18 years.
I’ve been coming to Austin, and South by Southwest, for almost longer than I haven’t been coming. Which is something that happens to me more and more. For someone who doesn’t finish much, I’ve certainly got quite a bit of unfinished history happening.
I am simply in love with this city, this event and the people who come here. It’s 6 glorious days without explanations, justifications or convincing. The people here simple get the digital life.
Not that it’s all roses. I’ve lived long enough to see this grow from a few hundred people sitting around tiny breakout session rooms into teeming masses of fanboys and fangirls. I’ve seen the haters slag on this event, this amazing mass of techno-nerdgasm. These folks, all of them, miss much of the grand nature of the conference. The brilliant minds that are here, oftentimes away from the throngs of Users.
For me, South by Southwest (SXSW) – South by to me – is simply the Greatest Show on Earth.
Highlights from Thursday:
Two of the guys who make this happen, Shawn O’Keefe and Hugh Forrest, live behind the scenes. They shouldn’t, but they do. Here’s Shawn at the check-in. If you see him, pat him on the back and simply say “thanks.” (I have a picture of Hugh, but you should search him out yourself.)
While I’m not teaching at Northern Kentucky University anymore, my heart still belongs to by MINjas, the student organization of Media Informatics majors. Leaving them was the worst part about my decision to come to Ball State University.
Still, four of them made the journey to SXSW (one they will remember for the rest of their lives). Here they are at dinner:
We actually had two tables going at PF Changes on 2nd Street (with apologies to the lovely Laura who left early because of raging Pollen issues, a common ailment in Austin this time of year). Loads of great conversations with two friends from last year and two new friends for this year.
My favorite part, though, was seeing Fiona, one of my British finds from last year who returned with her sister in 2010. Fi and I hung in Austin (see us here last year), then in London and now back in Austin. She’s a brilliant travel writer with a wildly adventurous spirit. I wish the world was more like her.
I was told, however, that I needed to stop taking pictures, a problem that I have when I go traveling. I love capturing my goofy little images so that I can share them later. (We did have a great discussion about narcissism and egoism, although I’d like to think they were both about me.)
Here was the last straw: Stephanie (a White from Clay County, ironically, whom I met last year) and Fi’s sister.
It’s been a good day. The best, in fact. Old friends (there are several folks whom I simply haven’t added here who are from a different time – the Wired News time – that I ran into, happily), new friends, students and Austin.
Tomorrow, I relax a bit before the storm hits. Some school work (classes are back on Monday and I’ve got lectures to finish) and at 11 pm I get to pick up this BADASS CHICK (or her website) from the airport.
