Posts Tagged SXSWi
Heading to SXSW? Try our insider tips for Austin’s best
Emma’s Austin outpost is here to help you keep it weird while you’re in town. The answer? Head to South Lamar.
Maria
The blogosphere is chock full of great tips for enjoying Austin during SXSW. Most of them cover the quintessential items such as where to find the best BBQ, breakfast taco and Mexican martini around town. But sadly, one of the coolest drags in Austin is often left out of the mix. Just a few blocks west of South Congress Avenue and south of downtown, South Lamar is home to a mix of historic spots (like Broken Spoke, Kerbey Lane and Saxon Pub), mingled in with an infusion of newer shops, restaurants and bars (like the best sushi spot in town, Uchi, and a Bon Appetit 2009 Top 10 New Restaurant of the Year winner, Olivia).
Since Emma’s Austin satellite office is squarely planted in the heart of South Lamar Boulevard, we decided to make our own list of suggestions built around one of the quirkiest boulevards keepin’ it weird in town.
In a city known for its food trucks, you can find one of the better cups of joe not from a trailer but a full-sized, repurposed, 20-foot shipping container called La Boite. Pair your coffee with a freshly made almond croissant or macaroon, and your visit to South Austin just got off to a five-star start. Breakfast time brings breakfast tacos all over Austin. Hit one of S. Lamar’s local shops Casita Taco. Or for a true South Austin experience, drop by Maria’s Taco Express — as much for the South Austin vibe as the guisada, el pastor or breakfast tacos served all day.
Gourdoughs, of course.
South Lamar covers a wide variety of boutique shopping options, too, so if you’re ready to grab a break from SXSW sessions and blogging, enjoy a stop into So La, right next door to Emma Austin. Or try one of the street’s more unique stores like Marigold – Gateway to India. If you enjoy two-wheeled transportation, Jack and Adam’s and Bicycle Sport Shop both boast friendly, knowledgeable staffs and some cool gear. If you’ve got bicycle in tow, they’d also be happy to recommend a ride or two in town. (Meet you on Loop 360, early Saturday morning?)
If you’ve had your fill of brisket and tacos by evening, you can hide out on the patio at Red’s Porch, which boasts a great view of the greenbelt, a solid lineup of local brews on tap and bacon gravy. (Let me say that again: Bacon. Gravy.)
Of course, what would a lineup of must-visit spots in Austin be without mentioning at least one or two food trailers? Odd Duck Farm to Trailer features a farm-to-trailer menu that changes frequently. Take note, this popular spot is only open for dinner. And a trip to South Lamar without at least sniffing Gourdough’s would be a crime. To call this place a donut trailer is an understatement, as many a fan will testify. Just know that after a Flying Pig, you may skip a meal or two the next day.
Cap off your trip with a cold beverage and a round of karaoke, a coaster step or 10 frames at The Highball (opened by the owner’s of Alamo Drafthouse in 2010) — or one of Austin’s best outdoor patios at Paggi House, which is just a block off South Lamar at Lee Barton Drive.
The Emma Austin office will be dark during SXSWi but if you’re in the area, give us a shout on Twitter at @J_Gesinger, @gpgarner and @studio865. We’ll go halves with you at Gourdoughs.
From SXSW: What’s your email’s ah-ha moment?
We heard Daniel Burka (of Tiny Speck, formerly creative director at Digg) and Rob Goodlatte (product designer at Facebook) give a talk about how important the first fifteen minutes of your experience with a product is. It was great content for us, of course, as we’re always trying to make Emma’s service easy for folks to use from the moment they first log in. But among the many great points they made, one seemed as relevant for email marketers as it did for software developers.
What’s the ah-ha moment?
Goodlatte told the story of Facebook’s user testing as they tried to improve the registration process. Their research and development team recorded the eye movements and faces of folks as they signed up for Facebook for the first time. In one woman’s case, they watched her have a not-so-great experience. She got lots of error messages. She had an invalid email domain. She was confused. That was all before the ah-ha moment. She got to the point in the registration, after she’d filled in her high school and college information, that Facebook showed her pictures of folks she might know. When she recognized an old friend from high school, her face lit up, she leaned forward in her chair and she grinned for the rest of the registration process.
It was an ah-ha moment for the Facebook team, too. They got to see this woman realize how their technology was worth her time. In fact, she stopped relating to Facebook as technology altogether and saw instead the value of reconnecting with old friends. With her in mind (and a lot of other users), they redesigned the setup process around that notion and eventually saw a 5% lift in the registration process.
So, what’s the ah-ha moment in your email campaign? It’s the moment folks stop relating to your email as just another email and instead find something that’s worth their time. Have your ah-ha moment in mind when you first start your email design and content, so you can introduce it in a way where your subscribers will find it in the first few seconds of reading your email.
Maybe it’s an article that speaks to a problem they’re dealing with at work. Maybe it’s a discount or a special offer. Maybe it’s hand-drawn illustrations that accompany each news story. Or it’s something less tangible, like a certain tone you write with or the unique way you personalize your campaigns. It’s different for every organization, and it may change from email to email, but it’s about connecting the point of your email to the delight of your subscribers. After all, you’re not just sending an email. Like the team at Facebook, you’re designing an experience, connecting with people and inviting them to engage more with you.
Help Emma help 40 classrooms in 4 days at SXSWi
We at Emma have been working with Donors Choose to help fund teachers’ education proposals that fall outside of regular school budgets. Here’s your chance to help us, and all you have to give is about 5 seconds.
Emma is trying to help 40 classrooms during 4 days of SXSWi, a festival in Austin, Texas that celebrates all things new media. We’ve placed a not-so-secret message on their lanyards that shows them where to vote. Care to join them? Vote today for the region and academic subject areas mean the most to you, and we’ll use the results to guide where we send our funding. You’ll be helping kids in no time at all.
Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
Copyright © 2003 - 2012 Emma. All rights reserved.