I just attended another AWESOME session at SXSW interactive called, “Is too much math killing marketing?” This is a question I’ve wondered about for a long time, and one that has often frustrated me a lot. At work I find myself getting upset when my co-workers are unwilling to try anything new without data to back up that it will be worth it.  Mike Teasdale, one of the panelists, described my frustration perfectly when he quoted Douglas Bownman, a creative director for Twitter, who said, “Data eventually becomes a crutch for every decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions.” The more math you try to put into the marketing process, the more you prevent your employees from being innovative in the work process. And for a long time I’ve felt like Dave Trott when he said, “It is better to be interesting and wrong than boring and right.”

But this session changed my mind. Too much math isn’t killing marketing, being lazy is what is killing marketing. Because there is plenty of room to be both interesting and right, it just takes far more effort than before to do both.

Rand Schulman, another one of the panelists, made an amazing point when he said, “Creativity without conversion= ZERO.” It’s not an option to be JUST creative and JUST take huge leaps of faith. We as marketers must take the time to measure things that are difficult to measure and to continue crunching the numbers to find out if we are making an impact.

You must ask yourself exactly what Schulman asked us, “What is the value of creativity if nobody hears it?” The answer, again, is zero.

Last week someone asked me why I’m not friends with other Gen Y/Millennial bloggers. It’s not that I’m not friends with them, in fact I probably read and admire 99% of their blogs, but they don’t live in Austin, they didn’t go to UT, we aren’t friends from growing up in Atlanta and they don’t work for engineering companies or do social media marketing. Which is fine, but THOSE are the people I am interested in being friends with. People I can network with in real life and people who share a ton of my interests.

I always felt bad for not wanting to be a part of the Gen Y blogging in-crowd but during Chris Brogan’s SXSW Interactive panel called “I don’t trust you one stinkin bit” I started to feel better about it. Chris described the importance of “networking across.” Networking across means that you only invest in networks that are on the same playing field as you. His whole point is that it doesn’t make any sense to try and network “up,” or try to be a part of networks that are much larger/different than you are.

For example there isn’t any reason for me to try and meet Chris Brogan (or any other famous social media guru) and become his friend. Yes, he is important. Yes, he is smart. But really, what does he know about a technical engineering community? And what does he know about queso in Austin? We don’t really have anything in common. It’s nice to know important people, but if you don’t have anything in common with them what is the point of meeting them. Which is why it makes so much more sense to network across, instead of up. Network with people who share your interests and network with people whom you can have a mutually beneficial relationship with.

Sure it would be nice to meet Chris Brogan, but I have no idea what we would talk about. And it’s the same thing with a lot of the other bloggers out there. I love friends, but I want friends who add to my life. So from now on I’m going to really work on networking across, and forget about networking up and meeting famous people. (Unless someone can introduce me to Jeremiah Owyang, because I think he is beautiful.)

Does this make sense? What do you think are the benefits of networking up v. networking across?

This morning I attended a 9:30am (wayyy too early) SXSW session and it BLEW MY MIND. I’m trying not to be dramatic, but the session “Imagineering the Fully Digitized and Connected Future,” walked through what a typical day in 2015 could look like. In 2015, the panelists described, we would be totally connected, everything would be digital and there would be sensors that collect and share your data with everyone.

Here are some things that really made me excited about a fully digitized and connected future:

1. Every surface is a screen and all of your data is collected- In the fully digitized world the fridge is your “home screen.” Every table, billboard and appliance is a screen, and that screen is constantly collecting your data. All of your data is shared with everyone all the time.

2. The more data that is shared the greater the need for “disconnecting” grows- When everything is “connected” all of our objects will need to be charged. The panelists described the idea of charging pods, where people will sit inside, charge up their devices and relax. Because as we become more and more connected to each other, we will need more and more time to disconnect and relax. In the fully digitized world another place to be disconnected will be the shower. But enjoy your shower time, because it’s pretty much the only time you’ll get.

3. There are robots- No surprise here, but in the future there are lots of robots. I’m sure this will thrill my friend Emilie, who loves robotics. In the fully digitized world robots are able to go places for you and participate in conversation with others. The panelists described being in New York and wanting to attend an art show in London. All you have to do is send your robot, chat through a web cam and enjoy the art show from the comfort of your own home.

4. Privacy at work won’t exist- The panel discussed the future of work and how little privacy will exist. The idea of a “communal computing table,” is the future of work. Employees will arrive, sit wherever they please and do their work on a flat surface with drag and drop applications. Of course there will still be iPad like devices for “private work,” but most all work will be done in the public. Your boss will also be able to watch everything you do because all of your life’s data will be collected. If my boss wants to see what I was doing at 3pm on Friday, all she has to do is take a look at my data stream.

The future may feel scary to some people, but I think 2015 sounds amazing and exciting. What do you think of the fully digitized and connected future?