We recently jetted over to SXSW for networking, trade show promotion, learning, beer drinking and way too much Tex Mex food.  Before we left, we had a long hard think about whether we could produce a slightly more interesting business card than our current effort.

We wanted to stand out and be memorable, but after much brainstorming we decided to stick with what we had.

(Editors note:  In this instance, “much brainstorming” is roughly equivalent to about 24 minutes.  We tried!)

Luckily for us, other companies attending the conference were much more creative.  Here are just a few of some sweet looking business cards that we thought worthy of highlighting.  Hopefully they will give you some ideas next time you are looking for inspiration?

Lets kick off with the Big Daddy of them all, Google.

Okay pretty boring I know, but it does at least have a QMcode on the back.  Good for quickly getting your data into someones smart phone.

Some interesting shapes here:

Then there is this one from Chris Pirillo.

I love the thought that has gone into the back of that one.  It leaves you in no doubt as to how successful Chris has been, including the “#1 Chris on Google”!  Nice.

This one from Sweet Mobile Apps has a great play on the name, with a nutritional breakdown of their product (but unfortunately no URL?).

And finally, the best of them all.  As a concept this wins hands down for creativity and execution, not least because it now has my head on it!

Vitorio Miliano is a great guy if you ever get to meet him.  We spent many hours discussing the web over a number of glasses of lager, and when I saw his business card I pretty much demanded that he give me one!

It involved 1 Instamatic camera and 1 sticker to add to the back of the photo.

That’s Vitorio on the right, and a particularly bald looking Scott on the left.

So simple, yet so brilliant.

When you make content that is worth sharing, people link to it.  They talk about it, and pass it on.

The SXSW Trade Show.  Over 400 vendors all competing for attention, all selling their wares.  Each have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their booth to make them look professional and successful.

The problem is, all 400 look the same.  Everyone has flashy signs, matching furniture, t-shirts to give away, brochures to take and free beer to drink.

You get to the end of the show and you cannot tell one from the other.  They all spend their budgets in order to stand out, but it has the opposite effect.  They blend in.

We came to the SXSW 2010 Trade Show as eight seperate start ups from Australia, with Eventarc being one of them.  We all have fantastic potential, but we don’t have the funds to compete with the big corporates in decking out our spot on the trade show floor.  So how do we stand out?

We do the opposite.

If everyone is shouting, try whispering.  If everyone is spending tens of thousands of dollars, try spending $200.  Instead of adding everything you can think of to the stand, go minimal.

If you do that, you end up with something that is memorable.  Something that stands out.  Something that people were literally taking photographs of because it was so unique.

They stopped, they stared and they discussed.

I present to you a creative concept from the great minds at Michi Girl.  Think minimalist art gallery with about $200 worth of materials.

The little touches helped.  Such as the couch.

and the footpath.

Sure we got some weird looks when we were setting up, but the proof is in the pudding yeah?  It worked.

When everyone else is zigging, you should probably zag.

Eventarc are representing at SXSW this year, and having a blast!  Here are a few images which show the journey so far, but l will try and add some up later of our actual trade stall.  The concept for our stall was developed by the great people at Michi Girl, and has proven so unique that people are literally stopping to take photos of it!

The first, celebratory drink consumed upon departure.

Baggage claim at Austin airport

The streets of Austin

Segways in the wild!

You know you are at a geek conference when they provide free lego

Schwag bag anyone?

The conference centre

Dharmesh Shah on inbound marketing

The awesome SXSW festival kicks off today, and Eventarc and many other Australian companies will be there!  We flew in last night after around about 28 hours spent in either airports or on planes, but it should be worth the effort.

Austin Texas – famous for music, barbeques and Tex Mex apparently!  Over the next five days we will be updating our twitter feed and our blog with images and thoughts from the conference, so please follow along if you are keen!