“Times like these you learn to live again.” – Dave Grohl
I could not have put it any better. That whole song is the perfect four-and-a-half-minute summary of my experience in Austin Texas for South By South West (herein referred to as SXSW) or South By as the locals call it.
On one of the many adventures McD and I did, we discussed the form of journalism he likes, gonzo. Gonzo first made popular by the late Hunter S. Thompson. I see why McD likes this style. Total emersion is the best way to discover new land.
Thursday, March 10th I made it to the Yuma international airport less than an hour to departure. Needless to say, the bag that had been prepared for a week of travel in Texas was not going with me. Only the large backpack I was wearing made it. In this pack, about 20% of the room was taken up by Chile Pepper and Goldsboro items for my friends I was going to see. Probably about 30% of the room was taken by stuff I really didn’t use at all. So if I had been wise I would have filled the thing with socks and underwear and went into survival mode.
So basically for 10 days in Texas, I had 3 button-up shirts, (a Jan brewer shirt, hey I thought it would be a good idea, and it would have been if I had gone to any other place than Austin) My New balances 3 pair of socks and underwear. The rest was all crap I could have done without…..books I didn’t read, chargers I didn’t need, and stuff that wasn’t useful at all.
I had a couple of posts about days one and two, these are good summaries of what I participated in on those days. I wanted to keep posting every day, but by day three that had stopped happening, and by day seven I was so wiped out I crashed in the press room most of the day.
So take it from the top. I knew about sxsw for as long as I have been into music and festivals. I was suprised that many did not know anything about it. To truly know it, you must experience it, I understnad most have not had that oppertunity to experience it, but at least heard of it. SXSW is legendary for its live music, the thing I want not aware of was the interactve media portion of the festival/conference. This year’s interactive doubled its content including, key note speakers, panels, and discussions and also attendence.
I had the feeling of being in the presence of sharks. All the people I met, networked, or talked to were all on their A game. A lot of developers and marketing officers in their companies. That is right marketing officers, not assistants or even directors. the people making the plays were at this conference. The level of expectations from this crowd was met and exceeded. These are professionals working in a very professional world. All of them produce results which means they make their company profitable. When attending a conference, there is an expectation of the quality of the presenters and the available capacity of the room.
And the swag…..don’t get me started.
Besides the different color badges, you could tell the transition of attendees at SXSW. From day one I was bombarded with apple logos everywhere I looked. It seemed as if everyone had an iPhone to match their iPad and Macbook Pro. Well as the week started to develop you started to see more Blackberries and flip phones and fewer computers overall. I remember walking through the Austin Convention Center on day one to pick up my badge, Macbook Pros were everywhere. Really now, every table and every power outlet was taken up. Macs were all over the place. Fast forward to Day 10 mostly just coffee and concert flyers, a couple of laptops but few and far between.
I saw and participated in some really great discussions and panels. however, by day three I wanted to be press. It is such a nice ability to go from spectator to interviewer. I walked through the “Screenburn” and interview several developers and CEOs.
NOTE: This was not published at the time. It was a forgotten draft until 2021. Also, this where the draft just ends…wtf?