Category: SXSW 2002

Sunday was an interesting day… after my last post, we headed on over to the Convention Center and went to see various panels. The first one I attended was about Security on Servers, etc. Pretty interesting, but a bit too techno for me. After that I went to one called “The Revolution isn’t Dead” where we discussed what are the up & coming internet technologies, where we could see the web going over the next 10 years. After that was a fabulous keynote address with Jeffrey Veen & Kevin Lynch of Macromedia. Kevin demonstrated Flash MX, soon to be released as they just finished it up Saturday night. Working for a Cold Fusion shop which is already known for their Flash work, this was really exciting for me to see. The fact that they have simplified some of the functionality is wonderful too because what that means in turn for my clients is that it won’t cost as much to develop their projects. Works well all the way around. After that I attended one of the Independents Day panels about creating buzz about your website. (I still say it’s all in the links…)

After the panels ended we headed back to the room to change for the EARL awards (2002 SXSW Web Awards) and then went over there. It was … well … rather interesting with the Cocky Bastard as the host. But interesting in a good way! I really enjoyed it.

After the awards ended I decided to stop in at the hotel and change clothes so I was a bit more comfortable before heading on over to the Fray Cafe. I also needed to check e-mail and so forth, so I did that and handled some very minor issues that had come up. Right as I finished sending my last e-mail I got an e-mail message from a cell phone – and a long distance number that I didn’t recognize. You have got to love us geeks, we are so wired. Mike had e-mailed me from a bar on 6th Street through his cell phone to let me know that Fray Cafe was so packed they were turning people away at the door. I called him up to see where he & Robert were going instead and they were heading down Congress towards my hotel to go to Threadgills. They were meeting up with John from All My Life for Sale. Note to anyone visiting Austin the future, Threadgills closes at 9:30 on a Sunday night. Oops! So we waited there for John and “Neighbor Ben” (his friend Ben) and all headed over to Guero’s Taco Bar to eat. Yummmm. It was really nice to just sit down with a small group of people like that and talk instead of being in a crowd – I discovered that I really needed that break even though I didn’t know it beforehand. John’s story of selling everything and then traveling across the country to meet the people who bought his stuff is really interesting. Ben is also quite an interesting guy with his film and photography background. Mike & Robert are just really nice guys. It was a good relaxing evening – I really enjoyed it. After we ate we headed across the street to the Continental Club where there was a great live band playing. We stayed there for awhile, but decided to call it a night early – it’s been a long 4 days!

I have a lot of thoughts about the time I spent with Mike, Robert, John & Ben last night, but they’re not quite ready for words yet. I’m still formulating them in my mind. I feel challenged though now, challenged to tap into my creative side and grow. It’s a good feeling.

This post brought to you courtesy of BoingBoing who was wonderful enough to bring the WiFi connection to Austin! Yes, I am sitting on the Convention Center floor outside of rooms 8B and 8C typing away. I love wireless! I thanked him in person about 10 minutes ago when he walked past and asked if everything was working for me, but he deserves a public thank you too – THANK YOU CORY!

Left last night to head over to the Digital Web Magazine party which I thought was on 6th between Congress & Colorado. I walked one way. Nope, not there. Walked the other way. Nope, not there. Walked back the first way, nope. So I walked back and asked the police standing in front of the Driscoll Hotel. They had no idea. Oh, THAT’s a good sign! So I went to ask inside the Driscoll, I figured they had a phone book or something I could look it up in. Uh, 8-9 blocks away. A bit of a walk from the Driscoll, but not too bad. Got there just as it was breaking up though after all that walking. Had a quick bite to eat and then headed over to the So New Media party.

Just as I walked in the door there it happened again. I hear someone say “Christine?” – and because it was off to the side I didn’t see who said it. It was Dave, another FilePile-r! Also with him was Tim. If I had to pick a “best part of the evening” it would be the time I spent talking with them – I really enjoyed it. (Even when Jay accidentally spilled his warm coffee on me. It was ok because it warmed me up!) While there I also got to meet Brian May, the Olympic blogger. I need to send him a copy of Evan on Call for Help since his blogs was one of the ones that they talked about. I also introduced myself to Evan as I passed by him. The group broke up there around midnight because the coffee shop was closing, and several people headed over to Polly Esthers while others went on to the Omni Bar. I decided to go back to Polly Esthers for the dancing this time. Kristin, Brian, Jish, Jay, Rob, Evan, Maggie and others were there. I had a good time… just some dancing to good music.

Today? Today my legs HURT. Thank goodness we are just walking to the Convention Center (a few blocks away) and then go to the various panels there! No more walking! More to come later … and pictures, I promise!

I arrived in Austin last night around 8:30pm thanks to some pretty hard rain and nasty driving conditions. I parked at the hotel and walked on up to Break Bread with Brad at the Iron Cactus on 6th Street. Meryl was already there waiting for me. I got to finally meet in person Jay & Jish. After that it was a whirlwind of meeting people, including Ben and Mena of MovableType; Andre (FilePile); Mike, Mike; Dinah, Nick of Digital Web, Tom and the list goes on and on… One cool discovery about my glasses and the fact that the last default skin had my photo on it – people approached me & said “you’re Christine, right?” I guess I just have one of those faces that is hard to forget.

After we left the Iron Cactus, we headed on over to Polly Esthers for a Karaoke show that I don’t think I will ever forget. Some of the show stopping hits were Mena’s classic rendition of “Stand by your Man”, to Jish, Rob & Bryan singing “Dead or Alive” (the Bon Jovi classic), Jish & Brad singing “I’ve Got You Babe”, Jish Brad & Rob singing “Like a Virgin”. But the very, very BEST of all was Ernie singing “Oops, I Did it Again”. I can not begin to even put into words how hysterical that that was. Seriously, seriously hysterical. He had the moves down, that’s for sure. (I wonder if he has Darren’s Dance Grooves?) Yes, these and many more moments will be brought to you soon in photographic form… Towards the end of the evening one of the locals got up and sang “You don’t have to call me Darlin’, Darlin'”, one of the classics from my college days. They sing that song every night at the Dixie Chicken, so I know all the words and like a lot of the crowd I was singing along quite loudly – and was a bit surprised to find Brad singing with me! I would have never guessed it, but he knew all the words. It is, after all, “the perfect country and western song…”

Today at noon was Anil’s event, Kick. Kickball with 40+ people is pretty amusing. We had a great time out there in the sun and it was a good chance to meet a lot of other people – Rebecca, Cam, and more. After Kick, Meryl & I headed over to Whataburger for lunch (we would have gone to Sonic for Robyn and Todd if there had been one within walking distance of the park!) then it was off to the Convention Center to pick up my badge. We caught the end of Lawrence Lessig’s presentation on copyright and then the Simplicity in Web Design Game Show put on by the guys from 37signals.com. I got to meet Dori there, which was pretty cool because she was my secret santa partner last year.

People I saw but didn’t meet were Jason Kottke, Meg Hourihan, Matt Haughey, and Jeffrey Zeldman. (Plus the other 8,000 people I haven’t met!)

Whew! After all of that I needed some down time. Meryl & I returned to the hotel to change, and we were going to head over to the Opening Party … until we saw how far away it was. So I thought I would take some time & get the modem set up so I could check in here and also so I could get my work e-mail. Meryl is just a sweetheart, I am so glad we are rooming together! And on that note … we are here, where are you?!?? Seriously though, I would honestly recommend SXSW to anyone that might consider coming next year. Do NOT pass it up. It has been great so far, and we are only 24 hours into it!

We are having a great time! Wish you were here!

Tick Tock goes the clock … time is drawing near. Almost time to head for Austin – hard to believe that by tonight we will be Breaking Bread with Brad to kick everything off! Meryl is bringing a dial-up modem card for me to use in the laptop, so we WILL be online. Now I don’t feel so disconnected. Time will probably be limited, but still – this way we can post pictures! Whoo hoo! SXSW, Baby! (Can you tell I’m just a little excited? Yes, yes I am…)

My dream is finally coming true. Word from the boss, and word from the parents (babysitting for me) is that I can go to Austin for SXSW Interactive! WHOO HOO!!! I am so excited I just want to shout! I get to hang out with Meryl! I get to get together with Nicole! I get to meet Jay as he makes SXSW part of his travels! I may even get to meet Jish, because Jay tells me that everyone needs a little Jish in them. I’m so excited! Did I mention I am excited? Well, I am! Who else? Who did I miss? Anyone else coming? Whee! This is going to be so much fun!