Author Tom Bates

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Contagion @ SXSW: three key trends this year
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Contagion’s Tom Bates shares key trends coming out of SXSW including social messaging as the new brand frontier, the search for uniqueness and realness in an age of mass content production and of course, virtual reality.

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Contagion @ SXSW: Fritha Hookway on key trends, Kiwi innovation and what we can learn from China
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In what has been something of an annual pilgrimage over the last few years, Contagion’s social influence director Tom Bates headed to the SXSW festival again this year. And during the early part of his visit, he caught up Contagion alumus Firtha Hookway for a brief chat on what she’s been up to and what she thinks marketing and advertising types should be focusing on in 2016.

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NZ@SXSW: Tessa Gould
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Contagion’s Tom Bates went to hang with the geeks and soak up the knowledge at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas, recently. And while he was there he caught up with a few expat Kiwis doing big things, like Tessa Gould.

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NZ@SXSW 2014: Sarah Robb O’Hagan
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For the past week, Contagion’s Tom Bates has been hangin’ with the geeks and soaking up the knowledge at SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. And while he was there he caught up with a few expat Kiwis doing big things. First up, Sarah Robb O’Hagan.

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StopPress@SXSW 2014: the new digital age
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The opening keynote at SXSW in Austin, Texas, features some heavy hitters. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, joins Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas and Steven Levy, senior writer at Wired, for a debate on the next few years in the digital world. Contagion’s Tom Bates is there to find out what’s next and whether privacy is gone forever.

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StopPress@SXSW: The digital revolution with Sean Parker and friends
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Sean Parker, founder of Napster and an early investor in Facebook and Spotify, is a figurehead in the digital revolution of the past 15 years. In the wake of his new documentary Downloaded, which tells the story of the controversial music sharing service, Contagion’s Tom Bates pulls up a chair to hear his view on how we got to where we are now, how the world has changed and how to move forward.

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StopPress@SXSW: Trend spotting
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What’s been happening at SXSW so far? Here’s a little recap courtesy of the people soaking up the vast array of topics—from humanity innovation to brand engagement in new media.

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StopPress@SXSW: Mashable Variety Show
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Tom Bates fought his way through the throngs of hipsters taking photos of their food to attend Mashable’s Variety Show at SXSW. And from transparent screens to native advertising to Nyan Cat, he got a taste of the future.

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StopPress at SXSW – Al Gore on the future
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Our intrepid honorary reporter Tom Bates of Contagion is at SXSW in Austin, Texas – looking into what trends from the world of marketing, media and advertising might affect us in New Zealand this year. Former US vice president and climate change activist Al Gore is up first, talking about the forces shaping the world today. Join us at 10:30am for the liveblog.