Photo from last year’s interactive panel on Brand Loyalty. Photo by Andrija Dimitrijevic
North By Northeast made waves in its startup-focused panels last year. Tara Hunt the CEO of Buyosphere kicked it off with “so you want to do a startup, eh?” This year builds on last year’s success and features even more presentations and panels geared at the entrepreneurial and startup community. Like its big brother SXSW, NXNE has actively been engaging the startup community in its full-blown interactive digital conference that runs from Wednesday to Friday. I have a feeling NXNEi will only continue to flourish, especially since NXNE is based in the growing hub city for Canadian entrepreneurs.
NXNEi (as it’s known for short) is accessible to carriers of NXNE priority passes, which allow you access to panels after noon. Interactive-only passes are also available for purchase online and can be picked up at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 13
Startup Marketing: Techcrunch is not a Marketing Plan
This panel address how most startups fail because they don’t gain traction and are marketed the wrong way. Many assume coverage on Techcrunch or Mashable is a sure way to hit it big, but presenter Saul Colt says no way. He’ll explain the goals and steps you need to be successful in the very different world of tech startups.
Strategies for Pitching New Clients
Yay I have an idea, now what? This presentation teaches attendees how to use social media, branding, research and charisma to land the kind of clients they’ve always wanted to. It will help to learn confidence when presenting the “pitch” so you can establish strong relationships with prospective clients.
THURSDAY JUNE 14
How to Start a Startup
This panel discusses the five things every startup needs to succeed. It recognizes that not all startups require the same advice, but says they share similar threads that apply to almost every company attempting to build a new digital product. In Toronto, new web startups are founded everyday. This panel addresses the basic business pillars that need to be in place when starting out.
Beyond Media Queries: Responsive Design and Cross-Device Thinking
This one’s for the developers. It will discuss how responsive design fits into a broader strategy for serving networked devices. It discusses how a responsible approach cans foreground user goals, catalyze innovative design and transform client-working relationships. Industry players discuss the broader implications and design philosophy of crossing the threshold between device classes. Presented by Myplanet.
What Makes an Idea Stick?
Do you ever wonder why certain campaigns take off and others die a slow death? There is a lot more behind the latest viral campaign than meets the eye. This presentation looks into the steps that are taken to guarantee success (at least in the client’s eye) in a day and age where trying to get someone’s attention seems impossible.
The F Word: Feedback
You’ve poured your heart and soul in to your work and proudly presented it to your team or your clients, and the response you got back was…not what you expected. Maybe you didn’t miss the mark, but they did? Maybe the feedback you got was a little confusing? Maybe you did suck, and you need to go back to the drawing board. It’s okay, it happens. Reviewing, filtering, understanding and responding to feedback on any type of deliverable can be a rough experience. This panel of web design professionals from the UX, Design and Project Management communities will discuss The “F” word and how to deal with it.
FRIDAY JUNE 15
What’s your Employer Brand? : How to Attract and Retain Sought-After Digital Talent
This panel is designed for all companies, but rings especially true for startups. More and more companies turn to social media to seek out top talent, but the reality is many of these top professionals have multiple job offers. A good employer brand is crucial to attracting and retaining top-performing interactive professionals. This session explores how to create a great employer brand–even if you don’t have one now.
Digital Workforce: Employee Engagement and Corporate Culture
This panel discusses a happy workplace culture, innovation in the workplace, fuelling collaborative teams and the reality of today’s work environment. The right tools and philosophies, including social media, need to be in place to make your employees love going to work. This session will discuss the business case of your organization’s basic employer toolkit.
Mobile Stuff We’d Like To Build and Use More of — No Excuses!
This panel discusses The Future of Mobile — mobile trends as they relate to publishing, advertising and content distribution. It will explore less disruptive monetization, cross-screen environments and notable apps such as Highlight (local social network), MLB At Bat (in-app purchase), Draw Something (social mobile gaming) and Instagram. It will try to answer the question: does building awesome product suffice in gaining user adoption?
For a full list of presentations and panelists check out the NXNE Interactive schedule.
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Sheena Lyonnais is Toronto Standard’s tech and business editor. You can follow her on Twitter at @SheenaLyonnais.
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