Category Archives: SXSW

Mar 13 0 comments
SXSW

SXSW Interactive: Day 1

Yep, it’s that time again. I’m in Austin, TX for South by Southwest Interactive (a/k/a “geek spring break”), trying to get my knowledge on about all things tech.

The conference is a bit of a different animal this year. For one, it’s a LOT larger than its ever been. I know I’ve said that before, but this year’s growth is just insane. The conference now spans three hotels in addition to the Austin Convention Center. The lovely young woman manning the registration booth told me on Thursday that the registrations have doubled from 2009, which means we’re talking in the neighborhood of 8,000-10,000 attendees. Lines for parties are now wrapping themselves around whole city blocks. I’m thrilled for the success of the conference, but I miss the more intimate feel from when I first started attending. So many unfamiliar faces. The introvert in me wants to hide under a large rock.

Of course, this year’s conference is also remarkable, at least for me, for the people who aren’t here: Esin & Jessa, Kevin Lawver, Anitra Pavka, and of course, The Brad. In many ways things feel…just sort of off without them here.

On the upside, I’m 5/5 on my panel selections so far, but with so many panels on this year’s schedule, I’m bound to hit a clunker eventually.

As they say in the news, more updates as the news warrants…

Jan 05 4 comments
Life, My People, SXSW

Brad L. Graham, exeunt stage left.

Brad L. Graham

Brad L. Graham at Fray Cafe 9 (SXSW 2009)

This isn’t what I thought I’d be writing about tonight. This is about the furthest thing from what I thought I’d be writing tonight.

I had planned to write about the end of the Russell T. Davies/David Tennant era of Doctor Who – specifically the two-finale, The End of Time. Then I saw this…

Tweet from @weegee re: Brad's passing

…and it felt like I’d been sucker-punched.

A bit of background – in 2005, I attended South By Southwest Interactive for the first time. I knew practically no one. And the ones I did know (save for a certain Jersey refugee and his wife), I didn’t know very well. I was stepping WAY out of my comfort zone – so much so that I didn’t sleep the night before traveling, and thought, albeit briefly, abut calling the whole trip off.

Brad Graham wasn’t the first person I met in Austin that year – that distinction went to Kristin – but it was Brad, through his annual “Break Bread…” opening night soirée, that I met so many of the people with whom I would spend the following 4 days and remain in contact with over the following five years; in no small way, he helped build the SXSWi family. And in that time, we bonded over our shared obsessions – theater, web geekery, Doctor Who – and I’d felt like I’d found something of a kindred spirit.

Brad passed away sometime over the long New Year’s weekend. He was 41 years old. I think James may have said it best: “The glue of SXSW for the past decade is gone.” And I never got a chance to thank him for welcoming me, with open arms and a cold beer, into that amazing family.

I’m not going to pretend that I knew him as well as the folks who were with him at that first SXSWi 11 years ago, but that doesn’t make his death hurt any less. I knew him well enough to know that he was a sweet, funny, passionate man. He had no shame (I mean that in the best way possible), and heaven knows he never missed an opportunity for an ribald comment…and that’s one of the reasons why we loved him.

I’m not sure I can write much more right now, and to be honest I’m not sure if what I’ve already written will make much sense unless you’ve taken up residence in my head. I will get around to that Doctor Who post soon – I think Brad would have liked that – but somehow I think it’s only appropriate to let Brad have the last word.

From Fray Cafe 9 at SXSW 2009, I give you the story of Brad’s ‘second time’.

Thank you, Brad. Godspeed, you magnificent bastard.

Edit (2:50AM) – there’s a memorial page (of a sort) up on Metafilter.

Mar 18 1 comments
SXSW

The SXSW Aftermath Conflagration

My daily updates from SXSW were largely relegated to Twitter this year, so if you want the blow-by-blow, you can always look at my updates going back to last Thursday. I’ll be posting a full recap later on (no, really, I will!), but in brief, here’s What I Learned at SXSWi 2009:

  • Intimate dinners trump massive parties with thousands of strangers, without question
  • Kathy Sierra is a freakin’ genius (actually, I already knew that, but I thought I’d mention it anyway)
  • Twitter is still the social networking king, at least amongst the SXSW hive mind, although some new applications like FourSquare crashed the party with some serious potential
  • The conference is HUGE now. As in ‘over 9,000 registrants’ huge. It’s more than a bit overwhelming. (I’ll expand on this point in a later post)
  • I really need to read Designing the Obvious
  • I need more exciting shit to happen to me in the next 11 months so I have a good story to tell next year at Fray Cafe
  • Put simply, I have amazing, astounding, wonderful friends who I don’t see anywhere near often enough

I’m currently at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, waiting on the flight home that ends this marathon of travel. The flight has been thrice-delayed, as though someone or something doesn’t want me to sleep in my own bed anytime soon. With luck, I’ll be home tonight, and it’ll be back to reality tomorrow.

*sigh*

Mar 12 0 comments
SXSW, Travel, Work

If it’s March, it must be Austin.

Yes, this is the annual, now almost ritualistic, pre-SXSW Interactive post.
Get the whole story »

Mar 16 2 comments
Life, SXSW

SXSW 2008: By Popular Demand, My Fray Cafe Story


Thanks to Nikolai Nolan for the video. Please, don’t spoil the shock ending!

Mar 12 0 comments
Meta, SXSW

SXSW 2008: Good night, Austin! We love you!

For five days every March, the geeks of the world are the rock stars in Austin.  Those five days are over, and the actual (and wanna-be) rock starts are starting to invade the Texas capital.  As for me, I’m sitting in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, sipping on a crappy latte, sorting through a few hundred photos and trying to process all of the good stuff from the last few days.  I’ll be posting photos over the next few days (no, I won’t wait 6 months like I did last year).

I just wanted to take an opportunity, while I have a moment, while it’s still fresh in my mind, and while I’m not distracted by work, I just want to say thank you to all of the veterans at SXSW who always make me feel so welcome; to all of the folks I’ve met over the past four years, who make the trip worthwhile (perhaps almost as much as the conference itself); to all of the newbies and the new-to-me-bies, with whom I hope to speak again soon, either over Twitter or IRL; and to everyone who stuck around for the marathon at Fray Cafe on Sunday night and cheered my semi-embarrassing story.

Soon, I’ll be back in New Jersey, trying to figure out how to rawk after SXSW.  And sleeping in my own bed…which is always nice.  And scheming ways of making sure my schedule is clear for SXSW 2009.

Mar 10 0 comments
SXSW

SXSW 2008: International Day of Awesomeness

insp_captkirk.png

Today is the International Day of Awesomeness. Go forth and be awesome to each other.

Image lifted from http://echosphere.net/star_trek_insp/star_trek_insp.html (currently down)
Mar 07 0 comments
Life, SXSW

SXSW 2008: Ready to Rawk (and be rawked).

withbadge2008.jpgI’m on the ground in Austin for SXSWi 2008. I’ve already run into a few familiar faces, and will most likely catch up with the rest at dinner tonight. Updates as events warrant.

Reminder to those of you who are here – find me and get tagged!

(You can also follow me on Twitter, although I should warn those of you not in Austin that Twitter becomes less about what you’re doing and more about where you’re going. That’ll make more sense starting tonight.)

Mar 06 0 comments
SXSW, Travel

What the hell, Austin?

austinweather.jpg

What the hell is this, Austin?  You and I usually have a pretty good arrangement – I visit you for five days or so, and you make me forget it’s winter.  This is nigh-unacceptable.  *grumble*

Mar 04 0 comments
Life, Meta, SXSW, Travel, Work

It’s been such a long time.

Yeah, you know the drill. This is the part where I apologize for being away for such a long time, and I swear on several dead people that I’m going to make good and post more frequently.

Honesty moment: I’ve had quite a bit to post, I just haven’t really been inspired to post. I know that sounds like a crock of shit, but in all honesty, I just really haven’t been inspired to write lately. I pull up the ‘write post’ template in WordPress, and I sit there looking at a blank field, wondering where all the words went. (Really, I used to be quite good at this. I think. It’s been such a long time.)

Oh, and sorry about all the Boston references – I’ve been playing a lot of Rock Band lately. Finished the solo guitar tour on medium, and I’m almost exclusively playing bass on hard or expert (except for “Green Grass and High Tides” – that song just kicks my ass every damn time).

It goes without saying that work has been keeping me incredibly busy. After much wrangling on my part, my group has finally got the go-ahead to outsource our database and web application work; naturally, I’ve been given a lot of responsibility for this particular project. In addition to everything I’d normally be responsible for. It’s daunting, to say the least; for the better part of the last few months, I feel like I’ve continually been playing catch-up.

There’s been some good stuff in that time, tho – I’ve been down to DC a few times, and even had a chance to see the wily and elusive Becca; made another trek to the Bay Area in December, wherein Erica and I got lost on steep hills, and Esin & Tomek hosted a dinner party (and I finally got to meet Jessa‘s ‘bucket’); and I got a really positive performance review at work, which I’m hoping will materialize into a substantial raise. Oh, and I got some new shoes. So there’s that. But even still, I’ve been feeling generally drained.

Which brings us to the present. South By Southwest Interactive starts at the end of this week. As busy as SXSW can be, I always look forward to those five days in Texas as a chance to recharge the batteries. I’m hoping that I’ll be inspired by those clever, clever friends of mine – inspired to blog, inspired to try new things, and inspired to experiment and grow. Needless to say, there will be at least once-daily posting and photos a-plenty from Austin.