Protected: Ignite DC #2 and SxSW Interactive

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Almost Done But Not Quite, SxSWi

Someone caught me speaking at Amy's Salon on Friday night. Thanks to Luc Van Braekel

Its day 4 for me here now at SxSW interactive in Austin, Texas. Its been an amazing conference so far for this no longer a SWirgin. I came here with the tech expirement that I would attend and participate using only my blackberry, my flip, and my camera.

For the most part this has worked. I have been able to capture notes, tweet, and take pictures to capture this experience.

I have also luckily been able to stop in on occasion to the connection centers (this is where I am now), where laptops are available for short quick use, if you are ok with standing. Which, on day four… I am really not. I have learned that good shoes, hydration, and mental and physical rest are keys to survival for a productive conference.

This blog post is a quick teaser to the epic one that will follow with complete links to my media output and thoughts on sessions I attended. This will be posted later in the week when I return to DC.

I will say, this trip has been more geared to listening and participating in discussions on women’s issues, especially ones in tech. I have met many great people and have been able to also connect with my twitter friends who were only virtual creatures before this point. I am also greatful to the new friendships of people back home whom I’ve only seen a few times, bond over the experience.

Quick takeaways until the big post:

• Yes, this was worth it to be physically here.
• Networking and meeting people in real life alone is valuable.
• First person I saw at the convention center was Kevin Marks
• I am admittedly a google reader fan
• Gary V. still brings the Thunder
• Next year I am doing Cogaoke
• So many efforts out there to elevate woman’s issues in tech
• The Austin Convention center is “teh suck” in architectural design and layout – can’t find $h!7
• I wish I could stay for the music, but it already feels like I have been here too long.
• Tara Hunt first in real life impression awesome, while Julia Allison’s rude and inconsiderate.
• Even though I didn’t go to the sessions, I know what “making whuffie” is about
• @wefollow – so far maybe the biggest thing out of the conference
• The Keynotes were mostly unimpressive.
• Giving out your twitter handle and posting a specific hashtag for sessions makes the session more connected.
• The events I picked before hand online, are not necessarily the events I ended going to.
• Parties are fun. But don’t overdo it.

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Yes, I’m a SWirgin

This year, I finally get to see the hype first hand. I will be going to SxSW Interactive starting this Friday. Last year I watched the overflow of Information spill out from the event from my office back here in Northern Virginia and said to one of my contract customers, “I have to go next year!” Too late to put together a panel or a talk (I would have done one on Community Management), I am going this year mostly to network and sink in as many talks and panels as I can. But the point is I AM GOING!

Thanking my lucky stars for much of the pre-planning information this year, as  I am working out much of my trip as I can in advance with the help of some non-SWirgins. I am flying on the Big BWI Blogger Boeing on Friday morning (Flight 2262) with at least 6 other twitter/bloggers. If you are also on this flight, let us know so you can join the group. I am also looking to either carpool or take public transportation to the airport.

To get prepared, I have been doing a lot of reading of my trusted friends and experts who have done this thing before. Aaron Brazell aka @Technosailor has a nice write up about what to expect, some considerations, and even packing tips.

Andrew Mager (@mager) from ZDnet has a guide he put together with his picks for sessions to attend, as well as parties and extras.

And if you are looking for parties and other thing related to the event, you might want to check out the growing list over at http://sxsw.razorfish.com/

I have also signed up for my.sxsw.com. The official social networking site of the entire conference. It was developed by my good friends over at the social collective (follow @bucchere for more details). We used this networking software before for WIREICES last fall and they have improved it a lot since our experience and hopefully with our feedback.

Mostly I will be hanging out with other SWirgins Amy (@sengseng) and Steve (@robotchampion). We’ll be at Amy’s salon on Spying 2.0 (see below) if anyone wants to come say hello.

If there are any other tips or things I should know about please do not hesitate to let me know. I will be trying to twitter and live blog as much as I can during the event, but if my laptop becomes an anchor, there might be more twittering and less blogging until after the event.

I haven’t finished picking out my interested events and some are subject to chance, since some are at the exact same time as others I am interested in, but right now here is a brief list:

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