We are headed to the SXSW Interactive conference starting this weekend, and as I’ve been preparing this week, I’ve had several friends contact me about getting connected while we are in Austin. It dawned on me that this will be a perfect opportunity to put several forms of social software to the test in a real world environment. Sure, its easy to stay connected with people and wile away away the hours on MySpace when you are cooped up in an office, but really who has the time for that? Social software becomes exponentially more interesting to me if it can help me connect with the people I’m looking forward to seeing in at SXSW.

So let’s put it to the test. After thinking through the experiment, here are my goals for what I am hoping to be able to do:

• Establish direct contact with people I already know to hook up for planned meetings
• Keep in loose contact with friends and make plans to meet up when its convenient for both of us
• See what others are doing and head over to meet them if it sounds like they are having more fun than I am

As eager as I am to connect with people, I certainly am not going to be lugging my laptop around all weekend, so I have to be able to accomplish things through my Cingular 8525 phone. This means my communication options are: phone calls, text messages, and the phone’s web browser. I also want connections to be quick and easy, I don’t want to be pulling up the internet browser every 15 minutes and looking up things to see who is where. And it has to be easy enough to use that it works even after a few beers. Social software needs to enhance my experience, not enslave me to it.

Bottom line, it has to be quick, easy, and fun to connect with people. So, here’s what I am setting up and planning:

• Twitter - Dave asked me to join Twitter. He said its been invaluable for him at conferences to see what everyone else is up to and let them know what he’s doing. Basically, Twitter is a public instant messaging service where you can broadcast quick messages about what you are doing to a group of people you have previously connected with through their website. I’ve now got seven people I am connected to, and I’m looking forward to seeing all that they are doing at SXSW. You can set alerts for your connections messages to come to you by text message to your phone or instant message to a IM client. Or you can just watch your feed on the website to see what others are up to. Twitter connects people through straightforward responses to the question they pose: “what are you doing?“
• Dodgeball - Rakesh connected with me through Dodgeball. I’ve tried Dodgeball previously, but didn’t have to much luck, but thats probably because I wasn’t connected with anyone. Dodgeball is a text message based system that enables you to “check in” from different locations and let people around you know you are there and connect with you. In an urban setting, Dodgeball seems like it could be pretty powerful, but it also is somewhat complex, so it might not pass the “will I use it” test. I’ll be testing Dodgeball hoping for serendipitous connections with friends.
• LinkedIn - LinkedIn has a well-established position in the social networking for business market. While it won’t function to establish random connections like the previous two services, I definitely am a LinkedIn user. After a meeting with someone new, I always search them out on LinkedIn and establish the connection. I’ve found that LinkedIn has become my new little black book, and I rely on it heavily to reinforce connections with people I meet and occasionally to reach out to someone I don’t know personally through their introduction service. I’ll be using it more post-SXSW, but LinkedIn is an important part of my networking routine.
• Upcoming.org - Upcoming is a social events calendar that lists upcoming events in hundreds of locations. I’ve found it extremely useful for planning my weekend. I have established social connections with friends on the site, and then I can scan through and see what they are planning to do, and then schedule my weekend accordingly.
• Text Messages, Email, & Phone Calls - While I am talking about social software here, at the end of the day, I know I’ll rely heavily on these “old school” methods for hooking up with people.

I’ll report on the productivity of these social software services after SXSW. I’m excited to give them a whirl. I’d love to hear your thoughts on making social software work for you and other services you’ve found useful.

In the meantime, connect with me on Twitter, Dodgeball, LinkedIn, and Upcoming. See you at SXSW.