Kenneth Briodagh

It’s springtime in Austin and that means the South by Southwest Interactive, Film and Music Festival is playing host to the hip, high-tech and influential. Your friends at EM were on the scene, and we’re giving you a little taste of some of the brand activations we loved.

Colombia has an image problem. To combat that, the country's tourism arm, the Colombia Country Brand, has launched a new campaign to show the world its positive side. It wants everyone to know that the country is reinventing itself, growing its economy and is full of possibilities for business, travel and investment.

Bicycle and motorsports equipment manufacturer Bell Helmets this spring is reaching out to non-endemic consumers to promote a new type of motorcycle helmet, the Rogue, by partnering with celebrity tattoo artist Corey Miller for its Go Rogue campaign. Miller, star of TLC series “L.A. Ink” and an avid biker, is helping the brand reach out to the tattoo community, of course, but also a wider base of consumers who are fans of his, but not necessarily familiar with Bell.

EM fled the winter chill and hit the beaches for Spring Break in South Padre Island, Texas and Panama City Beach, Florida. And we even managed to avoid breaking a hip.

Every conversation in the event marketing industry eventually comes around to technology. You want to know what tools are out there to make your jobs easier, make your programs more successful and most crucially, make your target consumers love you the most. We have heard your clarion calls for help and now, with this monthly series, EM’s own Ken Briodagh will collect and codify the hottest, newest, most interesting, best (and sometimes worst) technological doohickeys available to you.