10 Things I Learned at SXSW 2005:

Another spring, another blooming of change. It’s getting harder to imagine March without my annual pilgrimage to South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, where I normally refuel my creative tanks, fly my geek flag proudly and begin again, ready to shoot new arrows at the sun. Except this year I didn’t. My mantra the past few conferences has been "Come away with one new idea and try to make it work." I did that two years ago and only sort-of tried in 2004. This year was different. I wasn’t there for the same reason but I didn’t realize that until I arrived.

1. I needed a break: Professionally I’m eyeing a hurricane on the horizon. My book is "in galley" which means that stores across the country have placed their orders, tour dates have been booked and the seduction of media has commenced. The next two months consist of marshalling forces in all the cities I’m visiting, alerting everyone I’ve ever met that I have a book coming out and writing the proposal for my next project so my agent can sell it while everyone’s excited about this one. And this is all before June 1, when my tour begins and I’m in sales mode pretty much until Labor Day.

I have been so single-minded, so book-book-book the last 6 months that I don’t have the emotional bandwidth that I’ve had for the conference in year’s past. This time around I needed belonging, community and something I’d never thought I’d ask of SXSWi, normalcy. Despite the inhuman pace of it all, I spend almost all my time this year doing what feels routine: seeing old friends, haunting favorite haunts, bringing new friends along. I felt like ritualistic instead of awe-inspiring. And for where I am now, it felt right.

2. I’m old school: I believe Molly Steenson holds the record for most continuous SXSWi attendences with John Styn and Matt Haughey not far behind. I’m part of the class (along with James McNally, Brad Graham, Nick Finck and I’m sure others) immediately following, who began regular trips to the conference right before the dot com crash. Many of my contemporaries no longer attend. Last year I noted that I felt comfortably middle aged, that newbies asked me what to do instead of me looking for a herd to follow. This year, I led a lot of herds. I’m an old bison now but I appreciate the wisdom of age.

3. The power and limits of good intentions: I didn’t know a soul my first two years at SXSWi and consequently, felt pretty imidated and left out of the fun. Somewhere I promised myself that any newcomer who came into my orbit would not feel the same way. Largely I feel like I’ve done a good job welcoming them into my circle of friends. But I think I also learned that it’s better to work this on a social rather than formal level. I felt curiously inadequate after my opening day panel "How to Get the Most out of SXSW" because I couldn’t follow up with the 30-odd people there and ask them if my ideas worked for them. Silly I know but the lesson rung: I make a bigger difference for newcomers one-on-one than as yet-another guy with a microphone and a nameplate.

4. Go with a friend: If you’re thinking about attending SXSWi for the first time, use the buddy system. Josh and Neil had a tremendous advantage being rookies with automatic "ins." Even if you can convince a friend to go and still plan on coming yourself, pick a few attendees whose work you admire and start corresponding with them the month before the conference. It’s better than going in cold.

5.  Geeks are of the world as well: I’ve been thinking (mostly to myself) that the conference has spent too little time considering the humanistic and social ramifications of what we do. This year showed progress in that area. My favorite panel "Blogging While Black" featured a group of African-American bloggers who discussed race as a locus for exploring what we bring as humans, not simply writers or technologists, to online publishing and how the weblog can be a powerful tool for breaking down cultural barriers. I look forward to seeing more panels like this at upcoming conferences, where who we are as people is as much up for discussion as who we are as bloggers, geeks and future trippers.

6. Hooray for diversity: Dave noted during the "Blogging While Black" panel there were more black panelists than audience members. True but there were also Asians, gay folks and women in greater numbers than pretty much any other tech conference I’ve been to. Getting a diverse attendance base is no easy task (as this discussion aptly points out)  but I think SXSWi’s spirit of inclusiveness and focus on ideas rather than code and product launches has something to do with it. 

7. Think of your health: I’m not 21 anyone and can’t sleep 2 hours a night for nearly a week and feel good about it. Of course I did that this year. But I also make sure to hit the hotel gym a few times, eat at regular intervals, mediate each morning and at not waste time at events I wasn’t getting anything out of. Though I was still exhausted, at least I didn’t feel insane.

8. SXSWi mid-year: Several old–timers (meaning early 1990s) of the San Francisco underground were on hand this year and made overtures about bringing back Webzine (1998-2001) a San Francisco event I missed by moving to the city in mid-2000. Dinah and I have talked for years about putting together a mid-year SXSWi in San Francisco so we wouldn’t have wait a whole year before seeing everyone again. I hope this happens.

9. Memes are a sign of a community’s comfort with one another: Why else would you feel ok joking about black men stealing furniture and how to make best use of your scrotum (hint: It involves black tar heroin and a walnut cracker) with people you just met? 

10. SXSWi pays it forward: What I love about South by Southwest Interactive. Rookies arrive saing "I hope I meet Web Celeb X" and leave with an experience grander than their wildest imaginations. SXSWi rewards the effort you put in and in tun, burns off the energy of its attendees. Every year I run into Hugh near the end and congratulate him on another great job. He always shrugs and says something like "I just make it happen. The vision comes from all of you." That’s not modesty talking. I’ve gone to enough conferences now to know what a rare and special thing this is. I might have not been as present as I would have liked this year, but SXSWi meets you where you are. Then it asks you do better.

I hope to see as many of you as I can on my book tour this summer. If not then, next year in Austin. Without a doubt.

Past Wrap-Ups: 2004, 2003, 2002.

 

• Category: Our Web, Ourselves.