Austin is dominating the festival game.

Music? Check.

Film? Check.

Books? Check.

What’s missing from that list? Comedy, you say? Well, not anymore. The Austin Theatre Alliance set the internets all atwitter yesterday with the announcement of the first annual Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival. Taking place over four days and multiple venues, the festival has already signed on some pretty big headliners, including Seth Meyers, Aziz Ansari and Steven Wright. The full lineup is coming soon, but will include more stand up as well as a full schedule of sketch and improv (booked with a little help from Hell Yes Fest) and the soon-to-be-announced Moontower Film Festival.

So why now? Why Austin? I think we can all agree that, to use the words of Rachel Zoe, comedy is having a serious moment, and Austin is a big part of that. The Paramount regularly hosts sold out stand up shows, Cap City has a full calendar of both upcoming and established talent and the improv community here is thriving. Not to mention the fairly recent addition of a comedy portion of SXSW. Austin has shown that it loves comedy, so this was the logical next step. Plus, with the promise of four days of incredible talent and the low badge price, it’s likely to attract a fair amount of out-of-towners as well.

Tickets go on sale February 1st, but the festival doesn’t kick off until April 25. That means you’ve got a solid three months to prepare. Go check out some of that local comedy I mentioned. Prep those laugh muscles. There’s plenty to see, and a little primer before the big fest couldn’t hurt.

Editor’s note: If the title of this post confused you, please consult Urban Dictionary. I had to. –Adele

By Jake Camozzi

L.L.Bean has spent a century as an indelible part of American culture. From their unmistakable Bean Boot to outfitting the preppy explosion of the 80’s, their journey has intersected with some of our most famous, powerful and even notorious citizens. But above all else, they have always been fueled by the idea that life is better outside and being outside is better with the right gear.

To announce L.L.Bean’s 100^th anniversary, GSD&M created this video using the brand’s iconic catalogue covers, historic images and most recognizable pieces of gear. The piece highlights the company’s values, landmarks and milestones while staying true to what inspired Leon Leonwood Bean so long ago in his small Maine store: the simple act of enjoying the outdoors and the desire to bring others with him.

Check it out on GSDM.com.

Guest post from Jeff Maki

Sunni Brown is a person. She is a very creative and intelligent person often mistaken for an artist. What she really is is an entrepreneur, author and Revolutionary. She spends her time organizing people and projects so they can then disorganize and disrupt things later. She’s an expert visual thinker and she also writes books. Her last book, Gamestorming, changed lives. Well, it changed her life. Her next book, The Doodle Revolution, will change yours.

1. You’ve got a new book coming out called The Doodle Revolution. What is it about and what are you trying to overthrow?
I’ve noticed that I enjoy overthrowing things for overthrowing’s sake. There’s something very healthy about taking a concept or an idea and purposely dismantling it. So The Doodle Revolution is an intentional kick in society’s pants for disregarding a major element of human learning, which is our capacity to think visually. Through my work with people all over the world, it’s become clear that we’ve lost our capacity for visual literacy. The Revolution is about getting that back. And for the record, it is not a snipe at teachers who don’t allow doodling in the classroom. Teachers were raised like we all were – in a culture that, as a general rule, ignores the contribution and application of visual language.

2. One of my favorite things about my job is that I get to work with amazing artistic people, but I can’t draw worth a crap. Is doodling and visual recording for a guy like me?
Doodling, my dear, is particularly helpful for people who can’t draw worth a crap. Doodling is instinctive. It’s user-friendly. It’s practically free. And yet it unleashes cognitive powers that even Professor Xavier would envy. My message is that we’ve got to eliminate this notion that “drawing” requires some kind of precious, rare talent. It’s preposterous. Drawing and sketching are about knowing and understanding the world around us. And anyone with hands and eyes should have access to that. For that matter, so should people with no hands and eyes! I myself have questionable artistic talents and I don’t give a damn, because I use visual language to THINK, not to make something pretty (not that there’s anything wrong with pretty).

3. I understand you’re also really into gaming mechanics and how they can affect brands. There are a lot of 100-year-old brands out there that are still slow to accept that we’re in a new millennium. Any advice on giving them the nudge they need to get on board?
Uh, yeah, their ass is going to get kicked in the marketplace. Stagnant brands make me nuts because they’re missing something major, which is that embracing change is an inevitable part of organizational life. Imagine trying to tackle modern warfare with a bow-and-arrow. Maybe that would be okay for Encino Man. But today’s companies need (a) a willingness to be uncomfortable and (b) games. Visual thinking and innovation games give companies really powerful tools to rethink, redesign, revive and rescue what they’re good at, or shift their focus altogether to keep up with the young upstarts. Games support change without all the extraordinary time-wasting, politics and bad ideas that often suffocate what’s possible. Give me or my team two hours with an old-school firm and I guarantee a positive outcome through the game experience.

4. You’ve spoken at TED, were named one of Fast Company’s top 100 Creatives and somehow managed to snag this spot as Take 5 With Maki’s first interview. What’s left on the Bucket List?
I’m glad you asked! Bucket List next hits:
* Changing the definition of doodling in the Oxford English Dictionary.
* Producing a large-scale, interactive public art project for the Doodle Revolution with Rob Bliss of LipDub and Paper Airplane. (Here’s hoping we can get the City of Austin to work with us.)
* Making Bruce Mau my friend since we’re on the same Advisory Board.
* Learning to make soup, particularly pozole. Oh, and getting married. My fiancé would be offended if this didn’t make the list.

5. You grew up in east Texas. How east are we talkin’ and how did growing up there influence what you do today?
We are talkin’ far to the east. Huntsville, TX is about as close to Louisiana as you can get unless you’re in Newton, which I don’t count as a city because they don’t sell my favorite flip flops there. Growing up in Huntsville had very little influence on what I do now, actually. I credit Huntsville with giving me a healthy dose of country-ness (read: a strong constitution) but it could have only influenced my work today through its absence of creative mojo. No offense to Huntsvillians, but I left as soon as possible. I suppose I had too many things to overthrow in the city.

In the midst of SOPA and PIPA losing support, it looks like the anti-piracy attack just took another blow. Except this time it’s personal, and it hits close to home for many individuals whose source of entertainment streams via internet. Federal prosecutors cracked down on popular file-sharing sites Megaupload and Megavideo for copyright infringement on Thursday, shutting them down barely a day after the mass online blackout protesting against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act. As of today, visitors to these sites will only see a message saying that the website has been seized from an order issued by a U.S. District Court.

The online streaming phenomena has seized our computer and TV screens over the past few years, and while retailers like Netflix and HuluPlus charge premiums for accessing their content, file-sharing sites like Megaupload and Megavideo have made it easy as pie to view the same stuff for free. How does it work? Users create a free account which allows them to seamlessly upload files of virtually any size. These files can then be shared by sending links or even Googled via “site:mediafire.com”. External sites like SideReel.com have conveniently served as the middle man, purging Megavideo links to the latest episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and others shortly after they air. Needless to say, the accessibility and expediency offered by these sites are hard to compete with, especially if you are a streaming company charging $8 a month (a reason we don’t all have Netflix yet…). After all – these sites get more than 50 million clicks a day!

So what’s the cost? As of now, $50 million in assets, the arrest of four company executives and the seizure of 18 domain names affiliated with Megaupload. But what is equally startling are the implications of this action, which perhaps not so coincidentally came at a tense time amidst the “World War Web”. The crackdown mimics the ambiguous intentions of the legislation, which many are concerned, will lead to internet censorship. In result, the fire surrounding this battle has just been fueled even more. Hackers have already attacked various sites for music and film industries that support SOPA and PIPA like the Department of Justice, RIAA and MPAA. Even more shocking is that by shutting down the site through “technicalities”, the FBI is merely flaunting the power to censor the internet without legislation. After all, who needs SOPA or PIPA when you can develop a simple domain name seizure strategy? Don’t expect to see the end of piracy wars just yet!

SOPA “blackout” day has arrived, and whatever your view on some of the most notorious pieces of legislation to be floated in recent years, you can’t ignore the scale of what may turn out to be the largest mass protest in Internet history.

What are SOPA / PIPA?

Despite having received an unprecedented amount of media coverage for pieces of Internet-related legislation, it can still be difficult to figure out exactly what the SOPA (Congress’ Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (The Senate’s PROTECT IP Act) bills are all about, and why they could affect almost anybody who uses the web. But rather than regurgitating the main talking points, this video from Fight for the Future tells you everything you need to know.

If you’d like to learn more about the technical detail of the bills (from an admittedly anti-SOPA perspective) Reddit has a useful in-depth guide to help you out and the BBC has another video explaining the bills.

Who is sponsoring these bills?

Initially introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, who has come under fire for allegedly indulging in the type of copyright infringement that SOPA is supposed to help prosecute, the SOPA bill has enjoyed support from approximately 30 Congressional Representatives from both political parties who have signed-on as co-sponsors of the bill.

You can find a full list of SOPA sponsors, helpfully represented geographically to help you see if your representative supports the bill, at SOPA Sponsors.

What’s the deal with the blackout?

As opposition to the bills spread across the web, protest initiatives spearheaded by some of the largest, most accessed and most influential sites on the web have steadily gained momentum.

Following successful boycott action against one-time SOPA supporter and giant webhost and domain name registrar GoDaddy, a proposal to “blackout” some of the largest sites on the web was organized and put into action today, January 18^th 2012.

Simulating an Internet where indispensable resources and widely used sites have been shut-down or “blacked-out” for perceived copyright violations, at midnight the lights went out (or protest notices went up) on sites such as Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist, WordPress, Mozilla, Reddit and of course The Oatmeal.

Whether or not this direct-action will ultimately effect the passage of these bills through Congress and the Senate remains to be seen, but there are already indications that the tide may be turning, with the White House formally declaring its opposition to portions of the bills and co-sponsors starting to jump ship.

The correct way to protest?

Whilst the blackout protests have gained the support of a large proportion of the Internet community, there are dissenting voices, perhaps not always against the sentiments of the protests, but against the choice of action.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo branded the blackout action ‘foolish’, choosing to allow Twitter to act as a protest tool, rather than blunting the influence of Twitter user’s around the world by muffling their voices.

And he’s not the only one to see the irony in using voluntary, self-censorship to protest freedom of speech issues, illustrated here by influential blogger, writer and podcaster Merlin Mann.

Listen, gang. Enjoy your protest. But, if willfully obscuring your own words is your best case for freedom, I’m fine declining your “help.”

— Merlin Mann (@hotdogsladies) December 18, 2011

I’m worried, how do I voice my opposition?

And right you are to be concerned. If we assume a large proportion of the readership of this blog to be all you wonderful people working in the creative industries, legislation like SOPA/PIPA blunts the voices of creative people everywhere to express themselves on the web. Using any of the mediums that the web has embraced over the last 20 years, anyone creating video, photography, music, art, writing or even directing friends and peers to content using social media could be potentially vulnerable to legal attacks.

To take direct action as a website owner, you may want to join today’s action by blacking out your site to send a symbolic message to those in government who seek to pass this legislation as drafted.

For everyone else, let your representatives know your thoughts on this. Let them know that you support freedom of speech on the web and a censorship-free Internet, and conveniently, there are a number of sites that let you do, online, and in seconds. Check out Vote for the Net and Fight for the Future to take action.

No Wikipedia? How do I waste my downtime today?

As always, the guys and girls over at McSweeny’s have got you covered.

If I had a dime for every time someone asked me “What was the coolest thing you saw at  CES?”…It is an almost impossible question to answer.  And it’s not just due to the whopping 1.8MM  sq ft of exhibit space, the 2,700 exhibitors or the 20,000 new product  introductions on the floor.  In an overwhelming sea of gadgets, software and services of this year’s CES, there was no clear “darling”  of the world’s largest technology trade show as has been in year’s past with  Tablets (2011), 3D (2010) or even the jaw-dropping introduction of the VCR in  1970.  Remember that?

This year’s CES was largely made up of significant improvements or evolutions of existing  technology.    Not quite as sexy as “the next big thing”,  but certainly no less important in its incremental, yet huge, impact on  consumers’ daily lives and their ability to get things done.   After  a couple of days of absorbing the events of the past week, I kept coming back to a handful of newsworthy technologies…some very relevant to the marketing and  advertising industry and others just plain fun, cool or useful to the tech-evolving  consumer.

Connected TVs

While 3DTVs had taken the spotlight in  the last couple of years, huge advances in Connected TVs have been made,  particularly in their inter-operability with mobile devices (tablets and smartphones).   For  example, Samsung Smart TV technologies platform includes voice integration,  integrated webcam for motion control, video services and apps including, of  course, Angry Birds.  Connected or  “Smart” TVs mean a whole new set of options for accessing diverse content from multiple sources and perhaps making “cutting the cord” that much easier.  For brands and agencies, it means increased  fragmentation in viewing patterns, but more opportunities to find more and  varied inventory across streaming, VOD and app platforms to enhance brand storytelling beyond the :30 spot.

Speaking of cutting the cord, Simple.TV was  recognized by CNET “Best of CES” Awards for Best Home Theater Product.  Simple.TV is a small, unobtrusive box that lets viewers seeking live sports  from broadcast channels, for example, access these programs (recorded or live) in HD from your iPad, Roku or Google TV.   Live sports programming has been a major hindrance in cord-cutting, so this might get sports fans one step  closer to actually making the break.

The Smarter Home

Eco-friendly products have been a mainstay at CES, but 2012 went well beyond “green tech” and saw a new level of energy conservation and management via connected devices and advanced monitoring systems or Home Energy Management System (HEMS).  NRG Energy constructed a grid-aware home at  CES that allows homeowners to use their TV, PC or smartphone to monitor their energy usage and control or schedule energy usage based on time-of-day utility rates, for example.   It also allows consumers to operate their appliances remotely.  One feature in the NRG Energy house was a sensor that automatically turns off or dims lights when there are no occupants in the room.  What is important here is the control that people will have in managing their household utility budgets and energy output.  The question is how can we, as marketers, tap into or align with this important movement.  The marketing eco-system is expanding and inter-related in ways that we’ve never seen before.  Major consumer electronics manufacturers, Samsung, for example, are not only involved in hardware for TVs and appliances, but the content and services that run through them and connect them.

Gaming Innovations

Razer is looking to take portable gaming to a new level with Project Fiona.  This is a tablet for PC gamers.  This is truly a prototype to test whether this form factor will appeal to gamers (potential 4Q release).  Twin joystick controllers on each side of the tablet allow gamers to engage beyond the tablet touchscreen.  The tablet will run on Windows 8 and will also include accelerometer for motion sensing and home theater sound.  A very interesting new gaming platform opportunities on the horizon for marketers who want to engage with gamers in a more immersive format, on-the-go.  Take a look.

(more…)

This video struck me. Not for its production value or for its featured artist’s (G-A-B) somewhat interesting beats but because these kids are Libyans who until recently had no way to express their true feelings beyond a notebook or to a few close confidants without fear of imprisonment or worse. But since the fall of Qaddafi, they’ve transitioned from a “party” band rapping about girls (see NYT for details) to something resembling Public Enemy whose message of social awareness, change and anger with the status quo transformed rap into a serious art form. The most striking thing however is the fact that they are rapping – probably the purest “American” form of music other than jazz.

It’s interesting that when given the freedom to express themselves, people around the world turn to rap — something my dad still calls noise.

“Untitled” by Chrys Grummert

When is advertising not advertising?

When it’s art.

This very cool Austin billboard caught my eye a few weeks ago. Each time I passed it, I wanted to know the story behind it. Today I finally visited the site, AustinArtBoards.org.

Turns out there are ten pieces total, all the work of local artists and winners of a juried competition created by outdoor media company Reagan Advertising.

The Creative Director of Reagan’s Austin office, Adam Owen, says the idea for putting art on billboards came to him while working for a media company in the Southeast. When billboards weren’t being used, they typically left the space empty or posted public service ads that had “not-great creative.” He proposed featuring something more inspiring, and Art in the Air was born.

When he moved to Austin, he brought the idea with him. The Austin Art Boards call for entries in April 2011 generated 124 responses, “not bad for the first time,” according to Owen. The ten works that were selected are posted whenever and wherever a billboard is open, and will cycle throughout the city for as long as the vinyl billboard material lasts – probably up to five years.

Owen reports that although the boards haven’t directly generated business for Reagan, their sales team has heard plenty of positive comments from clients who think the project is cool and “perfect for Austin.” The 2012 call for entries will come this spring, and will be open to all local artists.

By Jake Camozzi

Let me start by saying that a barbecue nerd in Texas complaining about lack of barbecue authenticity on a reality TV contest is a little silly—it’s reality TV, not a documentary and I get that.

Let me continue by saying that the contestants on Top Chef are obviously an incredibly talented bunch, it seems like every season the participants come from more prestigious kitchens. In addition to that, I’m a Top Chef fan and have treated the show as appointment viewing for several seasons.

So they’re all brilliant, sure. But what they’re all clearly not, is pit-masters. Most of that sad, dried-out beef served during a recent episode looked like a very far cry from the barbecue Austinites enjoy on a pretty regular basis. I guess when you put otherwise talented people in extreme conditions, take away their sleep and then ask them to adequately interpret some very dogmatic regional specialties you get… what you got. And what you got was not good looking and, with the exception of Paul Qui’s winning dishes, it wasn’t barbecue. The first red flag occurred when a contestant excitedly stated “I love grilling!” She said this about barbecue. Barbecue ain’t grilling. Grilling is grilling. And barbecue is art, at least it should be.

Quality central Texas barbecue is a result of loving intuition between a pit master and their fire. It is cooking with hardwood smoke. It’s the sex and mystery that takes place in a wood-resined pit when an elemental force meats a big chunk of cow and makes sweet, sweet love to it. It’s not the result of sugary sauces, soda pop mops or whatever else the losing chefs tried to pull out of their toques. In the end I guess it’s obvious that the fine art of quality hill country barbecue is not something that can be learned overnight and, unfortunately, that’s exactly what the poor chef’s were expected to do.

In his spare time Jake writes leavemetheoink.com, a food blog here in Austin that covers, among other things, making brisket.

It seems like every other day, there’s a new crowdfunding website coming online, trying to help entrepreneurs and indie filmmakers raise money for a project they’re passionate about.  Some of the ones you’ve probably heard of: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Start Some Good.

But what if you’re already an established small business and you want to expand or do something new at your current location?

That’s where Lucky Ant comes in.  It’s a new crowdfunding website that allows small-scale entrepreneurs to ask their community of customers for a little help with funding special projects.  For customers who already love the business, it’s a way for them to contribute beyond their daily purchase and make “micro-investments” to help the business grow.

Here’s how it works.

Right now, it’s only available in NYC, but I imagine it will be as ubiquitous as Kickstarter in the next several months.  If Lucky Ant were to come to Austin next, which businesses would you like to make micro-investments in?  Book People?  Austin Java? Alamo Drafthouse?  Which are your favorite local businesses that you wish had the money to expand?