Thoughts on SxSWi 2010 and why SxSW is like pizza

Published on Mar 19, 2010 by Todd Reifenrath | Category: conference, design, mobile

This was my third year attending the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. The SxSW interactive conference launched in 1994 (there are also SxSW film and music festivals) and has earned a unique reputation among web designers, developers, and entrepreneurs. I first attended in 2008 and was blown away by the experience—it was and still is unlike any other technology conference I've attended.

I have to admit that my experience this year and last have not lived up to my initial "blown away" impression. I find myself wondering if the first year I attended was truly a better conference (Twitter was still new and FaceBook was all the news), if the novelty of attending for the first time cannot be repeated, or if I have inflated the memory of that first year. Reflecting on this year's experience and reading what others have to say (why SxSW sucks and SxSW A Unique Experience) there's no question that others are having similar thoughts.

Even so, I say SxSW is like pizza—even when it's bad it's good! You know what I mean! When was the last time you had pizza so bad that you refused to eat it? Even when it's bad it's still kind of good...it's pizza after all (case in point). SxSW is the same way—even as the conference grows (estimates put SxSWi attendance between 12,000 and 14,000 this year) and some of the sessions miss the mark, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

This year's SxSWi may not have lived up to Twitter's launch at the conference in 2007, or the now infamous Sarah Lacy interview of Mark Zuckerburg in 2008, or other previous conference highlights, but overall it is still a very good experience.

A few of my take aways from this year's conference:

1. A lot of emphasis on mobile (and not just Gowalla and Foursquare). I attended several mobile sessions including a very eye opening presentation on creating native iPhone, Android, and Blackberry apps with jQTouch, phonegap, and HTML/CSS/JS.
2. The first session, and one of the best of the conference, that I attended was Paul Boag's Pain Free Design Sign Off. Paul shared some of the processes and best practices that he employs on his projects. It was fun to hear somebody else speak about experiences that are very familiar to us at Webitects while adding insightful and fun commentary.
3. There were several sessions this year targeting digital media strategies for non-profits. Many of Webitects' clients are non-profits so I found it fun and interesting to share and hear success stories and best practices.
4. Results Oriented Work Environment. Some of my favorite SxSW sessions focus on improving business processes and this was no exception. Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It is on my reading list.
5. Gary Vaynerchuk (of Wine Library TV) never disappoints. His session this year was more inspirational than instructional but very entertaining. And the rappers...couldn't have timed their approach to the mic any better! Listen to the Gary Vaynerchuk rappers.
6. Finally, as has been the case in past years, one of the conference highlights is being able to interact with a lot of like-minded technology-driven people. Sharing ideas, experiences, and soaking up information from others is a thrill.

Returning from SxSWi I feel energized, inspired, and armed with many new ideas that I plan to apply in the coming weeks and months.