As the fourth day of SXSWi drew to a closing, an inspiring group of panelists boosted a crowded room of listeners to discuss “How To Become A Part of the New Social Captial.”  We were joined by Navarrow Wright (President and CEO, Globalgrind.com), Wayne Sutton (CEO, Wayne-sutton.com), James Andrews (VP, Ketchum Interactive), Theda Sandiford (CEO, Theda Dotcom LLC), and Angela Benton (Publisher and Founder, Black Web 2.0). The panel started of by defining the term digital urbanite: people who use technology to level what the panel called “hustle”. Sutton gave the example of using BrightKite which allows people to connect with people in their area and follow their location.  What does social capital mean?  Having good content, a solid brand, consistency, and a dedicated community are components that create social capital.

Sandiford jokingly labeled herself as a “wino” and started a wine tasting group awhile back. She spread the word concerning wine events through blog posts, Twitter, radio, and other networks which resulted in a membership of nearly 1200 people.  She tickled the audience by saying “Now I can drink for free, my dream came true!”

Andrews discussed his association with Jane Fonda and her appreciation for social media. He told her to add commentary through Twitter and blog posts during the Academy Awards, and people loved it. There are ways to help shape personalities through branding and creating social media capital. Sutton live streamed one of the SXSWi keynote speakers, posted within five minutes, and conducted Twitter conversations during the discussion.  As a result there were 4,000 visitors, which led to new relationships and created opportunities to build social capital. He “hustled” and didn’t waste time.

“The key is to build with social capital, not real capital,” said Wright. He said if you take an idea and use the tools that are accessible, the opportunity to create something real is at your fingertips. If a person is transparent and passionate on the Web, money will come to you. Well-known people and celebrities succeed in social media by actually engaging with their fans. Gary Vaynerchuk was used as an example, who started as a wine maker from Jersey who had a lot to say and distributed his content correctly.

The panel also touched on the concept of community. There is a need to bring offline and online communities together, and it is importang  meeting people you are connecting with locally and globally, and attending events like “Tweet-ups.” Sandiford highlighted her personal interest in Tweet Deck and how it allows her to make contacts immediately and as a result cuts down on in-box overflow.

“There is a lot of noise involved with social networking, but in between the distractions exists good conversation,” said Andrews. “There is real interaction happening.”

Here is a brief clip of their panel discussion.