Having had a couple of days to mull over SXSW since returning on the worst flight ever, Continental Airlines C034 from Houston to Heathrow, here is my last post on the event. In short some of my takeaway thoughts, advice if you are planning to go next year, what came out well in 2010, what is going nowhere still and people, concepts and technologies to watch for the future….
There is so much to takeaway from SXSW that it really will take me days to write it all down, let alone think about it and then turn it all into actions. For now though one abiding memory will be that one of the reasons that SXSW is what it is, is because of the city of Austin and the people of Austin. “South By” would not be the kind of gathering that it is in another US city. Austin has creativity and innovation in its soul and its people listen and are genuinely interested in what you have to say. Its Austinness effect. Like the developer from Yahoo and the ex editor for PC Magazine who is now the Senior Technology Editor at JWT in NYC…
There are some very smart people at SXSW. There are also the interactive rock stars, the non profits and the downright weird. All of these personas have thrown themselves into one giant interactive/tech sausage machine to see what they come out like at the other end. Some will be shabby and some will shine. However no matter what persona you are, those that resonate the most are those that can articulate their message , which is often a very simple message, to all of the other personas and have them get it quickly, agree with it and act upon it. For me, so far from all that I have seen and heard, there has only been one person that did that….
Here’s the thing about SXSW or “South By” as it is affectionately known. It is full on for almost 24 hours a day and when you think you are about to relax and just have some fun because you have taken in or given as much information as you possibly can, then at that exact moment something or someone else happens and you start all over again.
15,000 people have decended on Austin, Texas for SXSW. Before I say anything else Austin’s slogan is “Keeping it weird” and there are more live music venues here than any other city in the world and it is 75 degrees now. OK that’s the toursity bit over. Neither KMP Digitata or I have been to SXSW before and we will be back there is no doubt. This event is inspiring, wierd, challengeing, thought provoking, amazing for networking, highly educational and a good old fashioned work hard/play hard event that is about the future of the multi-channel digital world we work in.
