Every year SXSWi brings something new and exciting to the table. Here at PulsePoint Group, we’re going all in, bringing together some of the greatest talents, from some of the best companies in the world, to give you the most meaningful interactive

experience. The deadline for SXSWi voting is tomorrow, so make sure you get your votes in for these panels today:

Innovation in Crowdsourcing: Dell, AT&T & Novartis
Paul Walker, Partner, PulsePoint Group
Patrick Asher, Innovation Leader, AT&T
Cy Jervis, IdeaStorm Project Manager, Dell
Victoria Kirchhoff, Global Innovation Project Manager, Novartis

Have you ever experienced the eruption of a Starbucks cup of coffee? Thanks to MyStarbucks Idea, the company’s crowdsourced innovation platform, an idea surfaced to stop the spills with a splash stick. The product development team accelerated this idea into development and distribution, and now we all benefit.

Crowdsourcing innovation leverages the power, insight and wisdom of crowds to generate new ideas through “networked brainpower” that produces results exponentially more valuable than the sum of the individual parts. In this panel, you will learn the in’s and out’s of crowdsourcing innovation from industry pioneers representing Dell, AT&T and Novartis.

We will demonstrate the levels and best practices of social innovation platforms and show you how to win buy-in for and optimize an idea management process. Our easy-to-implement 10-step process will uncover the ability to leverage vast, undertapped resources to provide true economic value to your company and clients.

When Sh*t Hits the Fanpage: A Crisis Simulation
Jeff Hunt, Partner, PulsePoint Group

What will you do when your company faces an online crisis? In a half-second news cycle companies and organizations must be prepared to manage potentially devastating issues at a moments notice. This session will simulate such a crisis and pause to reflect on key learning moments through each stage in the cycle.

As the simulation unfolds, Jeff Hunt, Partner at PulsePoint Group and management and digital consultant will teach participants about the stage of the cycle they are experiencing. There are six stages to explore: (1) surprise, (2) insufficient information, (3) escalating flow of events, (4) intense scrutiny from the outside, (5) siege mentality and (6) bunkering down.

At each stage, Hunt will offer management recommendations based on his experience counseling some of the most influential organizations through some of the most brand-compromising issues. Participants will come away from the session with a better approach to preemptive strategy development.

Speed Dating Barriers to Social Engagement
Michael Gale, Partner, PulsePoint Group

Social engagement can drive business results in departments across an organization, from customer service, to research and development. Unfortunately, many managers struggle to convince leaders that social engagement can drive efficiencies in their department.

In this meet up, mangers, department heads, social media professionals and leaders interested in integrating social into various business functions, can come together and speed date barriers to implementation.

Specifically, areas of the meet up space will be divided by department and SXSW attendees can jump from section to section “speed dating” barriers to social engagement in HR, sales, customer service, marketing, corporate communications, product development and the c-suite. We want to share best practices, key data points, personal experiences and fresh ideas for overcoming barriers to social engagement across the organization.

Making Crowdsourcing Work for Pharma
Grant Toups, Senior Consultant, PulsePoint Group
Alexis Kalomparis, Global Head, Excellence and Risk Communications, Novartis

The healthcare industry, and the employees and patients that drive it, is increasingly social. For pharmaceutical companies especially, the “old way” isn’t quite keeping up with the times. Despite being in a business that is entirely dependent upon innovation, outside of R&D, roadblocks throughout these organizations seem to inhibit creative ideation. While there are 101 reasons for a pharma company to hesitate, legal and regulatory challenges paramount among them, there are ways to embrace social tools and spark the creativity of a global pharm workforce to solve real business challenges.

Alexis Kalomparis, Global Head of Communications Excellence and Innovation at Novartis, and Grant Toups, Consultant at PulsePoint Group, will discuss effective pharma applications of crowdsourcing to uncover new ideas and showcase what the industry is doing to enable employees to drive innovation that advances a company’s business strategy.

The New Flow of News
Brittany Aguilar, Senior Associate, PulsePoint Group
Betsy Talton, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Delta Air Lines

Some stories originate in social media and work their way into the mainstream media, while some take the reverse path. In the last 5-10 years, we’ve seen a shift in the way that news is sourced and shared. This has a significant impact on customer perceptions and a brand’s overall equity and reputation.

This change has significantly impacted the flow of news. Social networks, blogs, and local newspapers and broadcast stations now serve as springboards for national publications, which continue to enjoy extensive reach and credibility.

In this session, Betsy Talton from Delta Air Lines and Brittany Aguilar from PulsePoint Group will explore three frameworks of news escalation, explain how Delta uses these frameworks to take action and identify the implications for your communications strategies.

With a clearer understanding of how media reports originate and flow, you can target your media relations efforts, and develop an effective digital media engagement strategy.Rich Text AreaToolbarBold (Ctrl / Alt + Shift + B)Italic (Ctrl / Alt + Shift + I)Strikethrough (Alt + Shift + D)Unordered list (Alt + Shift + U)Ordered list (Alt + Shift + O)Blockquote (Alt + Shift + Q)Align Left (Alt + Shift + L)Align Center (Alt + Shift + C)Align Right (Alt + Shift + R)Insert/edit link (Alt + Shift + A)Unlink (Alt + Shift + S)Insert More Tag (Alt + Shift + T)Toggle spellchecker (Alt + Shift + N)?
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Every year SXSWi brings something new and exciting to the table. Here at PulsePoint Group, we’re going all in, bringing together some of the greatest talents, from some of the best companies in the world, to give you the most meaningful interactive experience. The deadline for SXSWi voting is tomorrow, so make sure you get your votes in for these panels today:
Innovation in Crowdsourcing: Dell, AT&T & Novartis
Paul Walker, Partner, PulsePoint Group
Patrick Asher, Innovation Leader, AT&T
Cy Jervis, IdeaStorm Project Manager, Dell
Victoria Kirchhoff, Global Innovation Project Manager, Novartis
Have you ever experienced the eruption of a Starbucks cup of coffee? Thanks to MyStarbucks Idea, the company’s crowdsourced innovation platform, an idea surfaced to stop the spills with a splash stick. The product development team accelerated this idea into development and distribution, and now we all benefit.
Crowdsourcing innovation leverages the power, insight and wisdom of crowds to generate new ideas through “networked brainpower” that produces results exponentially more valuable than the sum of the individual parts. In this panel, you will learn the in’s and out’s of crowdsourcing innovation from industry pioneers representing Dell, AT&T and Novartis.
We will demonstrate the levels and best practices of social innovation platforms and show you how to win buy-in for and optimize an idea management process. Our easy-to-implement 10-step process will uncover the ability to leverage vast, undertapped resources to provide true economic value to your company and clients.
When Sh*t Hits the Fanpage: A Crisis Simulation
Jeff Hunt, Partner, PulsePoint Group
What will you do when your company faces an online crisis? In a half-second news cycle companies and organizations must be prepared to manage potentially devastating issues at a moments notice. This session will simulate such a crisis and pause to reflect on key learning moments through each stage in the cycle.
As the simulation unfolds, Jeff Hunt, Partner at PulsePoint Group and management and digital consultant will teach participants about the stage of the cycle they are experiencing. There are six stages to explore: (1) surprise, (2) insufficient information, (3) escalating flow of events, (4) intense scrutiny from the outside, (5) siege mentality and (6) bunkering down.
At each stage, Hunt will offer management recommendations based on his experience counseling some of the most influential organizations through some of the most brand-compromising issues. Participants will come away from the session with a better approach to preemptive strategy development.
Speed Dating Barriers to Social Engagement
Michael Gale, Partner, PulsePoint Group
Social engagement can drive business results in departments across an organization, from customer service, to research and development. Unfortunately, many managers struggle to convince leaders that social engagement can drive efficiencies in their department.
In this meet up, mangers, department heads, social media professionals and leaders interested in integrating social into various business functions, can come together and speed date barriers to implementation.
Specifically, areas of the meet up space will be divided by department and SXSW attendees can jump from section to section “speed dating” barriers to social engagement in HR, sales, customer service, marketing, corporate communications, product development and the c-suite. We want to share best practices, key data points, personal experiences and fresh ideas for overcoming barriers to social engagement across the organization.
Making Crowdsourcing Work for Pharma
Grant Toups, Senior Consultant, PulsePoint Group
Alexis Kalomparis, Global Head, Excellence and Risk Communications, Novartis
The healthcare industry, and the employees and patients that drive it, is increasingly social. For pharmaceutical companies especially, the “old way” isn’t quite keeping up with the times. Despite being in a business that is entirely dependent upon innovation, outside of R&D, roadblocks throughout these organizations seem to inhibit creative ideation. While there are 101 reasons for a pharma company to hesitate, legal and regulatory challenges paramount among them, there are ways to embrace social tools and spark the creativity of a global pharm workforce to solve real business challenges.
Alexis Kalomparis, Global Head of Communications Excellence and Innovation at Novartis, and Grant Toups, Consultant at PulsePoint Group, will discuss effective pharma applications of crowdsourcing to uncover new ideas and showcase what the industry is doing to enable employees to drive innovation that advances a company’s business strategy.
The New Flow of News
Brittany Aguilar, Senior Associate, PulsePoint Group
Betsy Talton, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Delta Air Lines
Some stories originate in social media and work their way into the mainstream media, while some take the reverse path. In the last 5-10 years, we’ve seen a shift in the way that news is sourced and shared. This has a significant impact on customer perceptions and a brand’s overall equity and reputation.
This change has significantly impacted the flow of news. Social networks, blogs, and local newspapers and broadcast stations now serve as springboards for national publications, which continue to enjoy extensive reach and credibility.
In this session, Betsy Talton from Delta Air Lines and Brittany Aguilar from PulsePoint Group will explore three frameworks of news escalation, explain how Delta uses these frameworks to take action and identify the implications for your communications strategies.
With a clearer understanding of how media reports originate and flow, you can target your media relations efforts, and develop an effective digital media engagement strategy.
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