There’s been much talk, recently, about the best ways for marketers to engage members of the Twittersphere. This is understandable given the (more than) considerable growth of the famous microblogging service over the past year and a half. In the scramble to achieve success using this hot new medium, many marketers have lost time and dollars trying to decipher the magical algorithm. Bloggers, however, remain a mainstay of the intelligent marketer’s arsenal.

Using crowdsourcing to decide who will present at SXSW 2010, arguably the most talked about conference devoted to converging creative disciplines? Brilliant. Now all we need is a crowd, and crowds begin with individuals. Now all we need is you, and your vote!

The most popular web memes and viral videos share some key characteristics. They tend to elicit one or more of the following reactions: LOL, OMG, and WTF.
LOL: it’s funny
The unexpected makes us laugh. A good joke is designed to keep us on edge until we get to the punchline—this should elicit a nice belly laugh. [...]