There’s more to SXSW than just finding the next Zuckerberg.

For almost two decades since its founding in 1987, SXSW was known as the place to discover breaking new music acts and independent, off-beat films. SXSW Interactive, the festival’s lesser known venue -mainly due to the emerging nature of its medium – didn’t attract nearly as much public notice as its more established twin.

Fast forward a few years, as SXSWi has become a launching ground for some of the most formidable names in technology, including Twitter and Foursquare, and it has come to almost eclipse its original indie-music and film roots. In so doing, SXSWi has become something of an annual debutante ball for start-ups. Now, every spring in a time-honored Texas tradition, start-ups with a lot of VC funding “come out” to tech society (with handfuls of hoodies and logo tees in lieu of tiaras and white gowns).

Amidst the product launches, celebrity sightings, free t-shirts and libations flowing freely through the streets surrounding downtown Austin, it’s easy to forget that there’s an actual conference to go to. But with thousands of tech experts and luminaries on site to discuss timely issues having anything to do with technology today, participants stay on task. Additionally, despite the atmosphere that can definitely at times resemble a nerdy Cancun spring break, SXSWi happens to have a strong social component, with a multitude of events and sessions directly addressing the interplay between technology, innovation, and social impact.

This year, with “Better Tomorrow” as the main conference theme, panel subjects have ranged from race, gender, and class issues in the Silicon Valley, to using tech in dictatorships, to innovation and hacks in resource-limited societies, to leveraging online communities for social good projects.

Two panels, one of them led by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, tackled the reasons behind the enormous racial and gender gap in Silicon Valley. According to CB Insights, about 1% of entrepreneurs who received venture capital in the first half of 2010 were African-American, even though they make up 11% of the general U.S. population. Compare this to the 87% of founders funded who are Caucasian, and 12% who are Asian.

Why the gap? Participants discussed how socio-economic barriers, an often late start in developing tech skills, and a Silicon Valley culture where tolerating failure is a necessity, have hampered diversity in the tech industry. Hank Williams, an entrepreneur, pointed out the economic realities of many African American communities, and how that combined with Silicon Valley’s culture of failing forward can act as a barrier to entry.

“Some groups, for whatever reason there may be, have the socio-economic flexibility to fail,” while for others, “Failure means no rent money…or being able to eat next week,” says Williams.

If YouTube, Facebook, or CNN.com comments are any indication, online commenters aren’t particularly well known for their kindness. However, a session featuring Alexis Ohanian, a Reddit co-founder, and panelists from Donorschoose.org, Reddit Gifts,
and the Awesome Foundation discussed how online communities can move beyond trolling to giving. By setting a tone for its online community and providing incentives that bring out the recklessly generous side of participants (think positive peer pressure, or trolling with a heart), Reddit has been a driving force for a variety of weird and wonderful altruistic projects. Reddit community members have even participated in the largest Secret Santa in the world, sent complete strangers pizzas on request, and facilitated a campaign to “charity blackmail” Stephen Colbert that raised over half a million dollars for Donorschoose.org.

Social ventures were a popular topic of discussion at SXSW, and affiliated events like the Good Capitalist Lounge sought to prove that social impact and profit margin weren’t two disparate entities. Though there are plenty of businesses out there with an ethos that have proven wildly successful (such as Patagonia and Melissa shoes), the conversation on social ventures can still seem a bit apologetic and defensive at times.

On a marketing panel, the utility of cause-related work (employee retention, increasing brand awareness, building trust) was challenged with the claim that any company creating jobs – whether it be Wal-Mart, McDonalds, or BP was providing an overall social good, and that profit margin shouldn’t be hampered by “wanting to go to heaven.”

That assumption, that jobs trump all other considerations, and that having an ethic behind any business is not only not profitable but not an endeavor worth pursuing for the bottom line, seems to be a well-ingrained notion that requires constant, thoughtful pushback on multiple platforms, and SXSWi is only one venue (though with lots more free food and music) to explore social impact and the tools that can facilitate it.

The post SXSW Interactive Banks on a #Bettertomorrow appeared first on EcoSalon.

The space-obsessed were treated to a Foursquare check-in from the wild black yonder last week from NASA astronaut and International Space Station Commander Doug Wheelock. For his efforts, he was told: “You are now 220 miles above Earth traveling at 17,500 mph and unlocked the NASA Explorer Badge! Show this badge and get a free scoop of astronaut ice cream.” Tons of press. Presumably, he’s the mayor of Space – for now, anyway. And for all you future-trippers, here’s something you might want to start worrying about right away. I mean, we do have our green priorities.

Bad news, says NewScientist: “Space tourism could have major consequences for Earth’s climate.” This based on brand spanking new computer simulations that say soot-spewing rockets (we recently told you about the climate evils of soot) could have an effect far nastier than airplanes, even though the model would have them “belch out” only about 600 tons of the stuff, which is less than airplanes currently bless us with.

This is because spacecraft are so far out – literally: “…plane soot occurs at low enough altitudes for rain to wash it out of the atmosphere in just days or weeks. Rockets expel the stuff at altitudes three times as high – in the stratosphere more than [about 25 miles] above sea level. There, well above the weather, it can remain for up to 10 years,” the article says.

Why should we worry about this? Well “in the next few years,” (ya think? really?) “space tourism companies hope to start routinely flying passengers on suborbital space flights.” Based on what some companies are saying, their business plans in the “by 2020” column, the simulations were based on an assumed rate of 1,000 suborbital trips per year.

The science is that the soot could warm air in the stratosphere and strengthen currents that carry air from the equator to the poles. This is “not a pretty picture for the Arctic or Antarctic,” says Charles Zender of the University of California, Irvine.

So a word of warning for you green folks who are looking to purchase advance tix for the Buck Rogers express: your eco-priorities might conflict with your moonage daydreams (or Foursquare badge aspirations). I don’t know, though. You might have some time to think about it. In the meantime, maybe stick to “unlocking” where you’re at.

Image: x-ray delta one

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This post was written by Rob Reed. He is the founder of MomentFeed, a location-based marketing, strategy, and technology firm.

Location technologies are transforming how we experience, navigate, and ultimately better our world. From the global to the local, here are #10Ways geolocation is a positive force for good.

Social media has changed the world. It has revolutionized communications on a global scale, and the transformation continues with every status update, blog post, and video stream. The global citizenry has become a global network.

Since becoming widely adopted just a couple years ago, social media has supercharged social action, cause marketing, and social entrepreneurship. Indeed, the true value hasn’t been the technology itself but how we’ve used it. Today, a second wave of innovation is defining a new era and setting the stage for change over the coming decade.

Mobile technologies will extend the global online network to anyone with a mobile device while enabling countless local networks to form in the real world. We’ve decentralized media production and distribution. We’re doing the same for energy. And we’ll continue this trend for social networking, social action, and commerce.

The combined forces of smartphones, mobile broadband, and location-aware applications will connect us in more meaningful ways to the people, organizations, events, information, and companies that matter most to us—namely, those within a physical proximity of where we live and where we are. Can location-based services (LBS) change the world? Here are #10Ways:

1. Checking in for Good: If Gowalla and Foursquare have taught us anything, it’s that people respond to simple incentives. By offering badges, mayorships, and other intangible rewards, millions of people are checking in to the places they go. Apps like Whrrl take this a step further and enable like-minded “societies” to form on a local basis. The next step is for these apps to add greater purpose by encouraging more meaningful checkins and offering corresponding badges and stamps, thus mapping the cause universe. Or for a dedicated app to be developed that rewards conscious consumption, social responsibility, and civic engagement. Yes, the CauseWorld app features a cause element, but it’s not about cause-worthy places.

2. Eating Locally: Sustainability demands that we source our food as close to its point of production as possible. Many so-called locavores subscribe to the 100-mile diet, which requires that one “eat nothing – or almost nothing – but sustenance drawn from within 100 miles of their home.” Given the difficulty of accessing and verifying this information in order to live by this standard, there’s a geo-powered Locavore app. It gives you info on in-season foods, those coming in-season, farmer’s markets, and links to recipes. This rather simple app is clearly just the start. In time, location-aware apps will guide us not only to the grocery store or farmer’s market but through them. All the while identifying foods based on our particular diet or sensibility.

3. Political Organizing: In the next presidential election, politics will not only be local but location-enabled. We saw the power of social media in Obama’s 2008 landslide victory. In 2012, location-based apps and technologies will play a central role in how campaigns are organized, managed, and ultimately won. Much of this will be visible through mobile apps and location-aware browsers. Activists and volunteers will be more empowered. Voters will be more engaged in the moment, right down to casting their votes. Behind the scenes, though, we’ll see massive new sets of data available to campaigns for targeting, empowerment, and optimization. The party, candidate, and/or cause that has the best handle on geolocation will have a measurable advantage. (The Elections app will soon be updated for 2010.)

4. Finding Green Businesses: The web has effectively replaced the paper Yellow Pages as a way to find local businesses and services. However, this “stationary web” experience is quickly being supplanted by the mobile web and mobile applications, which give us access to this information when we most need it. The Yelp and Around Me apps are popular ways to find restaurants, coffee shops, or hotels wherever you are, but what about green-rated businesses? Greenopia has transformed its printed, local guides into a dynamic, nationwide mobile application that lets you find local, green-rated businesses in any category. No more paper and a much better experience. The Green Map app is another that facilitates discovery and connects us to local green environments.

5. Traveling More Efficiently: We’ve had access to GPS navigation systems and static traffic information for some time, but only now are we seeing the full potential of these technologies. With access to more detailed traffic information that is specific to your route and updated in real time, we can minimize congestion and maximize traffic flow (as much as physically possible). The new turn-by-turn MapQuest 4 Mobile app is a good start, as you can get traffic alerts specific to the route you program. However, user-generated information from apps like Trapster and Waze can crowdsource more specific details, such as whether to avoid an intersection due to a toxic chemical spill. Or, if you want to avoid automobiles altogether, Google Maps makes it easy to use public transportation and take a bike.

6. Scanning for Ethical Products: With online shopping, we’ve become accustomed to reading reviews and making comparisons before we buy. This can now be done in the physical world through games like MyTown and services like Stikybits. By scanning a product barcode using a smartphone camera, you can unlock a treasure of additional information (not to mention deals) that can help with your purchase. This might include where it was produced, how far it traveled, the reputation of the manufacturer, chemical contents, carbon footprint, or the full lifecycle analysis. Location-aware applications can also transform commerce itself by giving us better access to local inventories and locally-produced goods. Whether it’s fruits and vegetables or books and electronics, if something can be found within blocks of your current location, it makes no sense to ship it from afar.

7. Networking Neighborhoods: One of the hottest categories in geolocation is neighborhood networking. The vision for many of these apps is to strengthen the very fabric of our communities. With DeHood, you can keep track of what’s happening in your neighborhood, share your favorite places, and grease the wheels for actually meeting people. After all, if you’ve made contact through the app, it’s a lot easier to say “Hello” in the real world. Blasterous is another that lets you share information locally, whereas BlockChalk does this on an anonymous basis. Finally, NeighborGoods uses your street address to facilitate one-to-one borrowing and trading of useful stuff. In the end, making connections with your neighbors can lead to safer, more productive, and more sustainable communities.

8. Tracking Environmental Disasters: The size and scope of environmental disasters appears to be growing. In 2008, we had the Tennessee coal ash spill, which was billed as “the largest environmental disaster of its kind in the United States.” And that was before we realized it was three times bigger than originally estimated. More recently, the BP oil spill set daily records for “largest environmental disaster in the U.S. ever.” In each case, geolocation technologies can be used by engaged citizens to monitor and track the effects. They can be used by response teams to coordinate containment and cleanup efforts. Ultimately, these technologies can be used to accurately measure the size and impact of a disaster in order to better understand its damages and costs.

9. Viewing the World Through an Eco Lens: Augmented reality (AR) follows geolocation as one of the hot trends in mobile technology. It enables you to view the world through a smartphone camera (or similar device) and see layers of geo-specific content or information. One of the most popular apps is Layar, an augmented reality browser/platform that lets you choose specific data layers or experiences. The potential for green- and cause-related content is tremendous. You might view green-rated businesses, LEED-certified buildings, or virtual GHG emissions as they enter the atmosphere. Combined with smart meter technology, you could see the most efficient and inefficient homes around you in real time. And for the cynics among us, you could view our mountains, forests, rivers, and oceans as they once were…before the effects of climate change and so many environmental disasters.

10. Capturing the Moment: Better access to information about what’s happening around us—right now—can dramatically improve quality of life. This sense of “geospatial awareness” is possible through today’s smartphones, whereby a piece of content or information a moment is captured and preserved based on the unique time and place in which it occurred. It is essentially to document spacetime. Protests, natural disasters, sporting events, parties, political crises – real-time information about anything happening anywhere at any time, as well as the history of what happened. This will take several years and a number of different applications to realize. In the end, though, it will revolutionize how we access and consume content. It will complete the democratization and decentralization of news and information – based on time and location.

Cautionary note: Privacy is the single biggest issue in the LBS industry. It’s important to understand what information you are sharing with regard to your location and with whom.

Author’s note: We’ll be hosting geolocation events for Social Media Week in Los Angeles this September. This is the third in Max Gladwell‘s #10Ways series of distributed blog posts. It was published simultaneously on as many as 300 blogs.

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