As social and PR team leads for the company, Maureen and I traveled to Toronto for the North by Northeast Festival. We were excited to represent MSI and engage with many movers and shakers that show up to the North’s answer to South by Southwest. Like our venture to SXSW back in March, our bags were stuffed with a colorful wardrobe, because as I say, “Never leave home without matching tights!” With 1000 bands, 30 films, 150 comedians, 65 NXNEi sessions, and 60 artists, standing out among the crowd makes for a better festival experience.
NXNE is one of the most rewarding festivals to find up and coming talent from around the world, whether it be a web startup, new band, indie film or comedian. We were especially excited for the interactive sessions which featured such talents as Johnny Cupcakes, Jay Goldman and the amazing teams from Etsy, Hootsuite and YouTube. Sometimes we can get bogged down with projects that we forget about the popular players in the industry and the innovative work they’re doing. We also loved the Talk Topics for 2013, which featured topics like Responsive Design, Crowdsourcing, Pitching, Licensing, Social Media, Community Building, Interactive Storytelling, and Design Metrics. Our heads are still swimming with ideas, and we know we’ll be able to take what we learned at the festival and bring it back to MSI for our amazing clients!
Of note at NXNE 2013 was the official festival app. Available on iPhone and Android, the app has been our key to keeping track of everything going on at NXNE. Included within the app is a game called Name that Tune! which lets the user listen to a portion of a song and then guess the artist. The faster you guess the higher the score. We had a great time playing NTT! while waiting for a concert or a panel and testing our skills to see how well we knew the up and coming bands featured at NXNE. If you know anything about me, you know that I love my music.
While Name that Tune! was fun to pass a few moments, the most helpful app available at NXNE was called On Air. This tool allowed attendees to see exactly what was happening at all hours of the day. It was updated in real time, making sure that we never missed an important activity or panel. Kudos to the On Air development team.
While we had a lot of fun at NXNE, we also picked up valuable tools and endless ideas that will help MSI expand its social and interactive offerings. At MSI, we’re always willing to try new things and make the necessary changes, ensuring that we won’t be left behind. It’s a social world, and we just live in it!
See you next year NXNE, can’t wait!