SXSW Blues

So, Monday, I got to attend SXSW. When I say “attend”, I mean, “I got to be in the same building for one portion of a very large event and didn’t get to sit in on any of the panels or see any of the cool people I wanted to see, but I did get some cool buttons to add to my bag."

Basically, I got a free iF pass. This pass is something anyone can get and lets you into the Trade Show portion of the event. For one day. Just the Trade Show. Ok… first of all, the Trade Show is not SXSW. Who gives a crap. Sure, I got a few neat buttons for my bag, and got to learn about a DV camera that was so out of my league (and industry) that I could actually feel the time slipping, but when all was said and done, it was boring and uneventful.

Ultimately, it made me wish I had just bought the tickets for the actual event and taken some vacation to actually attend the panels. I wanted to meet Cameron Moll (and the design panel I definitely wanted to see). I wanted to see Jeffrey Zeldman. I would have certainly loved to visit with Jason Santa Maria and learn about all the Easter Eggs in Virtual Stan. People I read about on a daily basis. But no, all I got was a free demo on how accessible my website was. I could have taken a picture of Al Franken as he was signing books, but there was no "film" in my digital camera. At least JSM had a camera and took some shots of SXSW peeps I so desperately want to meet.

However, despite all that, it was my first time to go and I did have a decent time. I was let down because I could only mill about the Trade Show portion, but it was nice to just be there. If only I had hung out on the Panel side to catch a glimpse of a famed designer…

Elsewhere: there is a decided lack of good, funny content to show you folks. Sorry.