SXTXState Project 2013

Texas State graduate students cover SXSW

Interactive

The Project• Weekly Hangouts &

In-Person Meetups

• SXSW Coverage

• Mobile Reporting

• Website Design

• Social Media & Promotion

• Ushahidi Mobile App

• Hackathon

• Taco Party

Our Team

• Brittany Black – social media

• Kiana Fitzgerald – text content, features

• Megan Kilgore – Ushahidi application lead

• Emily Lyons – website redesign

• Sara Peralta – multimedia content, mobile reporting

• Faculty: Dr. Cindy Royal

• Faculty Support: Dr. Jacie Yang, Jon Zmikly and Ryan Stewart

Design

Logo iterations:

Design

Final logo designs:

• Main Logo:

• Social Media Logo:

WebsiteNew Design

Old Design

Website

Website redesign overview:• Kept a WordPress format• Visual display• New color scheme and logo• Responsive layout for mobile• Refined categories

Ushahidi

u-sha-hi-di[oo-shah-hee-dee] – a Swahili word meaning “testimony”

Ushahidi Design

Ushahidi design overview:• Utilized new project theme and

colors• Responsive layout for mobile• Created logo (Kiana):

Ushahidi Design

Hackathon

Hackathon

Hackathon

Hackathon

Hackathon

Hackathon

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Social Media

Content – Before SXSWiPreviews:Coverage of notable panels and events before the SXSWi conference. 30 articles.

Process:Team members assigned to beats but collaborative approach allowed flexibility.

Content – Before SXSWiWeekly News Roundup: provides visitors with the latest in panel sessions, tech news & social media issues

Top 5:provides visitors with the top 5 relevant panels by SXSW session category

6 articles 6 articles

Content – Coverage of SXSWi

Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of World Wide Web)

Elon Musk(SpaceX, Tesla, PayPal)

Content - CoverageRachel Maddow (MSNBC)Top viewed SXTX video ~ 900 views

Matthew Inman(The Oatmeal)

Content - Notable interviewsPaul Qui (South Bites)

David Karp(Tumblr)

Content - Notable interviewsAndy Carvin (NPR)

Michele Norris (NPR)

Content - Notable interviewsAdrian Grenier (Entourage, SHFT)

W. Kamau Bell (Totally Biased)

Content – SummaryContent Highlights:• Articles

• 42 articles produced before SXSWi.

• 81 articles produced over 5 days covering SXSWi.

• Total of 123 articles!• Multimedia

• 44 videos produced, 38 on location coverage

• 29 Storify curated stories• 1 SoundCloud audio story

• Mobile• SXTXState Stories: 48

geotagged stories • GroupMe to coordinate

coverage

Analytics - SXTXState.com

Visits Unique Visitors Pageviews0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

201120122013

Site Traffic YOY2011-2013

Analytics - SXTXState.comGlobal Visitors

January 20 – March 17

Analytics - SXTXStories.com

Session/Speaker

35%

Official25%

Party18%

Food12%

Free10%

Top 5 Story Categories

Analytics - SXTXStories.com

8-Mar 9-Mar 10-Mar 11-Mar 12-Mar0

50

100

150

200

250

Site Traffic During SXSW Inter-active

VisitsUnique VisitorsPageviews

Analytics - @SXTXState

Analytics - #SXTXState

• 624 tweets with #sxtxstate• 140 tweets with @sxtxstate account in 2013

Analytics - #SXTXState

Analytics - Instagram

• 59 photos shared• 68 likes

Analytics - YouTube

• 1,517 views

• Top Video: Rachel Maddow

– 586 views during SXSW

– 867 total views

Post-SXSWi: Student reflections

• Brittany Black“South by Southwest has been an amazing experience. Exhausting, but amazing. My brain has absorbed so much information and I have had the chance to meet so many inspiring and influential people.”

Post-graduation plans: Communications and Employee Engagement staff at Hewlett-Packard.

Post-SXSWi: Student reflections

• Kiana Fitzgerald

On SXSWi, it “leaves me enlightened, exhausted, well-connected and honestly, a bit depressed. It’s always difficult to go back to your regularly scheduled life after being introduced to so many new ideas, people, products and concepts in a such an inviting environment, surrounded by people just like you.”

Next steps: Invited to attend the Diverse Voices reception at the annual White House Correspondents Weekend in Washington DC.

Post-SXSWi: Student reflections

• Megan Kilgore“It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by that much knowledge flying at you from all directions at once. It was absolutely exhausting, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Post-graduation plans: Joining the Capital Area Food Bank as the Digital Marketing Manager in May 2013.

Post-SXSWi: Student reflections

• Emily Lyons“I think it was especially rewarding for me because I’m at this crossroads of my life – nearing the end of my formal graduate education and considering where I’m going from here. I was inspired by the startup panels I attended, and took away some great inspiration for my future career.”

Next steps: Joining the Capital Area Food Bank as the Digital Marketing VISTA for the Summer of 2013 and graduating Fall 2013.

Post-SXSWi: Student reflections

• Sara Peralta“As a whole, I sincerely believe SXTXState’s coverage of SXSWi rivals that of any “professional” coverage of the event. I continued to be amazed by my cohorts’ instinct for newsworthy content and their drive to secure interviews with the conference’s biggest names. From David Karp, W. Kamau Bell, Michele Norris, Gary Vaynerchuk, and more, our team successfully interviewed the same high-profile leaders in tech and communications as major news outlets.”

Next steps: graduating Summer 2013 and attending the SALT Institute Multimedia Summer Immersion program.

Post-SXSWi: Looking AheadStudents are working on panel proposals for SXSW ’14, so they can join SJMC alumni as SXSW speakers

Thank You• Find this presentation at

slideshare.net/cindyroyal• Visit SXTXState.com and

SXTXStories.com