At this time tomorrow, the Activ8Social team will be sipping margaritas in Austin! That's right, we're all attending SXSW Interactive this year.   For those of you who don't know, SXSW is a huge festival that consists of three components: Interactive, Music, and Film. SXSW Interactive is focused on emerging technologies and, over the years, has become a breeding ground for new and creative apps, social networks, and trends. You can see why we're so excited about going.   In order to prepare for SXSW, we have created a pinboard of the parties, restaurants, and bars we want to check out, along with the essentials we need to bring to survive the festival. We've also mapped out some panels and speakers to check out but, as more experienced attendees have told us, it's best to just go with the flow.

  We will be updating the blog about our experiences, but be sure to also check out our Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, and Instagram pages for SXSW updates. If you're going to  SXSWi, drop us a line so we can meet up!

Activ8Social is proud to announce that our agency was selected as 1 of 85 "startup" (defined as less than 5 years in business) to attend first ever Startup DC Student Career Expo, a joint partnership with Startup DC, Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, George Mason University and George Washington. Startup DC is part of the Startup America Partnership, which was launched by the White House last year to provide resources and support for young companies.  

This coming Monday, March 5, startup companies like Activ8Social will be able to attend a single regional career fair for students eager to work for startups.  The expo will take place at George Washington’s Marvin Center to find students for jobs and internships at their growing companies. The goal is to give growing startups a single place to find the best students from across the region, while giving students a single place to connect with the hottest startups for jobs and internships.

  According to Jim Chung, Director of the Office of Entrepreneurship at George Washington University,

Jobs and internships at startups can be incredibly exciting and rewarding, offering opportunities for students to get real-world experience faster and with more responsibility than at a typical big company. Events like this are a win-win for both startups and students. Startup companies are infused with affordable, energetic, and sorely needed talent, and students learn so much by being thrown onto a small team trying to change the world, an experience that will serve them well no matter what career path they eventually choose."

  This is the first event that has been held in the DC region that is geared toward matching students with regional startups. This event will provide students with networking resources and will expose them to the benefits and challenges associated with startup businesses.   If you are student in the Washington DC area and plan to attend the Startup DC Student Career Expo, be sure to stop by and learn more about Activ8Social!

It's Social Media Week (February edition) in NYC and DC as well as all around the world this week.  We love the timing of #SMWNYC and #SMWWDC (official Twitter hashtags of both events) ... nothing better than a week full of awesome social media events in both cities followed by a full #recovery before SXSW in March! (more...)

Calling all students and young professionals! Activ8Social is taking on additional clients so we are in need of motivated, talented people who love social media marketing and would like to consider building a career in the industry. (more...)

If your read our Activ8Social blog or frequently visit our website, then you know that we haven't posted many thoughts lately. But, alas, do not fret for the reason is not that we are out of good ideas or interesting perspectives on the intersection of sports, music, entertainment, and social media.   No. It's because we are über busy with some exciting changes that you will begin to notice over the next couple of weeks!  We are currently in Phase 1 of these changes which is a re-branding and redesign of the Activ8Social website.   One of these changes is the landing image on our home page. If you are paying attention, you should already immediately recognize it's different.  Much improved ... right?  We certainly think so. Among other improvements you will notice in the coming weeks is more descriptive information around our client portfolio, services, case studies, and white papers because quite frankly, we haven't made it all that easy in the past to find out more details about Activ8Social so we're finally taking action to fix it!  We have a bunch of awesome work and thought provoking ideas to share with you, and we would like to hear your feedback so please let us know.   Other redesigns and enhancements that we will be rolling out in the coming weeks will include the Activ8Social Twitter and Facebook Page so be sure to check back with us frequently ... there's only so much college football and NFL you can watch in one weekend!   And oh yeah, we almost forgot to mention that we have an exciting, new social media contest launching next week that bridges the online and physical worlds that we think you are going to enjoy learning more about the execution so keeping checking back for more.

The Activ8Social team just capped off a long, eventful day at the prestigious 2009 Princeton Sports Symposium, which was the fourth installment of this event that has become an annual landmark in the sports industry and on the Princeton University Campus.  Founded by Chris Chaney, Princeton class of '07, the symposium provides a forum where students and sports professionals can interact and acquire invaluable knowledge about this fast-growing industry.   Anthony Caponiti of Activ8Social was a featured panelist on the "Digital Media & Technology" panel, alongside the following renowned industry veterans:  

• Troy Ewanchynia - Senior Director, Comcast SportsNet Digital Media
• Derrick Heggans - Principal, HACE Sports Media Consulting
• Greg Shaheen - Senior VP, Basketball and Business Strategies, NCAA
• David Birnbaum - Senior Advisor, Strategy and Acquisitions, Alloy Media + Marketing

The highlight of the day for us was listening to the keynote address by Tony Ponturo, who served as President and CEO of Busch Media Group and the VP of global media, sports and entertainment marketing of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.   During his 26 year tenure at Anheuser-Busch, Tony managed over $700 million in media, sports and entertainment properties per annum, overseeing broadcast exclusives in the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, USOC and International Olympics.  In addition, he steered official beer sponsorships with MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and NASCAR.   We also enjoyed finally getting to meet some fellow rising stars of the sports and social media industry in person, including Lewis Howes, Amy Martin, Peter Robert Casey, Darren Heitner, Joshua Duboff, Brian Gainor, and Russell Scibetti.