Collective Detective Blog Archives

SXSW: Something Thingie This Way Comes

It’s that time of year again. The annual pilgrimage to Austin, Texas for SXSW Interactive. Last year, we roamed the streets of Austin and handed out Rubber Duckie Thingies to help us test the first version of Collectivus. Many of those Thingies have gone on to have encounters all over the world.

Buttons and stickers and Thingies? Oh my!

If you’re heading to SXSW this year, keep an eye out for the guys in the Collectivus shirts. They’ll have buttons and stickers to give out and perhaps give you a sneak peak at the upcoming Collectivus 2.0.

We’ll even explain the story behind the new Duckie Thingie and show you some of the other Thingies we’ll be introducing. Basically, they’ll be happy to show you their Thingies.

Heading to the Live Music Capital of the World or not, follow Collectivus on Twitter for Collectivus updates from Austin.

Ducks in the Heart of Texas (SxSW 2010)

While some early scouting parties made it to Austin, TX as part of our launch, a larger army of Collectivus Rubber Duckie Thingies are on their way to find mayhem and adventure with those also descending into the area to attend SxSW Interactive.

If you’ve been trying to get your hands on our Thingies, downtown Austin will be a great place to look over the next week. After that, the Thingies will hopefully journey across the world with all of the new friends they’ll have made in the Lone Star state. Will you be one of them?

The best way score a Thingie is to keep your eyes open for them, they could be anywhere. They are attracted to photo opportunities, beer, BBQ, and parties. They try to avoid small children and pets.

Another way is to keep an eye out for our Chief Mischief Officer: Traci. Traci will be all around Interactive and related events. She may even be wearing her chicken hat (don’t ask). If you run into her, say "Hi!"

Follow the Collectivus Twitter account for live updates from Austin and info on where to find Thingies and find us. You’re also welcome to follow Traci and myself (Josh) on Twitter for updates. We’re excited to meet new people and catch-up with online and offline friends.

Social Location services, games, entertainment and technology are going to be very popular topics at this year’s conference. While our humble little project won’t be the talk of the town, we’re looking forward to talking to you about it and getting your feedback.

We’re also hard at work on fixing bugs and adding some new features; we’ve only exposed a small part of what Collectivus will eventually be. We’ll have a recap toward the end of March reporting on our first two months live.

Thanks for your continued support and see you in Austin!

Vote for our SXSW 2010 Panel: My Start-Up Relationship

Every year it seems like the time to start getting ready for SXSW is earlier and earlier. Already the voting selection has begun for Interactive panels and this year we took a different approach with our panel submission.

Organized by Traci Miller, our Chief Mischief Officer, the panel: “My Start-up Relationship” talks about the other-side of being in a micro-business/start-up: How it impacts the relationship with your significant other, especially when you work together. Here’s the panel description:

It’s hard to leave work at work and home at home. What happens when they’re one in the same? This panels discusses the challenges of working and living with a spouse or friend that is a business partner.

And here’s some questions and topics that will get covered:

1. Your business partner is your spouse? Ahhh!
2. How to separate work from home.
3. What happens if it gets to be too much?
4. How to put your offline other at ease.
5. How to pull their attention away without making it seem you’re unsupportive.
6. What paperwork you need to have in place – no matter what!
7. Living and working together isn’t working, what’s the next step?
8. How to communicate, communicate, communicate!
9. Should we separate duties?
10. Schedule work nights and fun nights and stick to it.

We’ve got some interesting material already planned and may have some Collectivus surprises in store. (Yes, we’ll have launched by then.)

If you are heading to SXSW, please drop us a line. We’d love to meet you in person and hope you’ll both vote and attend our panel.

If you don’t plan on heading down to Austin next March, panel footage is usually posted online a few weeks after the event so you’ll still be able check it out. A quick sign-up and your support by giving our panel the “Thumbs Up” would be appreciated.