For a brief moment this morning, Facebook and Twitter were both down.
I quickly crafted a few succinct, snarky sentences before realizing I had nowhere to post it.

While Facebook seems to be back up and humming again, Twitter has confirmed that the site was forced down by, and is still sluggish because of, an ongoing Denial-Of-Service (DDoS) attack. What’s a DDoS? Imagine 10,000 people descending on your local grocery store, not looking to buy anything, but just stroll up and down the aisles. Everything gets congested, and no one accomplishes anything.

Well, no one except for the people orchestrating the attack. Regardless of your feelings on Twitter the medium, there’s no denying its full-blown media darling status, or the huge bulls-eye that status places on its back. And Twitter’s (surprising) single network provider architecture certainly doesn’t help.

So what does this outage mean for users? Well, a lot and a little. We’ve all seen the stats on low retention rates for users that don’t dive into the conversation quickly–there are a lot of nascent users that I’m sure will completely drop off because of this.

But then again, Australia and much of Japan will sleep right through it. The early-adopting Twitterati will probably enjoy the nostalgia of the Fail Whale. Heck, I’ve read reports of some of them taking strolls around the block to kill time. What crazy times we live in!

So what does this mean for your brand? Well, a lot and a little. Companies like StockTwits and Bit.ly get smothered by the Fail Whale. Symbiotic relationships are great as long as there are multiple sea anemones for your Clownfish. No brand should place all of their customer service, marketing, or customer acquisition eggs in any one basket, particularly a pre-revenue, though popular, startup still trying to find its way.

Coming down from the high of this past weekend’s 15th annual SXSW Interactive Conference, my head is swirling with the latest theories, best practices, research, tricks and techniques. I’m full of ideas and empowered with newest peer-tested strategies on how to accomplish them. My biggest challenge is figuring out how to harness this energy, capture this thinking, and hold on to this buzz of inspiration.

As I sat this morning, feeling warm and fuzzy about SXSW and attempting to record all of the “AHA!” moments that I had this weekend, I had another – around the power of community.

And this is one powerful community I’m talking about: an estimated 10,000 industry professionals all in Austin to discuss the latest in Web design, development, social media and gaming. That’s a lot of big brains gathered in one place. I felt the impact.

We’ve always known that there’s something restorative about realizing that you’re not alone. But with today’s technology, we’re now more capable than ever of bringing people together and facilitating a dialog around the things they have in common.

What concerns or interests might your target customers share?

If you provide a venue for them to come together, discuss and share ideas, they may not talk about your product or service. But they will feel a little bit better than they did before. Encouraged. Comforted. Inspired. Maybe even motivated.

Best case, that user will keep returning for more of the same, and over time, grow increasingly engaged with your brand. Maybe they’ll tell their peers about it, or tweet about it.

But even if they don’t, somewhere deep down in their cranial tissue, one neuron will have told another neuron that your brand is associated with the warm fuzzies they felt when they engaged with the community you created.

I am grateful to have had the chance to attend SXSW, and I’m energized and motivated from time spent with my peers from all over, united and learning about our common interest.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to that list of “AHA!” moments…

The once-crowded and jubilant streets during inauguration week in Washington D.C. gave way to a steady silence the morning after the event. On my way to the airport I looked down at the Obama button I had been wearing since Sunday and tried to wrap my head around this unprecedented moment in history.

It may seem insignificant looking back now, but when I first arrived, my top priority was finding the perfect button. Although I got the button to show my support for President Obama, I realize that the driving force behind the millions of buttons worn this week was the human need to communicate, share and connect with one another. We were wearing a badge, symbolizing both highly individual and shared beliefs about this singular moment in time.

The collective passion of the millions of people touched me the most. They traveled from around the nation and the world, not only to witness history, but to share in the occasion and feel connected to something larger.

I can relay that “Yes we can” chants, Obama gear and smiling strangers were everywhere. Even when I was separated from my friends during the inauguration ceremony, it didn’t seem to matter. It was as if everyone was there together as one group that had been captured by change and inspired by people’s willingness to embrace it.

The cold and windy January 20 was certainly larger than anything I could have imagined. And I’m not sure I will ever be able to fully articulate the feeling I had looking out from the mall through the sea of people toward the capitol. It’s pretty incredible what the power of the people can look like when we are banded together.