Small Talk

August 12, 2010 »

Help Me Keep Austin Weird

in March 2007, I attended a conference called Community 2.0, and I thought I was ahead of the curve.  There were a few hundred people there to discuss the best ideas around the use of online communities, and I thought there was no better place to be.  Turns out, during that same week, there were thousands of people who were far more informed than me who were hanging out in Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest festival.  Who knew?!

Turns out, SXSW has evolved over the past twenty-five years to be the festival for innovations in music, film and technology.  And in March 2011, for the first time ever, there will be a one-day track on health, focusing on how the various innovations in social media and digital technologies have created a revolution in the space. 

I submitted a proposal on a topic we happen to know quite a bit about: Why Consumers Feel Compelled To Talk About Drugs.  I was flattered to receive very positive feedback from the folks at SXSW who told me that they were very impressed with the idea and the content of the proposed panel.  And what makes that feedback so much more rewarding is that there have been over 2,800 proposals for this upcoming conference! 

The smart folks at SXSW weigh in on which panel presentations make the cut, but they also turn to the public at large to help make the decisions.  I’d be most grateful if you’d be willing to spend about 60 seconds, register on the site, and give us a thumbs-up for our panel.  It would be a real honor to be at SXSW, and to share the stage with my friends and pharma innovators: Shwen Gwee from Vertex, Tom Curatolo from Shire, and Maggie Borger from Alkermes.  And with your help, we just might make it!

And while you’re on the site, please vote for my good friend Jonathan Richman’s panel - he’s a real giant among us.

Thanks in advance for your help.  I’ll be sure to let you know if Austin really is as weird as they say!

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