Category: SXSW

My panel submission for SXSW10: “not-so-random acts of kindness”

I submitted the following panel to SXSW10. Please vote for it if you would like to see it happening.

Mobile technology makes the real world a massive real-time multi-player play ground. This is a unique opportunity to move away from “work and no play” or from the “this for that” of traditional money, towards motivating people to spontaneously provide good experiences, and collectively evolve towards more indirect forms of reciprocity.

Questions Answered:

1. Do achievement badges influence behavior more than monetary rewards?
2. Do people donate more when their donations are publicized to their social networks?
3. Will gifts be taxable?
4. Is scarcity a myth?
5. Can supply and demand be matched in better ways than through the market?
6. What motivates people to do good?
7. How does traditional money play along with new forms of social recognition?
8. How do we avoid social capital bankruptcy?
9. Are reputation based systems necessarily following a power law distribution?
10. Can we avoid the tragedy of the commons by relying less on money?

SXSWi session on the Future of Money

SXSWi 2009, which takes place in Austin, TX on March 13-17 2009 will feature a panel on Mobile Ubiquitous Computing and the Future of Money. The panel is organized by Kyle Outlaw of Razorfish. Kyle kindly invited me to share my thoughts on this favorite subject of mine, so I look forward to seeing you there.

Nearly half the world’s population now has a mobile device and more than a thousand cell phones are being activated every minute. The ubiquity of mobile devices will make new services available to billions of people worldwide who have not had access to traditional banks or credit cards. In developing countries such as Kenya – where nearly 80% of the population is excluded from the formal financial sector – text messaging is being used to transfer money to friends and family living in other countries. Moreover, new forms of currency are being created – trading cell phone minutes for goods and services, for example. This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities as banks go mobile, and how the revolution in mobile financial services will change the way we think about money.

Banking-related panel proposals for 2009 SXSW Interactive Festival

I searched the SXSW interactive panel picker for “banking”, “money”, “finance”, “financial”, etc. Here are the panels I found:

  • Banking 2.0 – Algorithmically Fixing the Sub-Prime Mess (suggested by Christopher Hughes, PennyMac): Sub-prime debt may be causing the collapse of the worldwide economy. Speculators, investors, banks, mortgage brokers, honest home-owners have all been duped into believing that that the real estate market was a “sure thing”. Can a solution be found with a computing cluster, open source software, and a semi-complex algorithm? Yes.
  • Future of Money: Life after the Fed (suggested by Blake Stephenson, Flow): Ron Paul’s presidential campaign shone a light on the impossibility of central banks to “regulate” the economy and the inherent problems with fiat money (paper money). The internet is playing and will continue to play a critical role in the creation of the future of money. What is the future of money?
  • Mobile Ubiquitous Banking and the Future of Money (suggested by Kyle Outlaw, Avenue A | Razorfish): Nearly half the world’s population now has a mobile device and more than a thousand cell phones are being activated every minute. The ubiquity of mobile devices will make new services available to billions of people worldwide who have not had access to traditional banks or credit cards. In developing countries such as Kenya – where nearly 80% of the population is excluded from the formal financial sector – text messaging is being used to transfer money to friends and family living in other countries. Moreover, new forms of currency are being created – trading cell phone minutes for goods and services, for example. This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities as banks go mobile, and how the revolution in mobile financial services will change the way we think about money.
  • Strategies for Establishing Social Media in B2B Relationships (Brad Garland, The Garland Group | Banktastic.com) Social media in the consumer space is clearly talked about and prevalent. What is barely getting addressed is how these technologies can be implement in the business world and what are ways to do it successfully. This panel will explore that concept and how B2B relationships can be formed using these tools.

About SXSW:

SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology. Whether you are a hard-core geek, a dedicated content creator, a new media entrepreneur, or just someone who likes being around an extremely creative community, SXSW Interactive is for you!