Now that SXSW is over, I thought it best to offer my take on the conference.  As a first time participant, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Overall, it was a great experience with tons of panels, discussions and parties.  Here are my takeaways:

1. Although I didn’t get to see as many panels as I wanted, the ones that I attended seemed to focus all around community. How to build and promote them; how to manage them; how to make them more interesting. It seemed like every topic was covered. It was all really good information, but next year, I’ll branch out a bit more.
2. I thought Tony Hsieh’s keynote was one of the best of the conference. His research and thoughts on the ‘science of happiness’ really resonated with me. Basically, it’s been proven that people’s happiness last the longest when what they are doing has a meaning or higher purpose – when you are part of something that’s bigger than yourself. Good to remember.
3. I had to laugh when Charlene Li started talking about Facebook Advertising. For a while now, H&R Block has been using me as a ‘spokesperson’ in their Facebook Ads by showing my picture with their ad to every one of my friends. Granted I am a fan of H&R Block’s Facebook page, but I never gave them permission to act as if I’m blatantly endorsing them to all of my friends. Ugh, so Charlene and I have something in common. I think I’ll take her advice and un-fan the advertisers that use this tactic.
4. Parties! There were tons of parties to attend each night, and luckily they were all pretty much in the downtown area of Austin so easy walking distance between them. My favorites were the Austin On Rails Happy Hour sponsored by FiveRuns and OtherInbox and the Austin Ventures party.

All in all, it was a hectic five days that was well worth the time and experience.  One suggestion for the SXSW staff – next year, please match the titles in the schedule to those in the description section of the program guide.  Using short titles in one place and long titles in another meant that nothing matched and it was hard to decide spur of the moment which talk to see next.  K? thx!  See you in 2010!

Filed under: Events