Wishing I Was at SXSW
Right now, tons of techies are having the time of their lives at South By Southwest, a convention of sorts that brings all many people together. People like Mike Rundle, Paul Scrivens, Matthew Oliphant, Bryan Veloso, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg and Flock’s Chris Messina. Thankfully, flickr is on my side and a quick trip to the SXSW2006 tag brings me a constantly updated feed of photos. One year I will make the pilgrimage to Austin, Texas where the festivities are held. If only my spring break wasn’t the week after SXSW. 9rules is actually up for an award at SXSWi for best community, so we’ll see who gets to take that prestigious prize home. It was actually one year ago around this time that the idea of the 9rules network was discussed over dinner with Paul Scrivens and Mike Rundle. I hope everyone at SXSW has a great time and maybe the 9rules team will come home with that trophy. =D
Matthew Oliphant, Mike Rundle and Paul Scrivens of 9rules at SXSW 2006
On the music side of SXSW, make sure everyone downloads the torrent for a few gigs of music (from Digg):
Ta da
I’m dying here, reading all the SXSW blog posts and wanting to be there so badly. We should make a pact, Stammy. Next year: Austin or bust.
Although I simpatize with the feeling, I have to say that SXSW is becoming more like a trendy pub. True, many interesting things are talked about, but from various reports I noticed discussions that have been on the Net for months, so what’s the point? Networking, fair enough. But there are also various other opportunities to do so. What annoys me is that many think SXSW is the unmissable place where things *happen*, while actually many indipendent developers are doing great stuff and can’t afford to go to Austin.
Don’t dispare, enojoy where you are and what you work on. And, Paul, you really do good work.
Mark me as one wishing she was at SXSW but living it vicariously through flickr. Last year I told myself I would be there this year, but, alas, a change of jobs has put it another year out. Unfortunately, SXSWi has seemingly become so blog- and social networking-centric that convincing work to pay my way may be a pipe dream.
Me too, but at least there are bloggers out there keeping us posted.