I’m excited to share more details about TribeCon, a conference about communities – both online and offline.  Tiffany Starnes and I have been working for the last six months to put it together along with a lot of help from our Tribal Council and a lot of friends from Net2NO.

We’re producing the conference in partnership with the Voodoo Experience.  TribeCon will be the official interactive component of the Voodoo Experience.  This is a tremendous opportunity for TribeCon. The Voodoo Experience has grown into a huge annual music festival, and together we can build TribeCon into a integral part of the experience and a major interactive conference.

So let’s get to the details:

• What: TribeCon is a conference about building communities, online and offline.
• When: October 29-30, 2009
• Where: Voodoo Experience – City Park, New Orleans, LA
• How much: $169 for TribeCon includes single day Voodoo Experience ticket. $269 for TribeCon includes three day Voodoo Experience Ticket.
• Who: The speakers are all people passionate about building communities.
• Why: Building a community around your brand, cause, or mission is the most powerful way to grow.  Today’s social networking tools make it possible to reach your audience in powerful new ways to build a movement.  At TribeCon you’ll learn how to build community online to effect action offline.

Why does TribeCon need New Orleans?

One of the things I’m most excited about is bringing the conversation about authentic online communities to New Orleans.  Having the Voodoo Experience has a partner enables us to make this truly a world-class conference.  TribeCon connects with New Orleans because we have such a deep sense of community here.  From the Mardi Gras indian tribes to front porch neighbors, New Orleans culture is rooted in community.  Andrew Larimer, Tim Soslow and Matt Tritico will be curating a special panel presentation that will be a celebration and exploration of community in New Orleans.

Inspired by SXSW, and now TribeCon is just six weeks away.

The idea for TribeCon was inspired on the Y@ Pack trip to SXSW organized by the Net2NO community.  We had such an amazing experience together, and it was truly amazing what a motivated community can accomplish.  On the bus ride back from SXSW in March, we hatched the idea for TribeCon.  We pitched it at the GNO Inc Digital Media Alliance meeting in May, and though I regrettably made a couple of miscues in my pitch (ugh), we started to line up support and Robbie Vitrano helped us line up meetings with Rehage Entertainment.

So after a long summer of laying the ground work, here we are, just six weeks away from the inaugural TribeCon, with a supportive partner in the Voodoo Experience and a tremendous slate of speakers. Tiffany and I are both getting much less sleep these days, but we’re doing it, and really excited about producing TribeCon.

TribeCon is important to the tech community, and important to New Orleans.

So, you’re interested in getting involved?

Fantastic.  We need your help to make this a success.

• We’re bouncing a lot of ideas off our friends and supporters in the Tribal Council.  Everyone on it has been tremendously helpful and it has really shaped what this conference is, in addition to helping us make decisions on branding, marketing, content and more.  Membership is open to all, so join the Tribal Council.
  
• We will be looking for volunteers to coordinate a number of things for TribeCon.  If you’re interested getting to TribeCon for free, please contact us.
  
• We’re also looking for sponsors to support TribeCon and connect with an audience of community activist and online influencers.  We have a sponsorship package that we can send you, please let us know if your interested, or know someone for us to reach out to.
• Stay updated with all of the latest, follow @tribecon on Twitter.
  
• Ready to sign up? Great, head on over and buy a ticket to the conference.

Thanks to everyone for all your support.  We’re excited to present TribeCon and connect with the community.

Have more questions? Hit me up in the comments! Thanks.

Lots to report, I’m gonna do it Marcoullier-style and keep it as concise as possible:

SXSW

• Net2NO <3 SXSW road trip rocked. See pics and wrapup. Thanks to all sponsors. Video coming soon.
• Our Outsourcing 2.0 Panel went great. Not as many fireworks as we expected, but good discussion. Thanks to Sandeep, Andrea and Matt for all their hard work and to a great audience (200+) for turning out. Read more on Twitter.
• Loved getting the VC dialogue going with Taylor Davidson. He ran a great panel that I missed and is a thought leader on where funding is going. I’m paying attention.
• Had a blast getting the post-panel jitters out with Mike Bonifer. It was a game changer for my afternoon.
• Learned a ton about co-working and building earning whuffie. Connected w/ co-working space catalysts in Tony in NY, Chris in Phoenix, & Matt in Houston.
• Loved connecting with the LA & SF tech scenes at the LA BBQ and their panel. Thanks to Gerard, Sloane (welcome to NOLA), Andrew & Paige.
• The NOLA party @ Lucky Lounge was hot. DJ Othertempo and Austin Knights Brass band killed and Larimer ran a tight show.

IDEACorps

• Idea Village just hosted six teams of MBA students working with local entrepreneurs on spring break.
• I was honored to be invited as a panelist and sat alongside some very invigorating folks.
• Had a great conversation with Robbie Vitrano about the need for a mentorship-driven seed capital fund. More to come.
• Congrats to Feelgoodz, Project 30-90, and Naked Pizza on all they accomplished.

Upcoming – WordCamp NOLA

• John Ramirez has been working night & day to put this conference together. He’s had quite a vision and is pulling it off.
• 11 days left and only 34 seats left to go. Get tickets now!
• We’ve lined up some great presenters and panelists, check out the lineup.
• Ben Huh from FAILblog and LOLcats will be here. Nuf said.

More Upcoming

• Tritico is getting the steam behind an upcoming BarCamp. Let’s make this happen.
• We’re going to do a pre- French Quarter Fest bloody mary geek breakfast with Eric Marcoullier when he is in town April 18th. Stay tuned.
• Tiffany Starnes is getting Social Media Club New Orleans off the ground. Interested? Hit her up.
• Shameless Plug – Launch Pad will be opening in May. Sign up now for 50% off first month.

That’s it from Voodoo HQ. Lots brewing. Come back for a fresh cup soon.

Friday morning the Net2NO krewe (aka NOLA <3 SXSW aka Y@T Pack) will be on the road to Austin. This road trip has taken a lot of planning, and a lot of people have worked very hard to make it happen. And now it’s here, so let’s rock it. This post is based on my personal experience at SXSW over the last 4 years, but I still have a lot to learn, so I look forward to your thoughts in the comments

How to Rock It and Get the Most Out of SXSW

• Work Hard / Play Hard – You’re going to be dead tired a week from today so get over it. Don’t party so hard you can’t make the panels, and don’t panel so hard you miss the parties. I learn so much each year going to really interesting panels, I love seeking out new and interesting speakers. But the best connections I make are over a few beers at the parties. You have to be able to do both. So suck it up and don’t plan on getting a lot of sleep, you’ve got to hustle at SXSW.
• Planning Your Panels – There are several good panel planners online. These are great to sift through the panels ahead of time. Me? I take a yellow highlighter and go spend an hour going through the SXSW book on the day I get there. I select my panels based on person, not topic. Anyone who you find interesting on twitter, or who may run a company you respect or think is cool is probably worth seeing. I highlight out a schedule for each day, then tear of the panel picker and stick it in my badge pass holder each morning.
• What to Wear – While this isn’t going to be a problem for us, since we all have t-shirts, I’ll offer my 2 cents. You’ll see a lot of hipster cool, ie: Threadless Dirty Coast tees. You’ll see very few ties unless they are skinny or ironic. Jeans are de riguer. Be comfortable and if the weathers iffy, bring a jacket, because you might not make it back home before the evenings activities. Generally, I take the conference day directly into the party circuit evening.
• What to Carry – iPhone & Moleskine. Maybe a camera. That’s it. I don’t carry my MacBook to the conference each day, b/c personally I don’t need to immediately blog my day. But really its because I just don’t want to carry it around. A bag to carry stuff is nice, but you have to carry it around all day.
• Who to Meet – Anyone and everyone. SXSW is literally the friendliest conference I’ve ever been too. You can walk right up to your favorite web-celeb and introduce yourself. Don’t be shy, that’s what we are all here for. Don’t do anything alone. Find people to go to lunch with, go to dinner with, go out with. You’ll meet so many new friends. Relax and have fun.
• Parties to Hit – Personally, I tend to skip most of the official parties. A general rule, the bigger the name (Google, Facebook, Digg) the bigger the crowd. Most of these parties are so packed that people are waiting outside for hours. Not me. It’s not worth getting in and then not being able to get a drink. Go to the smaller, more intimate events. Follow twitter and you’ll find them. They usually have much cooler people anyway. The Dorkbot party and all of the outdoor happy hours are great. I always have fun at these and like the outside ones. (Don’t miss the NOLA Party on Monday and St. Patricks Last Stand on Tuesday)
• Awards Night – Sunday night is the web awards night. I skip it. But then I don’t really like the Oscars or Grammys either. You’ll hear who won on Twitter anyway.
• BarCamp – BarCamp Austin is a great way to spend a day or an afternoon away from the convention center on Saturday. I go every year and spend a 1/2 day. I highly recommend you plan to stop by. Register @ Facebook.
• Twitter – Definitely the official back-channel for SXSW. I wrote a post in 2007 about what social software would emerge at SXSW. Clearly it is Twitter. So much so that Dodgeball is now down for the count.
• Rawk It – this post was inspired by the the panel How to Rawk SXSW. So go to that too.

In addition to those general way to rock SXSW, I’m super excited about what New Orleans is doing to take Austin by storm….

NOLA <3 SXSW – Road Trip Details – Lots of people have been asking me exactly what we are doing, so here is the down low:

• Who – 30 Louisianians will be jumping on a bus and cruising to Austin for SXSW.
• What – We’re going to promote New Orleans and Louisiana as a fantasic location for digital media & tech professionals. We’ve got fantastic culture, quality of life, and a creative climate. Since Hurricane Katrina the city has literally reinvented itself and we’ve had an influx of passionate, talented young people who want to make an impact. Our local chapter of Net2 has been instrumental in harnessing this energy and building a community of techies, now 175 strong in only 8 months. The Downtown Development District , GNO, Inc and City of New Orleans Film Commission have been instrumental in our ability to pull this trip off. We’ll be spreading the gospel of New Orleans at SXSW!
• Shirts – We’ll be easy to spot because we’ll all be wearing the same shirts.
• Booth – Stop by our booth 811 at the SXSW trade show to meet us, grab some schwag and tell us your story. We’ll be giving away a free weekend in NOLA each day at 5:04pm.
• Panel – Shameless plug: Come to my panel Outsourcing 2.0 – Is the World Flat or Not? on Monday at 11:30 am in room 8.
• Party Bus – Look for the NOLA <3 SXSW party bus cruising around the convention center and the parties each night. We’re providing free shuttle services between all the parties.
• Party – Don’t miss the New Orleans Party on Monday night 10pm-2am at the Lucky Lounge. DJ Othertempo and the Austin Knights Brass band will perform. It’s going to be a NOLA style throwdown. RSVP here.
• Twitter – follow @net2no for official details on the trip. And our hashtag is #nosxsw so you can search for that too.
• Google Group – all messages and discussion for everyone going on the trip.
• Blog – We’ll be posting everything on the Net2NO site. Stay tuned!

I’m excited to see old friends and new at SXSW. Here are my digits, let’s connect:

• Email me @ cschultz@voodooventures.com
• Follow me @ twitter.com/cschultz
• Call me @ 504-931-6099

Lots of good updates to post today, so I’m going to get at it rapid-fire…

• The Feast, a social innovation conference that Michael Karnjanaprakorn is bringing to New Orleans for the first time on February 6, 2009 has moved to a larger venue due to the strong demand. Michael announced today that the conference will be held at the Contemporary Arts Center. They’ve released additional $99 tickets (available only until Friday) so go register to attend today. I’m going to be speaking at the conference, and I’m working on my talk now. Any thoughts, send them my way.

• Startup School v2 will be held at Tulane on Thursday Jan 29, and Saturday, Feb 7. This Startup School will be geared around the $40,000 Tulane Business Plan Competition. We’re putting this together in conjunction with the TEA, SENO, VoodooTEQ, and hope to have the participation of many of the excellent judges from last time. Keep in mind that for the Tulane competion, each entry needs to have a student (from any university) on the team. More details to follow.

• 504ward will announce the first round finalists this Friday.

• 9th Ward Field of Dreams is an amazing project that Brian Bordainick behind. He working to build a $1.85 million state of the art football field in the Upper 9th Ward for Carver High school and the community. If you haven’t heard about this yet, check out the ESPN article and find out how you can help make it a reality.

• Net2NO is taking a road trip to SXSW and we want you to be a part of it. We’ve broken into subcommities to put together the party, travel and pitch. If you’re interested in helping New Orleans to take SXSW by storm in March, sign up here.

• GNO Inc’s Michael Hecht presented at NetNO last night about the new Digital Media Alliance launch. This initiative is focused on equipping us, New Orleans’ creative class of knowledge workers to succeed and attract more businesses and talent to the city. One of the things that has already been prepared is a slide deck to pitch New Orleans as a great place to locate your business. Take a look below.

Gno Cdm Deck

If you have anything that I’ve left off, hit me up in the comments. I’ll include it in the post. Thanks to everyone who is contributing.