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I write science fiction, and software. Sometimes one turns into the other.

Back to SXSW Interactive Plus a Book Review

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I’m back at SXSW for the second time, soaking up as much new information and having as many conversations as possible!

No interviews this year, and so far, just adventures and no misadventures! From the Copyblogger.com writer’s party (guest post coming there soon!) to being interviewed by the SXSW Baby Podcast to winning an iPad 2 and a bag of Doritos at the Alcatel Lounge, it just gets better every year.

I’ve been to several sessions and met some incredibly interesting and inspiring people – which is to be expected! The sheer volume of awesome crammed into 5 days in Austin is extraordinary; it will take some time to digest it all once I return.

To add to the awesome, Ysmay of metroseeker.com wrote a very complimentary review of my book, you can read it here. Thanks Ysmay!

 

Book Review: Enchantment, by Guy Kawasaki

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Guy Kawasaki wrote a book, Enchantment (affiliate link), and talked about it at SXSW 2011.

The book spells out in simple terms how to be liked and likable, inside and outside of the business world.

For some, it’s “old news” though it’s not a rehash of Carnegie. For many – especially a certain section of the population that has more conversations with computers than people – it’s eye-opening enlightenment. In several places, the standard accepted wisdom is shattered, for good reasons (for example, see “Dress for a Tie”).

I read it on the trip back from SXSW, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Guy presents his ideas in a way that flows smoothly across topics, building steadily throughout the book.

One section in particular, “How to Enchant Your Boss”, should be no surprise and on the surface seems almost trite: when your boss asks for something, drop everything else and do it immediately. But there’s more to this than meets the eye, and no brief review can do justice to the carefully-crafted buildup that sets the foundation for this one sentence to have a profound impact on your daily life.

The advice applies to your spouse also, not just your boss. Read it and decide for yourself.

Guy lives what he teaches: He consented to an interview for a blog with no readers, and gave me two autographed copies of his book – one of which I will give away to a random commenter, provided the comment is relevant to Guy or the book.

So tell me: why do you want to read the book? Or why do you not want to read the book?

SXSW Business Cards

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Collect the Whole Set!

Before I went to SXSW Interactive 2011, I asked a couple of artistic friends to come over and take some pictures for business cards.

For a while I had wanted to create a business card that was a picture of me handing you a business card.

Two talented friends plus moo.com made it easy.

I ordered  100 cards, gave out about 60, and the rest (all but one) disappeared out of my luggage on the way back home.

They’ll probably show up on EBay as collectors’ items once my SXSW book is a best-seller.

Or not.

Time will tell.

SXSW Peeps – The Series

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picture of author the day before SXSW 2011
The day before, heading towards the first futile bus ride

 

South by Southwest Interactive 2011, Austin TX (SXSW)

I keep up with new technologies and trends by reading voraciously. Some of it is even relevant.

This year, I decided to get out of my home office and go be there, go meet people, actually have…conversations.

I know, radical, right? Probably a complete waste of time and money. Take a week off of work, put everything on hold, run up the company credit card. Get out of my comfortable workaholic man-cave and swim upstream like a deranged salmon. Scary.

Totally worth it.

Why SXSW?

South by Southwest is “spring break for geeks”. It consists of film, music, and “interactive” segments. The Interactive segment was the attraction: hundreds of sessions, keynotes, panel discussions, lounges, and meetups about technology. This is where Twitter and FourSquare happened. This is where venture capitalists gather in private parties to see secret demos of The Next Big Thing. This is where A-list bloggers go to just hang out, be seen, or in some cases, not be seen. This is where fascinating authors go to promote their new book, explain their new book, or occasionally think about creating a new book.

Why Interviews?

I decided to interview people for a blog with no purpose and no readers for several reasons, but primarily to force me to start conversations. My natural tendency would lean more towards mere observation. But this is SXSW Interactive, not SXSW Passive Observation! So I jotted down a few questions on the plane to Texas, and resolved to start as many conversations as I could politely engage.

Hook ‘Em With a Great Line

The approach would be honest: this is a new blog, it has no readers, no one knows or cares who I am, and that’s ok.

“Would you like to be interviewed for a blog with no readers?” I asked.

Everyone I asked said “Yes”.

And that is what makes SXSW so great. The people.

But SXSW Jumped the Shark!

You can say that SXSW has jumped the shark if you like. I wouldn’t know, because I’ve never been there before.

I found it easy enough to avoid the marketing ponds and irrelevant festivities, and I’m not into the party scene. Instead, I soaked up a lot of great information, went to many informative sessions, met tons of fascinating people, and interviewed several of them. The interviews will be published just as fast as I can get them transcribed. Subscribe to the mailing list or feed in the sidebar on the right if you want to be notified when they are published.

In the Beginning…

I keep up with the world, especially the technology world, via the Internet. I travel infrequently, work primarily from my office in the basement of my house, and earn a comfortable living doing what I love: helping people improve their businesses, creating new products and technologies, designing and implementing software systems, doing technical research, writing, thinking, and providing consulting advice to clients. I am fortunate to do what I love for a living, and am blessed with a family that supports and understands this odd calling.

Out of the Garden…

But lately I’ve been thinking that I wanted to get out and actually meet some of the fascinating people that were doing great things, instead of just reading about it. I’m not talking about the famous – though I did meet a few of those, and found them to be remarkably human and fragile just like the rest of us. I’m talking about the up-and-comers, the enormously intense twenty-somethings rushing around the SXSWi sessions in between meetups, check-ins, emails, and working on laptops in corners crouched by electrical outlets.

I feel these are kindred spirits, accelerated by the tools and trends of the time. These are my (techno) peeps, and this is their interviews.

SXSWi unexpectedly provided a minor journey in self-rediscovery and personal growth, which may go into a forthcoming book. There are also several anecdotes around the interviews
that were not part of the interview itself.

Want to read about my 1st time experience at SXSWi?

Click HERE to read about my extraordinary journey.

Did you?

Did you go to SXSW 2011? Did you enjoy it? Did you jump some sharks, or find new truth and purpose? Tell me what you found in the comments below!