We love cheat sheets at Upshot, and make a point of creating them whenever possible. At my recent “Content Marketing Lunch-n-Learn” I closed with the following best practices. Planning a campaign, promotion, or marketing vehicle where content plays a role? The following will help keep you on course and hopefully provide some food for thought:

1. Think Long Term. How can we use this opportunity to create a marketing platform we can leverage ongoing?
2. Be Resourceful. What assets do we already own that can be repurposed, revamped or redone? Is there public data or an API (social networks, etc.) we can use? What media partnerships could be forged with brands that already have content our consumers want?
3. Stay Relevant. What can we create that consumers will find of value? What will put a smile on their face or change their lives for the better?
4. Treat it like an Investment. Marketing-related content we create or generate via our users is an investment in assets we can reuse and repurpose as our marketing efforts evolve.
5. Be Patient! Payoffs are not always immediate.
6. Fill Gaps in the Niche. What’s missing and what are people demanding?
7. Be Clever and get More Play. Appear non-competitive and offer something the big guys don’t have—done right, the competitors will link to your content!
8. Don’t half-ass it. Content marketing works—that’s why 6 out of 10 marketers increased their content marketing budgets last year. It’s only going to get more crowded and cream rises to the top.
9. Understand Your Targets. If you’re creating content for specific types of consumers, then you better understand their lifestyles. If not, hire someone who does to create the strategy.
10. Have Fun, be Creative! Content marketing is fun and an opportunity to be creative in countless ways. Embrace it!

Want this list in portable format? Download it here.

As the Internet evolved, suddenly the dictionary was online, and while Prince was reminding us to Party like it was 1999, Urban Dictionary came onto the scene and allowed users to start writing their own dictionary—complete with definitions for terms such as “tooth sweater” (you know, that feeling you get after not brushing for a day and it feels like there’s little fuzzy sweaters on your teeth? Yeah, I don’t know the feeling either. Go brush your nasty teeth, and floss and rinse while you’re at it). Urban Dictionary gave users a freedom that isn’t unheard of now (what with sites like Wikipedia and their raging popularity), but the lack of real information in addition to user-provided data left something to be desired.

Enter Wordnik, a community-focused and -run word world that takes the idea of an online dictionary to a completely new level, largely based on the idea that words are best learned and understood when seen in real-life contexts. Wordnik pulls definitions on millions of words from several reputable dictionaries, as well as less typical sources such as news articles and Twitter—AND lets users add their own words, definitions, examples, visuals, comments and the like. Think online dictionary meets Wikipedia and has a love affair with a social networking site. Besides providing all of the typical dictionary-esque material like meanings and synonyms, Wordnik lets users “Love” a word, add it to a list of favorites, discuss it with others, tweet it, or add the Word of the Day widget directly to their own site. Basically—anything you’ve ever wanted to do with a word, Wordnik will let you do.

Just launched in 2009, it’s safe to assume the features and community with Wordnik will continue to grow as a popular tool for anyone looking for wordy inspiration. Why look up a word in the dictionary for a boring definition when you can instead look it up on Wordnik, see what others are saying about it and with it, read where it’s come up in the news or strike up a discussion forum about it?!

Sara
What I’m reading: “The Woman in White” by Wilkie Collins
Why I’m reading it: I was inspired by an article I just read in the New Yorker about Wilkie Collins and the creation of the detective novel genre.
On deck: I don’t know yet what’s on deck. The beauty of owning a Kindle is being able to decide what I’m reading next while I’m on my commute in to work.

Paul
What I’m reading:“I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59” by Douglas Edwards
Why I’m reading it: It’s the inside scoop on Google’s first director of marketing and brand management complete with the evolution of the company’s famously nonhierarchical structure and the many ideas that never came to pass. I’m anxious to see if it ends with him cashing out as a kabillionaire.
On deck: “21: The Story of Roberto Clemente” by Wilfred Santiago

Stacie
What I’m reading: “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” by Stieg Larsson
Why I’m reading it: I started reading the series because pretty much everyone I’ve talked to has raved about it so I was interested in seeing what all the hype was about. TGWKTHN is the last in the series and now I just want to know what happens!
On deck: “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger

Leah
What I’m reading: “Lit: A Memoir” by Mary Karr
Why I’m reading it: I’m a sucker for a sad/true story. In this one, Mary Karr recounts the desperation of trying to be a mother and wife while battling alcoholism and mental illness.
On deck: “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand and “The Hunger Games” (Series) by Suzanne Collins

Adam
What I’m reading: “The Lost City of Z” by David Grann
Why I’m reading it: It’s about the legendary explorer Percy Fawcett who went missing in 1925 while trying to find a “lost city of gold.” With our lives surrounded by technology, it’s fascinating to read a true story about an adventurer that explored mosquito-filled jungles without a GPS (or a decent pair of boots).
On deck: “Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers” by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo

Mary
What I’m reading: “Embers” by Sándor Márai
Why I’m reading it: NPR profiled another one of Márai’s books earlier this year, which I read and loved. “Embers” is supposed to be even better.
On deck: “IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea” by Sara Harrison (From the Source collection!)

Jaclyn
What I’m reading: “The Interwebz” by Al Gore, a robot or two, you & me
Why I’m reading it: To be smarter, learn what’s up and laugh.
On deck: I don’t think I’ll ever stop reading it. Sooo tmrw’s pixels, probably.

Neil
What I’m reading: “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson
Why I’m reading it: The story of Lincoln’s assassination turns out to be surprisingly interesting. The modern equivalent would be like if George Clooney killed the president and escaped into the woods for two weeks. Bizarre.
On deck: “In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin” by Erik Larson

Liz
What I’m reading: “Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body” by Jennifer Ackerman
Why I’m reading it: I’ve become a science junkie over the past few years. My intellectual crushes now include Atul Gawande and Jonah Lehrer. Swoon!
On deck: “Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It,” a collection of short stories by Maile Meloy

Kelly
What I’m reading: “The Hunger Games Trilogy” by Suzanne Collins
Why I’m reading it: Kind of got sucked into it. My tween cousins raved about it so I figured I was too old. Then I slowly heard chatter at work, so I caved, got ridiculously sucked in, and read all 3 books in a week. They’re perfect, mostly-mindless, quick reads that were so good I tuned out all the background noise on the train—not an easy feat!
On deck: A fellow Upshotter suggestion: “Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok.

Taylor
What I’m reading: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson
Why I’m reading it: I loved “Devil in the White City” and wanted to check out what else Larson had written. Plus, non-fiction in the guise of a novel is truly wonderful.
On deck: a collection of short stories

Julie
What I’m reading: “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer
Why I’m reading it: Always been curious how I (and we) make decisions and the mechanics of the process. Some decisions are quick, some are right, some are wrong and some just take too long! Why is that?
On deck: I can’t decide, ha. (Get it?) No really, it’s a toss-up between “The Bedwetter” by Sara Silverman and “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.

Go ahead and share what you’re reading in the comments.

1. Temporary urbanism. It’s the new term for pop-up retail. We love pop-up retail. And we love its new moniker as well.

2. The new Crate & Barrel catalog. Just hit mailboxes this week, complete with a redesign. It’s visually and graphically appealing and has loads of editorial content.

3. 3D. I’ve avoided the reincarnation of 3D for awhile, thinking it would be seizure-inducing. But I have to admit, on games and movies it’s made for (versus added in post-effects), it’s pretty awesome.

4. Print’s finest hour. Brands are showcasing their finest print in all the huge fall magazine issues on stands now.

5. Jay-Z and Kayne West’s much anticipated collaboration album “Watch the Throne” was released on Monday. It launched on iTunes first (at-retail follows next week), a great example of how musicians are leading with embracing digital first and thinking brick-and-mortar second.

6. Target’s back-to-school ads. In a sea of back-to-school promotions, Target is running one of the few (if not the only) television spots that is not price-driven. Has a great emotional hook about school and teachers.

7. Craftsman Public Parks Rehab Project. It’s exciting to see one of our programs do so well and to see consumers truly engage with it. Self-servingly, it’s also nice to see someone else give it a shout-out, JeffBullas.com.

8. Paging System. Why is it making us happy? Because that’s how marketing runs at Upshot.

What’s making you happy this week?

Marketers have found new and clever ways to better target or “personalize” offers and services for their consumers. But, this hasn’t always been perceived as a blessing. The media (and government) has been quite critical and assumes the worst—like blatantly exploiting people’s private information. All the negative publicity has scared off a fair share of marketers, who otherwise would have looked to offer new, better personalized online services.

So now what? The Worldwide Web isn’t going anywhere, and it’s certainly going to further its legacy in the next twenty years. How do marketers move forward? In short, be careful, be creative and be transparent.

Free your creativity.

When it comes to developing new online services, don’t limit your thinking because you’re worried about online privacy. Despite what politicians and pundits may say, people don’t mind handing over personal information as long as they get something useful in return. If it’s truly beneficial to them, they’ll give you the data you need to make it happen.

Market the benefits.

Tell consumers what you’re going to do for them, and they’ll determine whether it’s worth sharing their information with you. People get the “quid pro quo,” so focus your attention on providing (and communicating) a strong consumer benefit.

Be transparent, but not apologetic.

People are rightly concerned about their financial security (no phishing please), so let them know that you have their best interests in mind and will actively try and protect them from the bad guys that exist in the world.

Don’t abuse their trust.

Consumers will let marketers into their lives if we can add value. Seems like a fair trade. Don’t take advantage of that privilege and mess it up for the rest of us!

For further information on the topic, please reference Upshot’s Social Experiment on the Privacy vs. Personalization Paradox.

to read Part 1 of this series or click Mojo Companies to read Part 2.

Are you a mojo company?  If you are, do you effectively market that mojo?  If not, do you want to be?’ When asked these questions, most companies think they have some mojo, fewer believe they market it well and everyone wants to be a mojo company. The biggest question is usually “How?”—especially when people are hesitant to believe that their company could have mojo.

Believe it

Fighting doubt is the first step towards marketing your mojo. You have to believe. It all begins with buy-in—from the frontlines to the top of the organization. Believe your company can achieve more outside (e.g., external communications) by focusing inside and then connecting the two. And, believing that your company is special and has what it takes to be a mojo company. Reading and passing along this article might be the spark you need to start a movement.

Find it

Some companies have this figured out, but many don’t. New company leaders often want to spark a company’s mojo, but they must remember that they aren’t starting from scratch. It’s important to look back before you look forward. Identify the milestone moments in the company’s history (both accomplishments and adversity) and analyze how the company responded and behaved. Talk to the people who were there and ask them what sticks out and what was unique. You’ll be surprised what you learn. We have done this at Upshot and shared it with the agency as a way to introduce new employees into the culture and exemplify how we got our mojo. We looked back at how the agency behaved in circumstances where we were successful, like winning a big new piece of business. We also explored how we reacted to adversity, such as losing a piece of business. We even considered how the company responded to the curveballs you just can’t predict, like the day our building burned down and left us homeless. Our success has always come from our people and their passion for the agency to redefine the possible when it’s most important.

Gauge it

Do you only have mojo in your own mind?  Does the leadership of the company believe one thing and the employees and customers just nod in agreement and believe something else?  Your mojo needs to be authentic or it will fall flat. Talking to employees through annual employee surveys with very specific questions is key. Participating in “great places to work” rankings is a way to benchmark against other companies. It’s also helpful to talk to your customers on a regular basis about the company versus specific brands. But, the best gauge is how employees act daily. Are people excited about coming to work?  Do they have pride in the company?  Will they go the extra mile because they want the company to succeed?  Do they actively participate in the culture? Remember, mojo comes from within.

Define it

Getting specific is sometimes the hardest part. But once it’s done, it’s usually worth it. Many mojo companies define their values, culture and what makes them special right out of the gate, but that isn’t the case for everyone. Still, it’s never too late. A mojo company must have a well-crafted and unique vision, an inspiring mission, a galvanizing culture statement and meaningful core values. They must be distilled down to their essence, in an understandable way, so they can be acted on in a clear and consistent manner. Southwest Airlines’ culture comes down to three unique, impactful and concise statements: warrior spirit, fun “LUVing” and a servant’s heart. These drive everything from their hiring practices to the way they interact with their customers.

Organize around it

The new power couple in mojo companies is HR and marketing—culture affects the marketing, and marketing affects the culture. The company will recruit, interview and hire differently if they’re thinking about a new employee’s ability to be a brand ambassador as well as his or her technical skills. At the same time, all company communications, events, parties, etc. should reflect the brand. ING Direct actually has a senior vice president of human resources and marketing.

Nurture it

Culture should be nurtured, not controlled. You can’t just pin a culture statement on the wall. Mojo comes from within each employee. The company needs to define the culture and give the employees values or tenets as a framework, but let individuals interpret them in a way that works best for them. The company also needs to create an environment and tools for the culture to flourish—from the workspace to parties to forums for people to share their thoughts. If done right, the culture stays consistent, but each employee puts his or her own mark on the company along the way. Google’s commitment to innovation depends on a culture where everyone is comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. Google facilitates sharing by providing a café (including free food) where people can get away from their computers and talk to each other and with their weekly all-hands TGIF meeting to bounce ideas off management and each other.

Activate it

Finally, if you’re successful and you have created something special, you should share it. Why?  Because it differentiates you from competitors, it gives your people a sense of pride, it makes the most talented people in your industry want to join you and it creates magnetism that your customers will want to be part of. Southwest Airlines puts their employees center stage in their advertising. Zappos publishes an annual book on their culture. Lululemon Athletica sends their brand ambassadors out to mingle with top yoga studios near their stores. Disney’s mojo is so strong that they’ve offered consumers a chance to compete for the role of Chief Magic Official. And if you really want a great example of a (non-profit) mojo company, take a look at the US Marines. Their vision and sense of purpose, core values and brotherhood are present in all of their marketing.

Easier said than done.

Striving to be a mojo company is not for everyone. There are plenty of successful brand companies and agencies that do great work, but aren’t close to being mojo companies. Some agencies work with great clients and win awards, but approach their work with a sweatshop mentality: for the honor to work here, you must work like a dog. Plenty of successful companies are driven by fear instead of strong culture. They deliver great products, services and profits, but at the expense of everything else.

When people who work in mojo-less environments come across companies with mojo, their reactions are priceless. “Really, those places exist?” is usually the refrain. Most people are pleased when they see examples of companies that are great places to work, but their perceptions really change when they realize how these environments can be the foundation of a company’s success.

If you doubt that your company could ever have mojo, I’d ask you to just look towards Detroit at Ford Motor Company. They have slowly transformed their company from mindless manufacturing into something that’s special, and their culture (versus bailout money) played a crucial role.

Striving to be a mojo company isn’t easy, but it is worth it.

My initial non-reaction was happily short-lived, and after a few days, the friends started to trickle in (I’m at 60, to my 700 on Facebook). I finally got my chance to experience Google+, and it was pretty nifty. Nothing really blew me away immediately, but it looked pretty and it worked. Really, that right there would have been enough to wrest me away from my abusive relationship with Facebook, but there was still so much more to the experience that I hadn’t yet realized.

And then one evening, all at once, it hit me. I was writing an email in Gmail when a Google talk message popped up. It was a link to a hilarious, but somewhat family-inappropriate video, and I wanted to share it. As I moved my cursor up to open a new tab to go to Facebook, I noticed something that had slipped by me in the past weeks. There was now a little “Share” button inside of that slick gray bar that Google has quietly strewn across all of its sites recently. I pasted the link into the box and shared with everyone in my “Friends” but not “Family” circle, which meant that my ultraconservative aunt wouldn’t see it. Cool.

I went back to my chat conversation, and it wasn’t long before I got a notification of a comment on my link. I clicked on it and was pleasantly surprised to be able to read the comment in a slick little dropdown box without having to leave the site. Super cool.

I was doing pretty much everything that I do online at once, in one browser window, and it was fast, good-looking and intuitive. The integration of services was nothing short of beautiful. And that’s just barely scratching the surface.

Bye, Facebook, it’s been real.

When you look at the companies who best market their mojo, it might seem as though they don’t have much in common. But regardless of their industry, or whether they produce goods or services, the companies that market their mojo all share the following characteristics:

Inspired sense of purpose

They’re not all out to save the planet, but they all have a meaningful purpose behind why they do what they do. Employees willingly and enthusiastically embrace this purpose across all levels of the company, regardless of their position or the industry. The purpose is a rallying cry that creates passion. Zappos isn’t just selling shoes; they’re delivering happiness, and everyone in the organization is an active part of it.

Unique cultures and work environments

Their cultures are guided, but never overly controlled. Well-crafted and meaningful core values define what makes the company truly unique. They go beyond words on a page and become a way of life. Environments allow employees to flourish, live the values and interpret them individually. Each employee in the organization believes that their workplace is different from all others in the marketplace. At Disney, employees are “cast members,” theme park rides are “attractions,” visitors are “guests” and all the areas visited by guests are referred to as “on stage.”  Cast members know there isn’t another company on the planet like Disney.

Strong and passionate leadership

Leaders that are passionate about the company are at the helm. They truly care about the culture and the people. The term “mojo” might not be used, but they know it’s what they’re after. In many cases, it starts with the company’s founder. ING Direct’s founder, chairman and president, Arkadi Kuhlmann, believes that employees should feel like they are on a mission, not just completing a task. He thinks that instilling a strong brand-culture connection from day one, and institutionalizing an “orange code” on a daily basis, is critical to their success.

Collaborative relationships between employees and key constituents

No ivory towers. These companies care about the employees and the employees care back, and it shows in their interactions within the company and with their customers. The result is a workforce willing to go the extra mile for one another. In June 2010, Clif Bar initiated an Employee Stock Ownership Program that handed over 20% ownership of the company to its 200+ employees. It solidified their relationship as a team—in addition to having financial stake in the company—where each employee’s success was dependent on the performance of their peers.

Vision, culture and employees are part of the brand

The good ones put it all together seamlessly. The brand is a reflection of the culture. Employees are evangelists and a critical piece of the brand. They let the world in on their company’s inner-workings. Their mojo is present in marketing and in frontline employees. Have you ever been on a Southwest Airlines flight where the flight attendant actually raps the safety instructions? That’s mojo. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stay tuned for Part Three next week: Marketing Your Mojo

Mojo.

It’s a weird word, but most people intuitively know what it means. It’s that special extra something that’s driven from within. It’s a sense of unstoppable momentum where the sky’s the limit. It’s the unique factor that differentiates iconic brands from the competition. In the movie Austin Powers:  International Man of Mystery,” Dr. Evil attributes Austin Powers’s resilience to his mojo—his libido, the life-force, the essence, the right stuff. Austin Powers has mojo and he knows how to use it. Many companies also have mojo but don’t know how to use it, or even where to find it.

It’s all about them, not us…right?

Most marketers focus on understanding their consumer and marketing brands to that target, so marketing their company’s own mojo can be difficult to grasp. They think of themselves like the Wizard of Oz, granting consumers their wishes without needing to share what’s behind the curtain. But that’s yesterday’s story.

First, the way consumers view companies has changed. They care who a company is, how it behaves and what impact it has on the world. They want to know that the company’s efforts are authentic, and that the company’s purpose, culture and inner workings reflect these values from the top to the bottom. If consumers sense a company has something special and unique, they want to be part of it (and they will spend accordingly). Target has been contributing 5% of the company’s income to support local communities since 1946, and usually made these donations with little fanfare. Only recently, after realizing the importance of constantly managing your brand in today’s “reputation economy,” have they overtly marketed these efforts. And remember, with the proliferation of social media enabling consumers to broadcast their opinions, any feelings consumers have about a company will be shared with the world.

Second, mojo drives great results internally. Employees are more engaged if they believe that they’re part of something exceptional. When a company truly cares about its people, nurtures the culture, defines the purpose, creates a great place to work and hones mojo, great things happen. Companies ignite the passions of their employees, who in turn push the company to new heights. The day-to-day issues that can create obstacles in a workplace become irrelevant because people feel that they are part of something bigger, and they will pass that enthusiasm on to your consumers.

Third, mojo pays. A study conducted by Denison Consulting rated company cultures based on their adaptability, mission, consistency, and involvement and found that “firms with lower organizational culture scores versus those with higher scores underperformed a comparison group by 29 percent in return-on-assets (ROA) and by 20 percent in shareholder value.” The companies that were most profitable in the study all scored highly on creating change, customer focus, strategic direction, vision, empowerment, teamwork and engagement.

Finally and most importantly, mojo makes the difference between having a good company and a great company, no matter what industry. Southwest Airlines has reached incredible heights in a notoriously miserable industry by delivering “low cost, no frills and unlimited mojo.” Zappos has built a wildly successful online shoe retailer fueled by their “happiness culture.” Lululemon Athletica used a culture built on an unorthodox combination of fitness, sports fashion trends and new agey self-help philosophies to deliver a billion-dollar yoga apparel company. And of course Disney has created one of the most recognizable global brands in the world by infusing their magical mojo into everything they do.

A lot of agencies know the secret.

Many good agencies market their mojo. In a services-based, creative field like marketing, clients understand the tight relationship between the output and people working at the agency. Great creative doesn’t come from a factory; it comes from people. And it’s not hard to understand that an extraordinary company culture and work environment will have a positive impact on the people and their work. When an agency has mojo, you can sense it when you walk through the office, when you interact with employees and when you see the work they produce. In the highly competitive agency business, mojo is a point of differentiation, so marketing it becomes very important. At Upshot, we strive to incorporate our special mojo into everything we do.

Stay tuned for Part Two next week: Mojo Companies

In Part 1 of our SXSWrapup, we noted that despite the annual hype-fest and prognostications for every SXSW, there really wasn’t “a killer app” coming out of this year’s conference. To give that statement some context, think about the two services that are universally hailed as the most “killer apps” to ever come out of SXSW: Twitter and foursquare. Twitter fundamentally changed the way we communicate online (by imposing length limits), the speed at which these conversations take place, and the ability to build further services right on top of this data (through an aggressively open API). Likewise, foursquare fundamentally changed the way we think about the relationship between social networking and location, invented a brand new data point (the check-in), and legitimized gaming mechanisms on an enormous scale.

In other words, the bar is pretty high to be a “killer app.” That’s why it’s okay that this year’s big story – the emergence of the Group Texting category of apps – isn’t really blowing anyone away. These are undoubtedly useful, they address an important consumer need, and, in the end, they may have the potential to be more widely adopted than Twitter or foursquare. So, “killer” or not, let’s take a closer look.

Group texting is exactly what it sounds like: a service that functions much like a “reply all” for text messaging. Users choose the peers that need to text each other about given topic, and add those people to a central list. When invited users send texts, pictures, or similar content to that list, that information gets dispersed to the whole group. For instance, if you have a group of friends that like to play pickup soccer games, you could create a list and shoot out messages when you’re in the mood to organize a quick game. If you’re trying to coordinate your group of friends at Lollapalooza-sized festivals, it sure helps to shoot out one update instead of contacting everyone individually. And if you were to attend, say, a Hilton developers conference (hint hint, Hilton team), attendees would find it very useful to opt-in to group texting lists for networking purposes, conference updates, and discussions that are pertinent to their industry. Better yet, these lists can be as permanent or as ephemeral as needed. Some services choose to build-in this expiration date up front (as seen in the image of GroupMe above), while others can be canceled as soon as the list’s usefulness has run its course.

As always, we STRONGLY encourage you to download these apps and try them on your own. No explanation on our end can compete with trying these services yourself, even if you delete them after a week. There are already lots of options in this space, and they are sure to undergo significant changes over the next few months (especially Beluga, which was recently acquired by Facebook), but we can make some initial judgments based on their current configurations. We’ve been using Beluga with our team here at SXSW, and it’s definitely been helpful for improving productivity and coordination. SXSW attendees who are more focused on the “extra-curricular activities” have also been advocating Fast Society.

But the service that’s most captured our attention is GroupMe. We like the fact that when you create a group, that group is assigned a phone number that, with a push of a button, can generate an instant conference call for all of the list’s members. We like the fact that users can choose to share their real-time location, so that group members can find each other even if they’re in an unfamiliar region. Then again, many of these features are available from other group texting apps.

In fact, the thing we like most about GroupMe’s is something that runs counter to the idea of being SXSW’s “killer” app – the fact that you can participate in the service without using an app. While there are apps available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry users, list members can also interact via text messaging. (Yes, that’s right: someone at SXSW created a service that also includes people who don’t have smartphones.) We love that element for its inclusiveness, especially since the kind of networking applications we’re envisioning can’t afford to be compromised by incompatible devices or different levels of tech-adoption between participants. Better yet, this also means that when the smartphone users run into areas with poor data coverage, they won’t lose touch either (GroupMe actually prompts users to drop down to SMS functionality when it detects poor data coverage.) And while GroupMe is only currently available in the US, the SMS/text option certainly suggests that they’re well-positioned to expand their service internationally in the near future. And for many of our clients, we think that’d be “killer.”

Be sure to check in tomorrow for Part 3 of our SXSWrapup!