Posted by Joran Oppelt on Mar. 17, 2009, at 5:31 pm
Right now, according to the Tweet I just got from @SXSW, Seth Rogen and Anna Faris are in Room 16AB of the Austin Convention Center – I’m sure, hyping their new film, Observe and Report.
I am across town, sitting on an overstuffed couch after a long (first) night of drinking.
Yesterday morning’s walk into town was beautiful as it’s starting to warm up in Austin (around 60 degrees and sunny), and when I got to the center, I attended two rounds of SXSW Accelerator, sponsored by Microsoft Bizspark. The competition put four contestants in four categories (Web, Social Networking, Video and Music) through a 2 minute pitch and then a round of questioning from an industry panel and keynote Guy Kawasaki.
Posted by Joran Oppelt on Mar. 15, 2009, at 11:36 pm
Sunday. Laid low today. Resting up for the long week ahead. Took another nice long walk this morning to HEB (Texas’ answer to bad grocery stores).
Definitely no iPhones at HEB. Actually, there was a Cricket and Boost Mobile kiosk in the entryway next to the Coke and holographic sticker machines.
Spent most of the day cutting together footage from day one.
Here it is:
UPDATE: Davey (one of the guys I’m staying with) just returned from DJ’ing what he described as a “Rat Pack-themed interactive after-party.” He said the party was totally lame, but that he played for an hour and got paid $300. Travis (his roommate) lamented on how last night, his band played a three-hour gig, two hours away, got paid $100 and had to split it four ways – less the gas money. Seems like half of us are always in the wrong business.
Posted by Joran Oppelt on Mar. 15, 2009, at 12:59 pm
There’s something magical about waking up to strange birds singing unfamiliar songs. In the quiet of Austin’s East Side, this is how day two began.
And the morning of day two was difficult. My lower back was definitely still in pain and my right ear wasn’t fully functioning yet. (Later, a passing ambulance would prove it was back to normal). But, a hot shower, some good stretching and the fact that there was no coffee in the house was enough to get me motivated.
If for purely economical reasons, I decided to walk from the house to the convention center downtown - a distance described to me as “around ten blocks.” Very long blocks. It was still a brisk 40 degrees, and I could see my breath as I passed the businesses on Comal St. Several places in the predominantly Latin community offered party rental services (pinatas, moonwalks, table and chair rental) and were staging their colorful wares (yes, even the moonwalks) sometimes dangerously close to traffic on the dingy, gray curbside.
I arrived back at the ACC just in time to catch the first workshop of the day, ”Profit by Mobilizing your Online Community.” Definitely a disappointment. When I think “mobilize,” I think “inspire to action” or “cause to move in an excited and motivated manner.” The panel from Unwired Nation apparently understood the word “mobilize” to mean “sell them a mobile API with a voice and messaging plan.” I should’ve known. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Joran Oppelt on Mar. 13, 2009, at 7:40 pm
It’s 40 degrees outside, drizzling non-stop and Austin has just become ground zero for every hipster with an iPhone.
It’s 10 a.m. and registration at the Austin Convention Center has just begun. Already the lines are starting to form down the surrounding hallways and escalators and the entire building is buzzing with people camped on the floor in clusters around the power outlets, charging their laptops and digging through their goodie bags.
The South by Southwest Conference kicks off today with the Interactive portion of the workshops. With sessions titled “User-Generated Content: A State of the Union,” and “Championing Social Media to the Man,” these first few days have drawn the new media elite, journalists, programmers, game developers and authors. In short, I am surrounded by every living geek in the world, all chomping at the bit to learn something new about content management, the new killer app (other than Twitter) and how to finally put the term “Web 2.0″ to rest.
I’m seated next to Jemima Kiss of the Guardian UK, as the UGC workshop begins. Before moderator Chris Tolles can even introduce the panel, someone interrupts him, saying, “Can you please let us know the hash tag you’d like us to use for Twittering this workshop?” Read the rest of this entry »
