Austin, Morning One

The Hill Country looks pretty amazing this morning. I’m sitting on a porch, not quite in the rain, trying take some time to enjoy this rare respite from my normal morning routine. Things are quiet, people are still asleep, and I’m gradually quelling my desire to abandon my slumbering compatriots and drive into Austin to get started on my day.

Quiet. Enjoy the quiet. Brew some coffee.

I’m going to make an active effort to keep daily track of my thoughts on SXSWi, in an attempt to (hopefully) process things more immediately and immersively. I’ll be interested in seeing where I find the most value in the event. This is my first trip to the interactive part of the festival, which is weird, since it tends to be the one of the first industry events that a strapping young designer is drawn to. That’s what I get for being a poorly-funded, anti-social misanthrope for most of my early twenties, I guess. Historically, everyone I know has really found the looser, more social aspects of SX the most exciting and fulfilling, making connections with people that last well beyond the trip to Austin. I have a feeling I might be a couple of years too late for that myself (though I definitely hope to be pleasantly surprised). The thousands and thousands of orange lanyards I’ve already seen bobbing around the street give the definite impression that the most common state of being here is probably “lost in the crowd.” We’ll see though. On the conference side, I’m pretty excited about a few panels and a keynote or two, and am going to really try and take the time to absorb the newest and most obscure ideas that I can. Cyborgs, anyone? The heavy emphasis on mobile development and startups will also be pretty exciting, and will hopefully serve as a catalyst for the Switch Creative crew as we start to tiptoe into the world of creating our on products.

Also, I just heard a donkey outside of my window. Rad.

Addendum, March 13, 2012: As you have probably deduced, my clever plan of writing a summary post every day ended up being laughable at best. I should have known at much. During four frenetic days in Austin I did manage to scribble quite a few notes and was introduced to some interesting ideas, and also managed to shoehorn in some excellent social time with some good friends as well. I’ll be compiling my favorite insights into a post that should (hopefully) be coming later this week.

1 Comment to Austin, Morning One

  1. by Dan on March 9, 2012 at 4:18 pm

    Dude, dig it. Excited to see what you think about it—I’ve never been.

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