SXSW: Create / Meet / Learn Equals Gym / Tan / Laundry

Posted by schneidermike on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 · View Comments 

SXSW has its share of great big parties. Why does everyone really flock to Austin?

The volume of quality content per hour is staggering. And if you are not engaged in a session, the hall way conversations are just as beneficial (if not more in some cases). Everyone is there and everyone is ready to meet and converse with you.

My priorities for SXSW:

sxsw2010

Create

Some of the best content creators from all over the world will be at SXSW. This is our chance to collaborate. The resources to do so are for all intents and purposes (no, it’s not “all intensive purposes”) infinite. I am looking for opportunities to talk shop or perform spectacle with colleagues from Boston, Austin and Seattle (The Triangle of Awesome), the RDU Triangle, SFO, everywhere. I love to talk Social CRM, Paid / Owned / Earned media, instant video, crowdsourcing, segmentation and location based networking.

If you are interested in making videos or blogging about those topics or beer, burritos, modern rock, tea, SXSW, Chinese – talk to me. I am very excited about the chance to work with you.

Some good Boston folk have talked about putting together a daily recap of the cool happenings for people who missed the event or who just plain did not go to the same sessions or have the same conversations we did. SXSW is enormous. It is literally impossible to consume even half of all of the content. Just ask George G Smith Jr. He literally slept for about 5 hours the entire time in an attempt to take it all in.

Meet

I want to meet you. In my new role as Vice President, Director Digital Incubator, I am responsible for staying ahead of the curve. My group figures out how to make the shiny objects useful for our clients. We put them through the paces and define the roadmaps for products and services. This means I am going to be eager to talk to location based, augmented reality, massive data, visualization, social media measurement, community, video etc. etc. vendors while I am in Austin. if you have an offering on an emerging platform, chances are I want to meet you.

Learn

At SXSW, I think the motto is “kill then with content”. I likened last year’s SXSW to going to college with all of the people you wanted to be there with. This year there are so many appealing session, I am triple and quadruple “booked” on my schedule for some time slots. There simply will not be enough time to take in everything. I am not worried. I do not think you can lose at SXSW. If you do, the next session is bound to change your attitude.

If you would like to meet me, please see my google profile. http://bit.ly/smgoogle. It has all of my various connection points including location based (stalking) stuff. I am looking forward to seeing you at SXSW.

What about the parties? I am sure you will see me at a party or two, but I will not choose them over beers in a bar with local craft brew, a chance to make a cool video or a opportunity to meet with the Wired, Gowalla or WOXY gangs!

What are you hoping to get from SXSW?

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  • So how'd I do?

    Create: 7.5/10 I blogged my tail off, and althought I didn't make nearly as much video as I would have liked, the stuff I participated in was worthwhile. The Chevy/Gowalla experience, "Taxi Cab Confessions" with Chevy (not yet released), a "Weird Austin" montage, some Freezerburns content and one really special episode of BelchingMonkey with some great people at the Austin Gingerman. I also encouraged and participated in a bunch of videos including the High 5 montage with @Balanon and @BChesnutt. Not bad, but I had planned a live show with some folks and an impromptu powerpoint Karaoke that I scrapped. Oh. And there's a video of me talking tech with the .tv crew where I'm pretty inebriated, yet still surprisingly coherent.

    Meet: 9/10 I met a ton of great people including the CEOs of the tech companies I wanted to meet. I had a good balance of hanging out with and conversing with friends as well as meeting folks I have never met before.

    Learn: 10/10 I found some amazing content and managed to learn a boatload. Even the (Digg Nation) night that I had more than my fair share of Austin's finest ales I was up for the 9:00AM sessions (after delivering tacos to Jim Storer) http://www.schneidermike.com/technology/the-content-was-there-sorry-you-were-not-sxsw/751/

    I accomplished my goals. I have bigger and better plans for next year, but I left feeling even better about SXSW than I did before I arrived. It was a win.
  • rochelleveturis
    You're welcome Mike. One of my Twitter followers (@JoshChandler), suggested it :) See you this weekend.
  • rochelleveturis
    Fantastic post @schneidermike. As a SXSW newbie this year, I'm excited to attend because of people like you. I'm flying to Austin with an open heart, open mind and open calendar. I'll be following you on Twitter Mike; hope I get lucky enough to catch you. See ya in Austin. Woot!
  • I am glad you found value in the post and thank you for tweeting it to others. How did you find it?
  • jamesonbull
    Great post Mike. I'll be doing my best to channel my inner sponge and take in as much as I can and meet awesome digital friends from across the country. I'm planning on some daily recaps to share what I've learned with the world, but also just to help me digest everything that I've got scheduled to be crammed into my brain.

    I love the "triangle of awesome" by the way.

    Hopefully I'll run into you again down there! Even better if it happens over some BBQ burritos and beer.
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