Southby Recap 2010
This year’s show seemed much different than year’s past. Not sure if it’s the evolution of the show, or Matt Browne, or both.
The last two shows I was blown away by the content of the panels and keynotes. I literally couldn’t take notes fast enough. I was consistently taken aback by the creativity and accomplishments of the randoms strangers I met serendipitously.
Durring a video taping of @SocialMediaClub someone said it best, “you first come to Southby for the content, and you keep coming back for the relationships.” I agree!
For me, this year was more about relationships than curating the next big idea. As much as this conference caters to early adopters in tech, their purpose has dramatically increased in scope. Now Southby Southwest Interactive is becoming the place to launch your mainstream consumer product to an highly influential audience. Evident by Chevy, Pepsi, and Microsoft’s presence; whom all were vying for the attention of the tech elite and making big investments to do so.
I will remember this year as the year Southby shed it’s geek image and mainstream marketers were certainly the catalyst to this change.
Just watch Pepsi vs. Coke. Or Chevy vs. Ford. I would bet that brands that are making the investment in Southby will show strong awareness and equity in next 12-24 months.
Tip of the hat goes off to the Southby organizers for scaling so well. The volunteer staff was absolutely amazing. Lines were longer, but didn’t seem to go any slower. Charging stations were _everywhere_. They even had charging lockers, where you could lock your electronics up for free and come back to a full battery. AT&T, that was brilliant!
The parties were out of control this year (but that’s not really new). If you weren’t on a VIP list, you might as well enjoy your spot in line. I literally saw some of the longest lines I have ever seen, some being over 5 city blocks long. The Mashable party had close to 10,000 RSVPs; sufficed to say more of us were disappointed than not. On the last night Evan Williams and Ashton Kutcher were spotted hanging out at the FourSquare party in the VIP, which was pretty cool.
As far as the tangible updates coming from the show, the most profound announcement was that of Twitter’s new platform called @Anywhere. In the same vain as Facebook Connect, you can now extend the viral success of Twitter on your own site, without asking your visitors to leave and go somewhere else. Though Evan’s announcement lacked the passion you’d expect from a CEO making a large announcement at a keynote, it didn’t take away from the impact this update will have.
Twitter’s API is widely known in the development community as much more stable and well documented than Facebook. This, combined with the sheer power of Twitter’s simple features, make the @Anywhere platform something that will catch on fast, potentially quicker than Facebook connect.
My two favorite talks this year were by Ze Frank and Clay Shirky. If you haven’t seen either of their TedTalks, I’d start there. If you have, then I’ll tell you these guys are even more amazing in person. They both commanded the attention of the room and delivered on the greatness their reputation promises.
People often ask me why I make such a big deal about Southby and what I hope to get out of it– and that’s a really good question. I supposed it’s changed over the years. At first I came to this show to put my little startup on the edge of the tech and social universes. However, now my focus is a little different.
I come to Southby now to fill my creative cup. I come for vision. I come to humble myself. I come for inspiration. I come because I believe it has been one of the most important conferences in technology, social media, and mobile. I believe more innovation happens, ideas hatched, and _real_ relationships cemented in Austin than anywhere else all year long.
The sheer serendipity of a chance meeting with Jeff Jarvis or Tony Hsieh is what I enjoy most. Or better yet, someone you’d never heard of–that will change your future–and you’d have never met them any other way. It’s all about putting yourself in the realm of possibility where greatness come to get even better.
I love all of my Southby peeps. Thanks for making this year so memorable and something I’ll always come back for.
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[...] SXSWi – Why I go, What I take away-Matt Browne – mattbrowne.com Southby Recap 2010 This year’s show seemed much different than year’s past. Not sure if it’s the evolution of the show, or Matt Browne, or both. The last two shows I was blown away by the content of the panels and keynotes. I literally couldn’t take notes fast enough. I was consistently taken aback by the creativity and accomplishments of the randoms strangers I met serendipitously. Jeremy Pepper said it best on the way to the @SocialMediaClub, “you first come to Southby for the content, and.. show all text sdbargainmama: sounds so cool. RT @sdmattSXSWi Recap Post: Why I go, What I take away: http://bit.ly/sosxsw (if you enjoy, please RT) #sxsw #sxswi [...]
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5 Comments
I wish I could have gone there. I am hoping next year I can. Thanks for the post – love reading about the experiences and feedback participants had shared.
Interesting take. Agree that there’s a fantastic sense of openness, optimism, and opportunity (the 3 o’s?) @ sxsw, which makes for a lot of terrific interactions with all kinds of ppl.
But my content experience this year was the exact opposite of yours… almost didn’t come this year because last year was so meh imho, nothing really “new” being said, just 2-yr old ideas rehashed. This year, lots of real urgency and convergence around curation & context in online media, some of which were generating those “aha moments” that I didn’t see in last years backchannels.
So there you go, just another take & virtual $0.02.
I agree, over time the content is less fresh, but the relationships you create over time get stronger. No where else have I been able to meet face to face great people that are normally geographically dispersed. While I may chat with them on Twitter once in a while, or even often, it’s like nothing else to talk, have a drink, bitch about the conferences being packed, etc.
This year I met and had great conversations with 3-4 people that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, even some that live in the same city, but are on the road a lot – it took SxSW to bring us all together.
That’s the point – SxSW isn’t about technology as much as it’s about the people in technology. Go for the people, and enjoy the great panels as a side benefit.
Adrian, you must have found some really great panels. I am following you sitby.us next year.
I wish I could have gone. I know a couple people who live in Dallas that didn’t go and wonder why. Next year!