My husband and I attended this year’s South by Southwest interactive conference in Austin, TX and had an amazing time.  For those of you who don’t know, South by Southwest is the combination of an interactive conference, film festival, and music festival.  Prior to my attendance, I had only heard of the music festival and had no idea about the other two parts (which is the case with a lot of people, it seems.) My hubby works in the technology field and he was attending the conference for work.  I decided to join him and see what this conference was all about.  Plus, who wouldn’t want to see Austin, TX?!  If you don’t know what the interactive part of the festival is all about, this blurb from the website describes it brilliantly: 

The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology. Whether you are a hard-core geek, a dedicated content creator, a new media entrepreneur, or just someone who likes being around an extremely creative community, SXSW Interactive is for you!

For a first timer to the conference, I must say, it was awesome!!!  They had different panels every couple of hours that focused on all sorts of topics from web marketing to successful bloggers to the role that video now plays on the internet and on and on.  Other people attending the conference work for companies like Microsoft, Facebook (the founder was one of the keynote speakers), Twitter, Adobe, etc.  The rest of the people there are basically the past, present, and future of the internet and web-based technologies.  It was crazy to be among so many talented people and watching them excel in their element. 

The amount of information that I learned in those 5 days was immeasurable.  I felt like a sponge just taking it all in and my hand was actually sore from taking notes!  I also picked up some hilarious terms from some of the people. 

Blog Widows/Widowers = the brave and dedicated souls that are married to us bloggers

Blogger’s Butt = what I will have if I stop working out and keep blogging!

Screen Sucking = the act of continually playing with your tech toys (iphones, blackberries, laptops, etc.)

The thing that impressed me the most about the conference was the overall theme that I picked up from the majorirty of the panels I attended.  The focus of the successful people in this conference was on their users and on building a sense of community.  I heard it stated over and over again that it is the people that make the internet so great.  It’s the users like you and me that talk, read, share, link, comment, and develop bonds through websites, blogs, forums, etc.  The people I heard speak had such a commitment to their readers and product users, that I found it absolutely inspiring. 

And okay, I think it would be downright disgusting to have a post about South by Southwest and NOT mention the fabulous city of Austin.  My husband and I did not have one single bad meal there.  The tex-mex was insanely good and it’s a good thing we don’t live there!  That would be taking self-control to a whole new level.  Thank you Austin for being such a fun and hospitable city to visit! 

What’s the single most important thing I learned at the conference?  That I’m going back next year!!