Since this is my first time at South By Southwest (SXSW), I figured it would be a good idea to write about my experiences for others who are contemplating going in the future and also, make sure I don’t forget anything that I picked up during my trip.  If you’ve never heard of SXSW, it’s an interactive, film and music conference and festival every year in Austin, TX.  As someone who works for a .com and made the first 7 years of my career as a web developer, I came here specially to attend the interactive part. Let me sum up the last 4 days with one word: exhausting. And that’s with skipping the first full day!

Our technology team has what we call “Think Days”.  Essentially, it’s one full work day every other week where the developers are allowed to research any topic that may or may not be related to the current projects that they are assigned.  The best way that I can explain SXSW is that it’s Think Day on crack.  It’s definitely a place for information overload but in a good way.

During the day, you have a number of choices of different sessions that you can choose from at various locations in downtown Austin.  It’s a little bit of a challenge to pick which session is the right one for you.  It reminded me alot of what it was like to pick classes during my undergrad days.  Since some of the locations were much farther than the others, you had to decide if you had enough time to hop between locations and if it was generally worth the time and effort.  I found that the shuttles that were supposed to take you to the various hotels was not very efficient so I kept my sessions down to only three locations.  There were definitely more than a few that were at one location that I wish I could have attended but it would have basically cost me 2 additional sessions, one before and after, with just the time it would take to travel back and forth.

Despite that, overall, I would definitely recommend going… and it’s not just because it was a nice break from the Chicago winter.  It was quite an experience.   For someone who likes to be creative and whose job is to come up with new ideas, whether it be for new ways to improve existing products or to come up with totally new ones, it felt fantastic to be surrounded by people who shared similar interests (i.e. big geeks) and were able to stimulate my mind with a thousand new ideas that I can take back to my company.

Because there’s way too much information to share for one, it’s probably best if I split up my writeup of each day as a separate post.  Some days were better than others but I can say without hesitation that every single session generated some new thought.

Oh and one more thing, I used Twitter more in the last few days (you can follow me at @okaychamp) than I have in the first so many months that I have had an account.  It was without a doubt the communication channel of choice for the conference without even being sponsored by them.

Yes, my slingbox died after 3 years of good service.  Of course, it dies also just as Sling releases a mobile app for Android.  I did hope that my search on multiple forums for possible fixes would work.  The only possible solution was a new adapter to which I purchased and it didn’t work.  I’m holding out though on buying a new one until I hear more about Google TV that is hopefully going to be released by the end of this year.  Word is that the set top box that goes with it, being produced by Logitech, is currently in the hands of the FCC.

So what do I do in the meantime?  Well, luckily, my very large cable and internet bill with Comcast has also the additional benefit of allowing me to access ESPN3 online.  The quality I have to say is pretty nice, although it does fluctuate every now and then, and I don’t believe it’s as clear as the live streams that the PGA and IBM offer during the Masters and the U.S. Open (also available to everyone).  So far, it’s been great to watch March Madness, the World Cup, and the acclaimed 11 hour Wimbledon tennis match while I am at work.  No, that’s not why I have dual monitors and yes, I was like the only person in my office who had to stay at my desk during the USA/Algeria game while everyone else went out to the nearby sports bar to watch it.  Speaking of which, time for me to login for the Germany/Spain game.

Yes, I finally joined Netflix.  I had all intentions of finally using it when I won a contest back in late October/early November last year and with my amazon gift card winnings, I purchased a Playstation 3 because of the fact that it was not also a blu-ray player, but it allowed Netflix streaming.  Fast forward 6 months later and now Netflix is also available to be streamed through the Wii (which I also own) and hence, got the disc and now use.  It is pretty awesome especially when there is nothing on TV and it’s cheap at only $8.99 a month.  My only complaint is that not all their titles are available to be instantly streamed which sucks today more than it did last week because the boys at work got me into this show, Dexter.  I watched the first 2 seasons through instant streaming but while Netflix has season 3, it is only available as a disc.  So now, I have to wait for another DVD that I already had in my queue to come in the mail, watch and return it, so that I can finally get to see the next episode.   I can see now how some people cancel their cable subscriptions completely and only subscribe to Netflix.  I think my friends Tony and Michael would have LOVED this back when we were in college if it existed then because they didn’t have cable and just bought alot of DVDs to watch in their apartment.  This would have opened up their selection and would have been much cheaper.  Unfortunately, my love of sports (especially for teams that are not local) will never get me to ever cancel my cable and thus Netflix will only be something additional.