more people jumping and have more friends to jump with in the future.

I’m feeling REALLY good about where I’m at in this journey so far.

If you’re in town for SXSW, I’d love to see you. If you’re in town and want to jump out of a plane – we have another group going tomorrow. Let me know.

If you’re in Austin and you’re attending SXSW Interactive, this one is for you. Well, mostly for me and Aaron, but for you as well.

Obviously mentoring is a big deal to me. Obviously I talk about it a lot. And I have a fantastic set of mentors that I can call on for various things and a handful of people I’m mentoring as well. Fact of the matter is, if you want to get shit done and get it done right with the best people possible, a mentor isn’t a bad thing to have.

Let me set the stage for our presentation on Sunday. We’re not sitting in front of the room up on an elevated platform, armed with Powerpoint slides. In fact, at 3:30, we’ll be in room 5ABC at the Austin Convention Center, with a bunch of chairs, ready for a killer discussion on all things mentoring.

Our presentation (conversation, really) is called “Road Rules for Mentorship: What’s Appropriate (and What’s Not).” We hope to answer a variety of questions, mostly about what are some ways you can find a mentor, keep one around after you’ve snuggled up under their wing, and what’s appropriate for mentorly fodder (and what’s not).

What this isn’t about: two people talking AT you. We want to talk WITH you. We have some stuff to chat about, mostly articles about generational differences that have been popping up here and there, as I think that plays a lot into the importance of mentoring, but we really just want it to be a rolling conversation. No frills, no fuss.

Some things I’m interested in learning about from all of you:

• There is a fine line between mentoring and giving away the goods for free – ie life coaching, consulting, etc. What is that line and how do you walk it?
• Do you have mentors? How did they come to be in that position in your life? Did you march right up to them and ask them to play this role for you or did it evolve naturally?
• Do you think mentoring sounds too formal? What’s your interpretation and reaction to this whole mentoring shenanigans?

So if you’re available at 3:30 on Sunday, we’d love to see you in our little corner of the convention center. We’ll be coming from AllHat, so I’m sure the conversation will be lively.

What panels are you going to? What content are you super pumped to consume this year?

So, below, please find 20 new items that I will complete before I turn 26 in 6 months (minus a day, since my birthday is on the 3rd).

1. Continue to be true to myself, my career goals, and my goals as they pertain to skydiving.
2. Live in a simple fashion – eliminate the clutter.
3. Be a good mentor to someone (I’ve heard I can cross this one off from multiple people but this is one of those things that is on-going).
4. Facilitate an engaging discussion at SXSW 2011 about mentoring.
5. Get to 100 jumps, and if time allows, my coach rating. The coach rating thing is a 2011 goal, but I don’t see why that can’t happen before June.
6. Visit my family at least once between now and June.
7. Stay in touch with my friends and former colleagues in Chicago. (Hi everyone!)
8. Save enough money for a skydiving trip to somewhere cooler, climate-wise, when it’s blazing hot in Austin.
9. Get new contacts.
10. Go to the doctor.
11. Blog more. Explore other areas of PR/Marketing and all things social.
12. Help a student in their job search.
13. Bring great people to WCG.
14. Make time for myself so I can recharge and keep the creative energy at the highest level possible.
15. Stay sane while the boy is on his adventure on the east coast. Set dates to see him while he’s in Chicago next season. Continue to be awesome to and with him and grow as a person. This one should count for 5 points.
16. Keep my car maintained. AKA, get my car in for maintenance.
17. Spend less money on stupid stuff. (See saving money on #8)
18. Commit to a fitness plan that is sustainable. (See also #14)
19. Eat clean. Go big or go home. Stop eating garbage and get back on track. Holidays are over, tubby.
20. Do the right thing. Every time. It might not always make sense, but follow my gut. It’s served me well so far.

What are some things you hope to accomplish in 2011? If you’re working on a similar list of things you want to do during XX year, how is it coming? Are you keeping yourself in check and holding yourself accountable?

I still want to meet Oprah, for the record. So if you can work on that for me, that’d be great.

And I’m keeping the old list up, under the new list. You can see it here.

So, I thought I’d group the prompts from Saturday, Sunday and today into one lovely post.

December 11 – 11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

I don’t really like listing out things I don’t need. For two reasons, one, because NEED is a strong statement. I want a lot of things. I need very few. If we wanted to take this prompt quite literally my list would be simple: I can eliminate everything except a roof over my head, enough nutrition to survive, and water. We don’t really NEED anything else. To think about it as “eliminating bad things from my life,” as I figure out that things are bad, I eliminate them as they come.

December 12 – Body Integration. This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present? (Author: Patrick Reynolds)

Every skydive. Shocking, I know.

December 13 – Action When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? (Author: Scott Belsky)

Career-wise – I just took a big step. So, next steps on that are to continue rocking every day and learning as much as possible. Skydiving-wise – next steps are to find a dropzone where I can jump frequently so I can get my 100 jumps so I can start to think about becoming a coach. Not to say that once I hit 100 jumps I’ll be ready, but that’s how many I need to get my coach rating. We’ll see how it works out.

December 14 – Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)

I’m most appreciative of the people in my life who help guide me in new and exciting directions. This year, I’m giving big hugs and high fives to my mentors in my career as well as my new skydiving buddies. I’ve talked about this quite frequently this year so I’ll spare you the long gushy list of thank yous.

With regards to mentoring, however, I’m pleased to announce that my submission for SXSW was accepted this year. It’s all about mentoring and how and why it’s immensely important.

Get your game face on. And bring another liver.

Road Rules for Mentorship: What’s Appropriate (& What’s Not)

If you were at the panel I spoke at last year, you’ll remember that it was kinda (really) formal at the beginning then we finally got the crowd riled up enough to ask questions. This year, I submitted my idea as a dual presentation, or a core conversation. Me and one other presenter (SXSW said not to identify them yet so we can have diversity but I already have my co-speaker in mind and a backup, too) in a discussion with the room. If you were at Aaron, Kyle and Tim’s “Hitting Bombs” session last year, it’s going to be VERY similar to that. Less lecturing, less pimping out who we are and where we work and what we do, and a lot more awesomesauce.

The skinny: In a world where the saying “it’s all about who you know” is more and more relevant across multiple platforms, mentoring is more important than ever. But once you’ve managed to find someone who is willing to take you under their wing, how do you keep that relationship alive? What subjects are appropriate fodder for you and your newly-found mentor to discuss? During this session, you’ll have the opportunity to see just how mentoring can benefit you not only personally, but also professionally. The panelists will share industry research and unique insights on what is appropriate in a mentoring relationship (and what isn’t), how to keep the relationship alive after it has been established, as well as how to reap the most benefits from the relationship

Very excited to be speaking again at SXSW – and this time, I live here! Totally awesome!

So, that being said, SXSkydiving Part 2 is totally happening. Not that it wouldn’t but it definitely is now. And, for all of my out-of-town friends that will be attending, I know all the cool places that aren’t ridiculously crowded. And there is still room available* on my floor (with air mattresses) if you’re looking to save a bundle on hotels.

So that being said, what are you looking forward to in 2011? What are your responses to the prompts above?

*in exchange for staying on my floor or couch, you agree to buy me drinks and/or lunch and/or pay a nominal fee to cover the extra water and electricity we’ll be pounding out at my apartment. Guaranteed cheaper than the Hilton, pinky swear.

And, if you know anything about me, you may recall that my obsession with skydiving (was re-ignited) started at SXSW last year when I made my second tandem jump (first one was in 2005).

So, because of everything that skydiving has taught me about myself, what is important in life, and where it has brought me today, I’d like to formally extend an invitation to any and all of you who may be in the great city of Austin, TX for SXSW in March to join me in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Not sold on the idea of experiencing total freedom? Not totally keen on feeling the wind in your face? Thinking you’d rather eat a can of worms than throw yourself towards the earth, strapped to some stranger?

Fear not, I have put together a list of reasons why you should take the plunge. I have more than five, but I want to hit you with the good stuff a couple times before March. So, the first five:

1. Admit it, it’s on your bucket list. If you go to 43things.com and add “go skydiving” or “skydive” to your list, there are tens of thousands of people who want to do it. You’re probably one of them.
2. You’ll have something to brag about at the _____ party that night. So what, your friends went to another panel about how social media is changing the world? You jumped out of a plane. ‘Nuff said.
3. You will be SO HIGH for the rest of the day. The adrenaline rush you get from skydiving is insane, and everyone reacts to it differently. My first jump? I was elated. Screaming, all that. Now? I still get the rush, but it’s a simple smile. A feeling of complete ease. Skydiving literally washes away any stress that I have.
4. Adrenaline kills your hangover. Pinky swear. So the night before I was supposed to go, I was kinda freaking out. So I figured if I had one more beer then I’d be too hungover to go. Easy excuse, right? Wrong. I woke up, much to my dismay at the time, got in the car, met everyone at the Four Seasons and off we went. A Gatorade, McMuffin and a skydive later, I was feeling like a million and a half bucks. Seriously. So I don’t want to hear that you’re too hungover from the _____ party. You’re coming. And you’re welcome.
5. The “rah-rah” aspect of skydiving. Are you speaking at SXSW? Congrats, for one, and two, you might be a bit nervous (unless you’re a vet, then this point may be moot). But seriously, if you can jump out of a plane, you can do anything. You can write that deck, you can present that deck, you can sing that song at karaoke, you can ask that girl to marry you, whatever is scary, after skydiving, isn’t scary anymore. That’s the rah-rah aspect of skydiving. IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL, people.

If you’re down to do it, want more info, or want to see who is ballsy enough – check out our little Facebook group.

If you aren’t familiar with SXSW or the PanelPicker process, it’s pretty simple. SXSW is a community-driven event (and I think this has become more and more important over the past couple of years). That being said, knowing what kinds of topics the audience wants determines who gets these primo spots. The process to sign up takes maybe 30 seconds, SXSW is really great about not spamming you, and your vote accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process.

Sarah actually has two panels in the running. If you’re interested, you can vote for them here:

• Spin Doctors: PR Best Practices for Social Media, submitted by Nicole Ravlin –> (http://j.mp/voteSE)
• The Global Online Community: Improving Cross-Cultural Relations, submitted by Andrew Kneale –> (http://j.mp/voteSarah)

My colleague, Adam Keats, has also submitted a panel – “Is The Marketing Microsite Dead?” and is sure to be a fantastic discussion. This panel will discuss the pros and cons of the microsite vs. social media platforms and provide educated and experienced POVs for attendees on how to determine which platform is right. There are some big brands who are shying away from the microsite and using Facebook and/or Twitter as their landing page – is that good? Bad? The new norm? Ready, set, discuss!

Two of my favorite mentees, Colby and Patrick, have also submitted a panel called Real Time Life. This nugget of goodness is about all things social slash Digital Native slash living in Real Time.

And here’s Sarah’s list:

1. Christine Perkett (@missusP), “The Networking Conundrum”
2. Heather Mosley (@mosleyppr), “Dissecting What Really Works in Social Marketing Campaigns”
3. Gregory Ferenstein (@ferenstein) “Stand Out: Investigative Journalism for Bloggers”
4. Ted Murphy (@tedmurphy), “Check-in, Get Paid: Rise of Cash-sponsored Social Media”  (client)
5. Heather Whaling (@prtini) Geben Communication, “Big Ideas, Little Budget: Low-Cost Cause Marketing”
6. Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki), “The Art of Enchantment”
7. Dave Fleet (@Davefleet), “Personalities, Policies & Problems: Companies and Employees 2.0”
8. Sydney Owen (@SydneyOwen), “Road Rules for Mentorship: What’s Appropriate (& What’s Not)”
9. (also Sydney Owen) “Generation C: Changing the Future of Business… Forever!”
10. Deb Schultz (@Debs), “Dear Miss Manners: WTF with the Social Web?”
11. David Armano (@Armano), “Why PR’s Future May Not Look Like PR”
12. Damien Basile (@db), “Game On: Can Game Theory transform your app?“ (and be sure to check out DB’s SXSW Panel Wiki, where you can add your panel to the database)
13. Paula Berg (@paulaberg), “The Legal Ramifications of Saying ‘I’m Sorry”
14. Lucretia Pruitt (@LucretiaPruitt) Social Media Matters, “Killing Clark Kent; When You Outgrow Your AlterEgo”
15. Justin Goldsborough (@JGoldsborough), “Building Relationships – and Revenues – Through Twitter”

Voting ends at 11:59 CDT on Friday, August 27.

While you do that, I’ll start with the ones I am fortunate enough to have a hand in. Click on the titles of the panels for the full-blown descriptions.

Road Rules for Mentorship: What’s Appropriate (and What’s Not!)

What’s it all about? In a world where the saying “it’s all about who you know” is more and more relevant across multiple platforms, mentoring is more important than ever. But once you’ve managed to find someone who is willing to take you under their wing, how do you keep that relationship alive? What subjects are appropriate fodder for you and your newly-found mentor to discuss?

Generation C: Changing the Future of Business… Forever!

Who is speaking?
Edward Boches: Chief creative officer, Mullen (resident Boomer)
Sherry Lowry: Founder/CEO, The Lowry Group (resident Silent Generation representative)
Sydney Owen (that’s me!) Assistant Account Executive, Weber Shandwick (resident GenY-er)
Aaron Strout: CMO, Powered Inc. (resident GenX-er)

What’s it all about? Forget about Gen X and Gen Y, it’s all about Gen C — the Content Generation. Business is changing and content is becoming king. Gen C understands this; Gen C is both audience and media, focused on creating, sharing and participating, versus promoting, interrupting and selling. Best of all, Gen C isn’t defined by age but by ideas — it’s 20-somethings working alongside 70-somethings. Leading edge companies know it’s about collaborating, not competing, and Generation C brings that to the table.

During this inter-generational panel, you’ll learn why age matters less and content is the new currency. You’ll hear why it’s important for companies to harness the power of Generation C and what businesses can do to leverage Gen C employees. The future of business depends on content; find out where and how Gen C’ers can deliver it.

With that, I say: “Get on the boat!”

And there’s video (this one is the long one).

And there’s more video (this one is shorter, in case you have ADD).

So let’s chat – Gen-Y – all it’s cracked up to be? If you identify yourself as Gen-Y, what are some stereotypes you run into? How can Gen-Y better succeed in the workplace? Are you on the boat with this whole “With” vs. “For” thing? Why or why not?

So, I present to you, a week with the cast of Saturday Night Live, and what they go through every week to get a show together on Saturday.

And yes, I was the interactive geek TAKING NOTES during a film premiere. I get it, I’m a strange duck.

MONDAY – Pitch day

• All writers/cast pitch their ideas for the week
• “If you pitch something that sounds funny, you’ll blow the joke by Wednesday, so the funny pitches rarely make it to set”
• 50% of the pitches are bullshit, the other 50% actually have a chance

TUESDAY – Writing

• Writers have 24 hours from pitching to the table read to write and deliver scripts.
• Everyone works on as many pitches as possible before Wednesday’s table read, most writers don’t sleep between Monday and Wednesday – and if they do, they don’t sleep until Wednesday morning if they’re lucky
• Approximately nine out of 50 sketches will actually make it to set for Saturday’s performance

WEDNESDAY – Table Read

• Producers decide script order for table read
• Confidence at the table read is tough, especially if you’re following the script of a veteran cast member who has been writing for the show for five, seven, ten years
• Table read is done with entire cast, in character, but not dressed, and not on a set

THURSDAY/FRIDAY – Production Logistics

• Production figures out logistics – sets, lighting, costuming, etc
• “If you’re not going to surrender to the process, then you can do nothing” –Lorne Michaels on refining the script to be the best it can be, regardless of what the writer had planned for the skit
• “it’s not like a movie. At SNL, you get points for trying – there is no room for perfectionists”

SATURDAY – Dress Rehearsal/Showtime

• They test the show on a full live audience to see which sketches need revision and which ones should be cut
• Executive producer watches rehearsal to gauge the audience – something that may have been hilarious at a table read may not actually translate well on set
• “Some parts kill it and some parts die. Cut the ones that die.”
• “If you get the right mix of people there is nothing better, if not, there’s always next week.” – Lorne Michaels on how you’re only as good as your last show

TAKEAWAYS:

• Similar to life, work, personal decisions – a lot of the ideas will suck, some of the ideas will stick. Cut the ones that suck and focus on the ones that stick. (DUH – but it bears repeating.)
• Confidence at the table read can be tough for junior cast. Some have great ideas but are terrified to speak up – regardless of the fact that they are on the cast BECAUSE they have great ideas. It can be intimidating to present an sketch following a senior cast member who is notorious for having great sketches.
• “What people lack in experience, they make up for in enthusiasm” –Lorne Michaels on each cast making the show their own – and finding new talent.

When you write a blog post, create a video, or INSERT CREATIVE ACTIVITY HERE, is there a certain process you go through? Where do you draw inspiration?