Thoughts on SXSW Interactive 2010

I’ve been back from SXSW Interactive for a couple weeks now, which has given me some time to digest the experience. It was very different for me this year compared to years prior.

First off, I had a panel this year, and I was feeling very unsure about it. It was The Online News of Tomorrow, and featured some very talented and knowledgeable* people. However, because we’re all very talented and knowledgeable, we’re also very busy, and so we had very little direct communication before the conference — basically a few emails and one hour-long conference call which Jeff Jarvis wasn’t able to attend. This made me really nervous. What if we suck? What if the questions I pose lead to one- or two-sentence (or word!) answers? What if we can’t fill the hour? It had me distracted for the first couple days of the conference, and kept me from enjoying myself and being fully “there” for the panels I attended.

Fortunately, my concerns were completely unfounded. The conversation flowed nicely, and if anything we could have had more time. We fit well into the thread of discussion in the several media-related panels this year, and the only content-related complaint I saw in the Twitter chatter was that we took too long to get to our thoughts about potential business models.

The biggest non-content complaint was that we were yet another panel of white guys. Cinnamon even alluded to it in her talk. It’s a valid complaint, and one I had tried to address. Next time I do a panel, I promise to be more industrious in my efforts.

I was also interviewed in the conference’s Studio SX. It was only a 10 minute thing, and it felt like it went by in half that time. I felt it went OK, but we ended up starting at such a remedial level (one of the first questions was “what’s the difference between an online magazine and a blog?”) that we didn’t get very deep into the supposed topic of the future of online news. Though honestly, I could be wrong — it was over so fast and so very casual that I’ve forgotten most of what I said. The audience seemed OK with it. Hopefully SXSW will post the video somewhere so I can see for myself how it went.

“Content isn’t free to make. There’s a whole iceberg of work involved in creating content.” —Erin Kissane on the New Publishing & Web Content

Despite the self-distraction, I did have a good time. Break Bread with Brad, the memorial party held in honor of our dearly departed friend, Brad Graham, went well. I have a couple hundred buttons left over — 500 was probably more than absolutely necessary. I plan on donating most of them to the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, where Brad worked, for their fundraising use. If you’d like one, please get in touch.

The only official after hours events I attended this year were Happy Cog’aoke, Fray Cafe and 20×2 — and I helped out behind the scenes with 20×2. Otherwise, I spent most nights out with friends at one of the non-event bars — usually the Ginger Man. That’s been the trend for me for the past several years. The official parties tend to be ridiculously packed and kind of lame as a result; it’s hard to have a very good time when it takes forever to get a drink, movement is limited by the crush of bodies, and it’s so loud you end up hoarse trying to talk to your friends. This year’s crop of parties was apparently also marred by “VIP” sections that sometimes separated friends with a chain-link fence.

One of the things I missed about “the old South-by” was the serendipity. The chance encounter that led to an unexpected experience with people you barely know. I had one of those for the first time in awhile this year. Cinnamon had planned to meet up with Lauren Bacon, Alex Beauchamp, Jenny Hart and Vickie Howell at the Hotel San Jose, and I was invited to tag along (Lauren’s boyfriend David did, too). It was a group of amazing people I otherwise probably never would have gotten to spend time with, and it was one of the highlights of my trip. I don’t think I really realized how much I missed it till I had it again; next year, I’ll seek it out.

Then again, there’s always the tug of catching up with friends I only get to see in person at SXSW. That list gets longer every year, and the
refor makes it harder to make room for the unexpected. As much as I hope to break away from my circle of friends and mingle with other groups, it’s hard to do when you’re in the moment.

The second big difference between this year and years previous was the marketing. Yes, attendance was up 30-40 percent this year, but I don’t think I would have noticed that so much if it weren’t for the hordes of marketers — literal packs of people there solely to promote some service or product. It was nearly impossible to walk in or near the conference center without being accosted by a pretty young thing trying to get you to go to a marketing plug or sign up for a contest or hand you a tchotchke. It was obnoxious, and nearly ruined SXSWi for me. If SXSW Interactive is to remain a great conference, that’s going to have to be reined in.

SitBy.Us was a fantastic success, by the way. With nearly 900 panels and events listed on the official schedule, having some way to quickly and easily sort through everything was greatly appreciated by attendees. We got tons of great feedback on improvements for the future, and we’ll be sharing some post-show data and thoughts over on the Weightshift blog once we’re out from under a couple client projects.

I came home with a sinus infection again this year. I wouldn’t blame it on SXSW SARS, though: I think it was the water at the Hampton Inn. I use a neti pot, and I noticed that the water smelled strongly of mildew on the first couple nights we were there. I think I basically inoculated myself with mildew as I tried to keep my sinuses clear. Next year, I’ll use filtered water or something.

Cinnamon and I spent Tuesday night at Alison and Brendan’s place, where we watched Deathbed: The Bed That Eats and scratched Maude’s head. Wednesday morning we went to Gourdough’s for breakfast and enjoyed insane donuts before heading to the airport. Best way to end SXSW yet!

*Boy, “knowledgeable” is a really weird looking word. It’s all sorts of strange letter combos and atypical construction, isn’t it?