SXSW Interactive — Day Three Recap — My 10 Highs & Lows

Finally, spring lifted her skirts and South by Southwest saw sexy blue skies and dry weather.

My Top 10 Highs and Lows from Day Three (Sunday)

1. Again, I am turned away from my first session No Brochures: Digital Storytelling for Non-Profits because it was over capacity. I was not happy. SXSWi is a decidedly low tech conference for high tech people. Why do they not take reservations ahead of time and then open the room to everyone 10 minutes before? Why? So frustrating, and I did not handle this one well.

2. However, my sidekick Vince saves the day by bringing a ham and butter sandwich and chocolate pastry to Ballroom D from Easy Tiger. Yum! I started feeling better immediately.

3. Ballroom D is one of the main rooms (seating about 4,000) for featured speakers. As we were eating we realized Stephen Wolfram was speaking about his computational knowledge engine Wolfram|Alpha.  80% of what he was saying was over our heads, but the 20% we understood has the opportunity to change the world as we know it.

Wolfram was educated at Eton, Oxford and Caltech, receiving his Ph D in theoretical physics at the age of 20. He is smart. Very smart. (Details for the speaker and session are HERE and follow the twitter feed HERE.) He received the only standing ovation I have seen at SXSWi. And just for the heck of it, go to Wolfram|Alpha and ask how many days it has been since your birthdate. I have been alive 19674 days, and assuming a 40 hour work week, I have worked 12.83 years. Have fun!

4. We then slipped out to the registrants tent for a free drink (Tito’s vodka and Sierra Mist) and relaxed in the sunshine a bit and reflected on quantum physics and art…among other things.

5. Next up was TED Talk superstar Amber Case. (Details for the speaker and session are HERE and follow the twitter feed HERE.) Amber is a Cyborg Anthropologist and her talk was Ambient Location and the Future of the Interface. One quote: “Cellphones are the new cigarette… We light them whenever we have a few spare moments.” Another: “The best technology is transparent. White space wins.” Another: “We need to turn off our screens occasionally and realize what is going on in real life.”

6. Then a very long (and I might add warm and sunny) walk to the Sheraton. On the way, I met up with Andrea Schwalm from New York who writes for WIRED magazine. Check out her writing HERE. You meet the coolest people at SXSWi.

7. The next session was one I really anticipated and it did not disappoint, as you will see by the Twitter feed. It featured Matthew Diffee, cartoonist for The New Yorker Magazine. (Details for the speaker and session are HERE and follow the twitter feed HERE.) He spoke at the main ballroom of the Sheraton and it was packed. People were sitting on the floor three deep.

Matthew was funny and informative. With quotes such as: “Creatives are never blocked as long as they can move backwards.” “Creatives need to control their emotions better, it’s hard to create when you are angry.” This was my favorite session so far at SXSWi.

I immediately walked up after the talk and asked Matthew to speak at re:createATX and re:create 2013. He said he would be happy to do so. Yes!! I also found out we are neighbors. Sweet.

8. Next up was another session I had really anticipated. An interview with Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox. (Details for the speaker and session are HERE and follow the twitter feed HERE.) Drew started off by saying Dropbox was his 6th or 7th startup and he is 29 years old. Wow! But, alas, the interviewer was terrible. She was trying to be so cute, the interview became more about her. We ducked out early.

Note to SXSWi, be very careful who you choose as your interviewers!

9. On the way to the car, we stopped in at the Nike Lot. They have transformed the Frank Restaurant parking lot into a basketball, soccer, skate park surrounded by very large LED screens. Awesome! I snagged a very cool Nike Dri Fit shirt that says “I’m with the Band.”

10. Finished the day on a high note by dropping in Torchy’s Taco Truck and ordering up a Brush Fire and Chicken Fajita taco. On a social networking note, if you check in with FourSquare and buy with American Express you get $10 off your order. Nice!

More tomorrow…

2 responses to “SXSW Interactive — Day Three Recap — My 10 Highs & Lows”

  1. Tom Eggebrecht Avatar

    Randy:

    Thank you SO much for these incredible updates each day. They are awesome, and make me wish even more than I can get there some day. Let’s hope they fix their registration and scheduling by then! Looking forward to having you share more. Thank you!!!

    1. randy Avatar
      randy

      Thanks, Tom!! You would really love it!