What is PingWi-Fi doing in the Japantown backstreets of San Francisco, attending the SF Music Tech seminar? Well as I told the group following along on Twitter during the morning sessions, “If any of us were real music people — A: We wouldn’t even be up this early in the morning, and B: If we were, we would all have on really dark shades.”
That drew a few RTs (retweets) from the MP3 Nation that day.
But in all seriousness, why not? I am the consummate music head. Yes … PingWi-Fi.com is focused first on Wi-Fi, but music, travel and sporting events and anything else I stumble upon are tied for second place.
As support … I present Exhibit A: a few music links from the rock ‘n’ roll catacombs of this Wi-Fi site:
Strummerville’s Don Letts at SXSW
Tina Turner Hometown, Stax Records
There put that in your MP3 player and smoke it (I rest my case, but if interested, dig deeper at this site). OH … before I forget, for you soundtrack buffs, there is also an interview of the best in the field — Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo … “Whip It” and all that … But you can find it fo yo own self.
I digress …
I loved the SF Music Tech experience, and of course it was so enhanced with live tweets passing around the room as the panelist spoke. Only once have I attended a seminar where the actual tweets were projected up on the screen behind the speakers. Someone was wearing the “bad idea” jeans that day. Ha … I sort of had my way with the speaker’s presentation that day, merely inserting the event’s hashtag, and my silly remarks on the screen.
At SFMT, many people in the audience were playing along, following the event via Twitter … but alas, some missed out on insider information and inside jokes as various tweets recapped.
Meredith Chin, Facebook
I guess I sort of commandeered the dialogue for a bit … wiseacre that I am … During the seminar, I did some informal polling, and asked people to raise their hands for this or that … as the speakers presented. Thank goodness people knew I was kidding.
And yes, I feel a bit guilty about this one. A long-, white-haired, gray-bearded gentleman was standing in line to ask a question of the panelists at the end of one session. He looked to be the elder statesman of rock ‘n’ roll, and we soon learned he tended to talk too much about his experiences (first hand no doubt) with The Grateful Dead.
Anywho … just before he stepped up to ask his Grateful Dead question, quickly perhaps nimbly, I tweeted this to the audience as if I were the color announcer: “Wavy Gravy approaches the mike …”
I guess you had to be there … there were a few audible snickers from my fellow laptoppers around the room. All in good fun … and of course just my way of demonstrating the interactive nature of Twitter in such settings.
Who be Wavy Gravy?, you ask. LOL … Here you are:
On a less cynical note, PingWi-Fi gave away a PingWi-Fi t-shirt, via Twitter, during the seminar … just as the speakers advised music entrepreneurs to give away free stuff. How’s that for interactive?
BTW … the winner of the PingT was the founder of Silent Storm, the San Francisco version of Silent Disco.
Another new friend introduced herself via Twitter, and told me to look for her “in the zebra-skin” print skirt. Ha … awkwardly I was scanning the crowd’s lower torsos. I thought … good Twitter usage and a fine practical joke … Then I finally saw the zebra hide, just as I hopped on the elevator to leave.
As with any seminar … more sponsor logos than a NASCAR event … everywhere. My favorite? The Orchard, and yes I am swayed by my conversations with them a few years ago … cool business model too. We had a great conversation a few years back about me moving to NY to do the PR thing.
Lots of music business talk, about how to get bands’ songs/merchandise to the masses via the magic of the WWW. Have you ever stacked WWW and MMM … sort of looks like argyle. I digress …
Most interesting note taken — Meredith Chin of Facebook may have committed a total messaging faux pas, but I loved the brutal honesty. She basically said that Twitter users are more tech savvy than Facebook. Holy speaking point, Bat Man! Should she be delivering that message at seminars!?! Also, a good take away. She said the “sweet spot” is about 3-4 status updates a day, and maybe 10-12 tweets per diem is about the right mixture (at least that is the opinion of the way brilliant minds at Facebook).
Here’s the link to get all the scoop:
Oh, and about that whole Wi-Fi thang ya’ll … Excellent Wi-Fi at the seminar. I was only there for the morning sessions, so every second counted. I was up and running and making a spectacle of myself on their hotspot in seconds.
Seminars done right! Hotel Kabuki … funky … or pretty interesting. Parking was a breeze. Music talk among music heads — PRICELESS … perhaps a Wavy Gravy sighting j/k … I picked up some cool new followers on Twitter, and excellent Wi-Fi — perfect score – 7 pings.
Know what I sayin?
