If you’re reading this, you’re a human being. A person with feelings, thoughts, joys, passions, fears, etc. All companies are made up of humans; people just like you and I. Sure, you can automate much of what a company does, you can hide it behind buildings and legal terms and conditions. You can even use technology instead of people to make them more efficient, effective, and easier to manage. But, deep down, every company is comprised of people.

If you’re reading this, you’re also a “customer.” The word is not as exciting as “people” because none of us want to be seen as mere “buyers” of things. Still, we are all customers because… we buy things.

So if we’re all humans and we’re all customers, companies could act a bit more like people, right? And they could see all customers a bit more like, well, people. Humanizing a company or brand is not making it less powerful; it’s simply realizing that without the human beings working there and without the human beings purchasing things/services, such company would not be much more than a bunch of tangible and intangible things that would eventually rot.

I bring this up because the rise of the Internet and real-time conversations have forced many companies to be much more human, and that’s a good thing. Still, companies need to WANT to be more human. The power of apologizing is one example of how a company can be more human.

Apologizing does at least four things: First, it acknowledges the harm done. Second, it shows your humility and expresses respect and appreciation. Third, it opens up the door for forgiveness. And finally, it provides the opportunity to change. (more…)

I had the very cool opportunity to speak at this year’s SXSW Interactive as part of the Future15: Diversity series, which was organized by Glenda Bautista. The presentation, titled “The Online Latino: A New Digital Native,” was all about Latin Americans and the web. 

While it is a myth that Latin Americans are not online, only 30% of them are. The presentation went into the challenges (poverty, inequality, censorship, and the social/economic/digital divide), as well as what is changing (tech hubs, encouraging governments, businesses rolling out infrastructure, and a rapidly growing online community).

If you’re interested in learning more about what is happening online and offline in Latin America, including Streisand effects, citizen journalism, social networking, innovative start-ups, and stories about the people that are converting ideas into movements, check out the slides and videos below. Feedback (through email or comments) is appreciated

Thanks to Diego Contreras (aka Diegoliath) for helping me with the design, Jon Gipson for recording the video, and Kara Andrade for writing the original proposal with me and helping out with ideas, insights, and stats.

If you’re not on Foursquare… You should be.

Location + Badges = Utilitarian + Fun.

Here’s an informal SXSW Interactive session featuring Dennis Crowley (Foursquare), Christopher Barger (GM), and B. Bonin Bough (Pepsi).

There are two apps that make most of the other apps on my phones (I have both a Samsung Moment and a Palm Pre) seem almost useless. One is Stitcher (which lets you stream podcasts) and the other is Pandora. This is because audio is essential to me. Without something to stream on the way to work, while walking in Manhattan, or simply while relaxing at home, I would go a little crazy.

I’ve heard some people say that some of this year’s SXSW Interactive presentations were too “101.“ All I can say is that I attended some presentations/sessions/panels that were solid good. Some were technical in nature and others were more about the stories behind-the-scenes.

One of my favorite stories was that of Pandora, as told by their CTO Tom Conrad.

I opted not to go to Gary Vee’s presentation, the live Buzz Out Loud (I’m a huge fan), and many other ones at the same time because I wanted to learn more about Pandora. It was worth it.

I’m a big fan of visualizations. For this year’s SXSW, Pepsi came back with an updated version of their “Zeitgeist,” created by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs of Slash7. I liked this year’s version much better because it included Foursquare check-ins (which everyone was doing) and it seemed to be more relevant for people that were actually there.

I wish there was a Zeitgeist for every event that ever was so hopefully there is a trend toward more visualizations. Regarless of how you feel about the Zeitgeist’s actual value, it looks cool and it makes a non-tech company look very high-tech. Well done Pepsi. Well done.

Below are a couple of videos of the displays they had at the Austin Convention Center. Note the Samsung HDTVs

You read that right. I’m not talking about crowdsourcing, but crowdsurfing.

At SXSW Interactive 2010, I attended fantastic panels and solo presentations by people behind the brands, behind the books, and behind some of the most innovative tech. I met many very interesting people with whom I had very interesting conversations. I learned, I explored, I experienced, and I saw the potential of what this community could do in the next few years. To say the least, SXSW was unforgettable and I think anyone who is in marketing, advertising, PR, web development, design, user experience, customer service, etc., should head to Austin next year.

So when I heard about the usual post-event complainers talking about SXSW 2010 sucking.. I remembered being at Stubb’s with friends, watching a live Diggnation. Dice flying everywhere. A weird sense of FourSquare community. Fun. Excitement. Hope for a better world. Hope for a world where technology can make us all better people. And live streaming crowdsurfing…

Leo Laporte Crowdsurfing while Livestreaming TWiT:

Kevin Rose Crowdsurfing: (more…)