Thoughts on my first SXSW, for journerdists.

Well, it’s been week or so and I have finally caught up on everything and had some time to digest things. So here’s what I promised—my thoughts on my first experience at South by Southwest Interactive:

The scene:
Austin one of *the* great cities. I can’t say enough about this and if you’ve been there you know it. If you haven’t—GO NOW. I won’t bore you anymore except to acknowledge how great it was to be in a place with an average age of people under the age of 50. Where people wave “Thank you” for letting them in, in traffic and where smiles get returned. It’s good to know there are places that aren’t totally evil in the world.

The location:
The Austin Convention center was nice, but it appears SXSW is outgrowing it (or at least the size/block of rooms allotted). Most of the sessions I attended we at capacity and had to have the helper monkeys go aisle by aisle and ask everyone to scooch together and sit on each other’s laps.

The sessions:
The panels are greatly varied. It’s very, very hit and miss, and often panel descriptions/titles are very misleading. So when picking your battle plan, you gotta really research everyone on the panel and make a judgment call there. Also, realize ahead of time that most people aren’t good public speakers (not that I am, either) so if you’re in the first 5 minutes and it’s a horrible ego trip, don’t be afraid to walk out on any panel that isn’t grooving with you. I attended a “How to Blog Effectively” panel, that I thought was going to be good but wasn’t. I kept holding out, pen in hand, waiting for some golden nuggets but got nothing. Total bummer. On the same tip, the Burnie Burns keynote that I was planning on skipping turned out to be a great presentation. So … well I’m not sure what advice to give, except be extremely fickle and experiment.

The people:
The great thing is there’s a ton of nerds. But there is also a lot of pretentious, ego-queen bloggers with funny hats, funky hair, or other gimmicks. Or they’re “the pretty ones” worshiped by the nerds. A lot of my time at SXSW, I felt like I was back in high school. There are a lot of people that get a lot of attention for not doing much except running their mouths or being physically attractive. So yea. Overall, a good mix, even if it was high school.

Other random notes:
- The whole registration pick up process was kind of like a Rube Goldberg machine and could probably use some improving. But I guess that’s kind of the appeal of the whole gig. It’s pleasantly shabby.
- Any convention that has a lego play area is totally sweet in my book. If you don’t understand this, please stop reading my blog.
- 47% of the convention is not at the convention. Evening parties, in-between panels and the organized geek lunches and barcamps are where it’s at. Sometimes these times better than the sessions. I didn’t really realize this until Monday.
- Everyone loads in early to sessions and builds pockets around the electric sockets. It’s an interesting phenomenon.. all these people come to this conference from around the world and then just sit on their computer.
- I should have really prepared for this convention. When you land in Austin, you should have a battle plan and everything set. You might also want to take some time off to meditate and absorb everything.
- The Austin Convention Center has some of the highest escalators I’ve ever seen. Kinda scary.
- There’s a lot of free beer in Austin during SXSW. Again, I didn’t really realize this until Monday.
- I’m really not a fan of Starbucks. I’m even less a fan of people that carry their Starbucks cups around with them like it’s a social badge. I remember how much I hated this in Chicago, during my time in Austin. So I guess, if you want to look cool, grab some Starbucks with the stupid paper cozy.
- Someone needs to make a Craig Newhart doll. He’s adorable and he cares. Or I’m just totally snowed. Either way, I am pro-Craig.
- Stay for SXSW’s music festival. I’m really kicking myself for missing that. It’d be a great chance to relax after running the gauntlet of SXSW interactive and … well, I need a freakin’ vacation.
And now, what you’ve been waiting for… (maybe …) Would I recommend it to online journalists?
I doubt SXSW is something an online boss would want to go to (ONA and NAA have nailed the niche on overcharging the non-innovators in online journalism to wander around ballrooms in sport coats nibbling on something crisp yet chewy, sipping on wine).

But for $200-300 (depending on when you register) South by Southwest is probably the best convention you can attend for the money (FYI: SND is probably second place, in my book). So send your nerds with droopy ears for a shot of B12, inspiration and a chance to run with the other zebras. Also, SXSW definitely favors the little guy/the small shop. If you’re corporation is steeped in bureaucracy and TPS reports, this convention is not for you. But if your company really is like that, you should really stage a mutiny or leave. But perhaps I’ve said too much.