The Interactive portion of SXSW (or as I like to call it, college all over again) brings together the world’s brightest minds in tech all onto one “campus” in downtown Austin. Its focus on emerging technologies has earned SXSW Interactive a reputation as one of the best predictors of where the industry is going, and many of today's biggest web and mobile apps were launched during SXSWi, including Twitter and Foursquare.

So what were some of the breakout stars of SXSW this year?

Group texting: Without a doubt, the talk of the town was apps like GroupMe and Beluga that allow you to have create group chats on any phone. These apps were especially useful to connect with fellow students, aka festival attendees.

Networking made easier: Another app that was a huge hit was Hashable, which allows you to ditch the business cards and exchange contact info with the new friends you make at that party. All you have to do is enter their email or Twitter handle into the app and it downloads their contact info. Also, it allows you to see who all your friends are connecting with.

Social TV: One of the most interesting ideas talked about was social TV, and how viewers are posting on social media sites while watching their favorite shows. This was especially interesting to hear about in a panel about the marketing of True Blood, a show that had really embraced the concept of social TV by reaching out to fan communities and providing them with exclusive content.

Being at SXSW completely felt like I was back in college for a week, with early morning classes (panels), meals with friends between class and parties at night. I learned so much and had a great time meeting some of the most interesting people from all over the world.

Olivia

Last week, when I went to meet a few friends for drinks in the West Village, I walked in to see every single one of them glued to their iPhone/Blackberry, and they barely even noticed me. What were they so enthralled in? Well one was checking in on Foursquare, another was tweeting about the delicious cocktails, and the other was figuring out where to go for dinner through the Urban Spoon app.

While I may have been slightly annoyed at first, I realized that social media has truly become a part of our everyday life – not just the free time at our computers anymore. With the growth of smartphones and fast wifi connections, people are updating right on location...relationships are being made online and then transferred into real life and vice-versa. The online world has been integrated into every part of what we do...the people we meet, the things we buy, the places we go. And there's no turning back; by 2015, the mobile Web will be bigger than desktop Internet use.

The next morning, when I snoozed my phone alarm to put off getting out of bed for another 10 minutes, I checked out Facebook on my iPhone and got excited to see 2 photos tagged of me and a friend request from a new person I’d met the day before.

Olivia

No, not an evolution throughout the centuries. I’m talking about the evolution of Halloween costumes through the different stages of life.  It seems like Halloween means a little something different to everyone depending on what age you are…

Babies
Clearly you have no say in your costume. Parents will basically dress you in whatever will look cutest when they show off photos to friends. Like this poor little stinker…
 

Kids
This is when Halloween dressing starts to get a little competitive because you want to have the coolest or scariest costume in school that day. It’s also when you discover the gloriousness that is Trick or Treating. 

Teens
Teenagers usually have a falling out with Halloween.  You are too cool to wear a costume, unless of course someone’s parents are out of town in which case there may be an exception.

College kids
Halloween makes a comeback, in a very ridiculous, often shall we say risqué way. And there’s always the celebrity costume trend of the year: 2007 was the year of Amy Winehouse and 2008 was all about sexy Sarah Palin. I’m going to take a wild guess that this year will be a toss-up between Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson.

Adults
Although costumes may not be the wildest, they are definitely the most unique. Plus, you can finally splurge!  I personally am a big fan of the Kate Gosselin wig…

Here at Hunter PR, we’re having a little celebration of our own, complete with a costume contest, treats, and a pizza party. Feels like I’m back to being a kid again…