This is my first blog post (of many, to be sure) about South by Southwest interactive, a large media and technology conference in Austin, Texas. This is the second SXSWi I have ever attended, the first having been 10 years prior, when I was a panelist on one of the first interactive panels ever, covering successful entrepreneurs under 30 and lessons learned. Boy has SXSWi grown!! I really had no idea as to the magnitude of the interactive portion of the conference; had I known, I would have been a veteran by now. Suffice it to say, I will not miss another.

I’m going to keep this initial post very short since I just got back to Houston and am tired as hell and need a few days to recoup and recall everything. For the sake of brevity, I’ll highlight some things I learned about SXSW, in no particular order of importance:

• twitter is essential to knowing what is going on and where it’s happening
• beer is served promptly starting at 3 pm in the bloghaus (critically important)
• the numerous parties are on the schedule until 4 am and very much a part of the event (as are flash mob parties through twitter)
• you know people more by their twitter handle than their real names
• you don’t sleep; show up with a huge sleep surplus or bring some Provigil
• the tone of the conference is irreverent and raw; people cuss during sessions and keynotes
• bring comfortable shoes
• bring extra phone batteries or have your charger with you (twitter drains it quickly through SMS if you’re tracking a lot of things)
• don’t track “zuckerberg” through twitter and SMS during his keynote; your phone will experience epic fail
• hallway conversations are as important (or more so) than sessions
• network and get to know as many people as possible (I failed a little bit in this regard due to severe sleep deprivation and my usual shyness, or “closet extroversion” as Dan Light brilliantly put it - not next time!)
• take business cards with you next time, dumb ass!
• Guy Kawasaki is the most kick-ass, easy going, VC ever. Period.
• Hugh MacLeod got a kick out of my last name (but added I didn’t look like a stoner . . .)
• spend lots of time in the bloghaus blogging, playing guitar hero, eating, drinking and tweeting
• you drink a lot (no really, a lot)
• keep your laptop charged at all times!
• Macs outnumber PC laptops 30 to 1 (at least)
• twitter!! (again) - it is an important back channel, or the conversation of the collective consciousness
• don’t let Sarah Lacy interview you if you’re doing a keynote and you’re a young billionaire
• even if you don’t own a computer and can’t spell blog, this conference is still the deal of the century with all the great people, films, venues, music, booze and food you can enjoy
• Geek and good-looking are not mutually exclusive (quite the contrary methinks, especially when you’re doubly turned on by someone with looks and brains)
• the conference is completely casual and everyone is approachable no matter their status

I could go on and on. I have many post motifs drafted from the conference which I will flush out soon, once my sleep patterns have recovered and my long term memory is functional. In the meantime, I urge everyone to read Daniel Light’s most kick-ass post about the show. I think it nails it on the head. Until next time!

Tags: austin, blog, bloghaus, Guy Kawasaki, Hugh MacLeod, interactive, Sarah Lacy, south by southwest, south by southwest interactive, SXSW, SXSWi, twitter