SXSW: The Bloody Recap
March 22nd, 2006And only a week late. This blurb is not so blurby. It’s long. If you’re tired of hearing about SXSW, skip this one. Please. For the children.
Saturday:
Drop off Leta in full winter garb and fly. Arrive in Austin to sweltering heat. Register and check-in at the hotel. Hotel room has air conditioning set to temperature that Heather finds a touch too warm still. Thermometer reads -20° F.
Head out to the parties. Hit the giant frog design party. Spent $5 on a cab (including tip! Austin is already treating us right!) and decided to bail to cozier environs to another party, or at least what appeared to be another party and milled about a star-studded, sweaty Iron Cactus. I met a ton of people that night. A ton. It was crazy the web talent in the Iron Cactus that night. CRAZY, people. If that club was a plane and it crashed, we’d have all been screwed in a big way. Thank God it wasn’t a plane. And thankfully, once we moved upstairs, the heat lifted a bit and we stayed until 1:30 a.m. or so. 30 pounds was lost to sweat. Good thing I brought one short sleeved shirt. That I didn’t wear that night. Sweet.
Sunday:
I wake hangover-free! The water strategy paid off. The flip flop strategy also paid off. I suggested to Heather she might want to pack her flip flops (as I was stashing mine in the luggage). Definitely a good move. We woke at around 8 and went down for breakfast. Ran into Henry Copeland and he graciously shared his table. After breakfast we got ready for the day and took off for an interview with the CBC, meeting Jason Kottke (I’m trying not to drop names, but come on, it’s SXSW) and keynote prep. My role for the trip was largely as assistant to Heather. Making sure she had water and shoes and whatever else she might want or need. Calling on my best Grandpa Gear insight, i lugged our carry-on computer bag with laptops, flip flops and supplies. It worked well, but everybody I spoke with thought I was heading to the airport. A web 1.0 RSI-related shoulder injury means that backpacks aren’t my friend.
The nerd bag, Heather and I all rolled into the convention center where I got to meet Kottke. Meeting Jason was lovely and made me more excited for the keynote. Once Heather had what she needed, I took off for the keynote (link goes to edited high-bandwidth QuickTime clip) about ten minutes or so before it started. It was getting full and I lucked into a seat on the front row, which allowed me to take a bunch of flash-free shots. None of which I’ve posted, but a bunch of other people did, so I kind of figured it was pointless to post yet another image of the keynote, especially since the haters are enraged by the photos. Wouldn’t want to further enrage the asshat haters, right?
Or would we?
photo taken 10 minutes prior to the start of the keynote
After the keynote, we headed into the Bloggers in Love panel which had some interesting dynamics and discussion onstage and in the audience.
After that session we hit the Flickr, Upcoming and Del.icio.us party at the Iron Cactus. The free food and drinks started it nicely and the upstairs balcony was so pleasant I didn’t want to ever leave. I do recall wanting to throw the camera off the balcony after the 50th photo moment was lost due to camera malfunction1.
We decided at some point to get seafood at the Boiling Pot with Mena Trott (who I met for the first time) and Tom Coates (who I also met for the first time) and another guy whose name I forget. This was after Ben Brown smoked my pipe. There were some choice bits at dinner, one of the best came from Tom, surveying the damage on the table: “It’s like an orgasm of bits!”
He was right.
Then we went to the blogads/PBS/Pulse party (we missed Fray Cafe [link goes to Scott Beale's photos of the event. Scott has a great camera and some sweet lenses and most importantly, takes great photos]), had still more drinks and then went home relatively early so that we’d be ready for another go go go day. The parties. They do not stop.
Monday:
We had to get up early for a 10am panel looking at the Cluetrain Manifesto that Heather was taking part in. I thought it went well, despite Heather’s misgivings about her level of nerd. Of note was the mention of her daily photo link text which tells visitors which camera she uses. There has never been payment for this line of copy, despite it’s prominence and despite our ongoing difficulties with the camera2.
After the panel, we headed out for Halcyon, where we met several dozen readers of dooce. I wasn’t sure what to expect, having never been to formal gathering of readers outside a book signing or reading. I expected a much smaller place (Halcyon was perfect) and that we’d overrun a tiny coffee shop. There was plenty of seating available and near as I can tell, everybody seemed pleased to be there. I was concerned about this guy writing furiously in his notebook, but he turned out to be a reporter from CNet and proved legit. They posted photos and a largely favorable story about the meetup.
The internet can be a weird place. Going offline and meeting people in the real world can be weird, too. I think the Radiohead documentary, Meeting People is Easy shows the extreme nature of worlds colliding; the popular persona and the sometimes monotony of creating art and then meeting people outside of the context of artist and viewer. Fortunately, the meetup was as far away from Meeting People is Easy as possible. People were very friendly and nice and it was kind of like a reception of sorts, people lining up to talk to Heather and ask geek/background questions of me. It was mindblowing to see so many people obviously moved by Heather’s work. Quite an honor. Plus, it was great to see GEORGE! again.
After the meetup, we went to the Designing for Community with ‘Zero-Advertising’ Brands panel (link goes to high-bandwidth, edited Quicktime video of the panel). This panel, moderated by Maggie Mason was a real eye opener. Derek Powazek has a great summary of this panel.
After that panel we headed out for drinks and a night of parties to end all nights of parties. The photos of which Heather has linked from here. Thanks Blogger and then Adaptive Path, Consumating and Odeo. Evan Williams has had at least a 50% hand in the sponsoring companies and so has a lot of drunk pictures (of others) to answer for. And hangovers (of others) to answer for.
Definitely bummed that I missed so many panels. Scheduling was tight. Much tighter than I had imagined. I wasn’t disappointed by any of the panels I attended. I wished I could have gotten to more of the design panels, as I think the work the Design Eye group did for Craigslist was striking and I’d loved to have been there for the discussion.
Others have nice recaps, and I would imagine most of you have read them already, but I’m linking anyway:
Jon Hicks, Greg Storey, Jason Santa Maria, Cameron Moll, Derek on the Darknets panel, Zeldman I, II, III.
You got any more good SXSW recap links? I’m linked out. o
2 We’ve sent the camera to be repaired twice, neither time has addressed fully the problems we have with shutter reliability, particularly in humid climates. I noticed severe problems last summer in South Carolina and on this trip to Austin. Everybody at the conference was shooting Canon with some sweet lenses, and I can see why.
I’m sure that several phone calls to Nikon might resolve our issues with the camera, but I think we have a lemon. The only other people with Nikon D70 problems are those who purchased from the same store we did. If anybody reading this works for Nikon, you have a limited time before we ditch the D70 or it stops being our main camera and we stop telling people to consider it. I’ve always tried to be objective in my recommendations; I mention why we chose the D70 and that people should definitely check out other cameras from other manufacturers to find the right fit. That said, I either want to sell the D70 (and/or flash) or not use it so much and go Canon. I got to shoot a 5D and lordy, that was a revelation.
March 22nd, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Wow, it sounds like an amazing trip! No wonder it took you a week to post that.
I appreciate your sharing all of the links here.
March 22nd, 2006 at 10:46 pm
All this SXSW stuff has been driving me nuts. Not because I don’t like it, but because I really, really wanted to be there. Unfortunately I don’t have the flexibility or free cash do to these kinds of things right now. Maybe when I’m done with college.
(I feel like the world of the web is passing me by and there’s very little I can do about it because of school. Be happy you’re out. Now is a good time to NOT be locked in a classroom.)
Anyway, maybe this summer I’ll have time to play catch-up and pretend I’m still part of the web. We’ll see.
March 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Great recap! I have to say i’m so surprised that you don’t get anything for the nikon d70 blurb on the daily photos. Really, it’s sinful that after all you’ve done for them (in terms of free advertising which has been proven to have a large monetary value) you can’t even get a camera fixed. But, i’m a canon gal through and through.
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:06 am
I’m a former D70 owner, and switched over to the Canon 20d. I’ve got to say that while I’m elated with the performance of the 20d, that I miss my D70. It does seem that you got a lemon.
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:08 am
I have something terrible to admit: I’m one of the people who made a negative remark about the ads on Heather’s site when they first started. I thought, and expressed, that they were an eyesore.
But in the past several months, I’ve come to be able to ignore them. Hell, sometimes I actually click an interesting link. I just watched the Keynote Address clip, and I have to say that I’m reversing my position. I’m sorry for having been snarky. Every morning I wake up and navigate to Dooce and Blurbomat first thing. It seriously sets the tone for the beginning of my day. You guys are like friends I wake up to each morning, and I wanted to thank you both for helping me believe that it is possible to make a living doing what you love.
So there.
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:05 am
I have been admiring the photos you and Heather have taken with the D70, but ended up getting a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (why can’t they have a cute short name like D70?). I *love* my Canon (and I noticed Maggie Mason has the same camera). It’s light, easy to use, and full of fast shuttery “take the picture now and not .78 seconds from now” goodness.
It does make me sad that Paul Simon didn’t write a catchy tune about his Canon camera, though. Because I love to take a photograph …
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:53 am
A comment about the D70, it has some issues with shutter reliability that I have noticed as well. But if it helps your case with Nikon, I bought the D70 heavily based on your post about why you chose it over the Canon. I have since seen people using the Canon and wonder if I made the right choice, I mean I know Nikkor lenses are the best but they are expensive.
March 23rd, 2006 at 5:59 am
wow.
i too, am jealous. not because i’m sitting in a college classroom, but because i’m sitting in Rome, Italy (yes i know; cry the river, etc.) and over the last few months, i’ve *really* started to feel like the Internet Redux is passing me by. as a child of the “first round”, crazy-days in “Silicon Alley Version 1.0″, this bothers me not a little. i believed all this was important and exciting and worth being passionate about in the 90s, and now i’m not there when people seem to be believing it again. am glad though, that they are. that things like SXSW are happening again, that there is an appreciation for all the incredible talent in this field, that Heather got on CNET (!!!) — and that you guys had a good time.
yay!
March 23rd, 2006 at 7:33 am
I have a D70 and the flash has been broken since December 31st (a WEEK after I got it). I keep delaying bringing it in for service because I’ll have to part with it for at least a week, if not two.
But, I still love it and want to marry it.
March 23rd, 2006 at 7:52 am
Man oh man. My d70 is less than a week old. I bought it because seven people I respect also have them. Mine came through B&H.
Now, on the photo.net forum on the D70, people are also discussing the shutter issue.
I am shooting in Venezuela next month, heat city, so now I am a little nervous.
This entry was great. The parties sound great. SXSW sounds great. Maybe next year.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:08 am
AUSTIN - A Chicago woman accused of stowing away on a plane to attend the South by Southwest Festival faces a federal charge.
Catherine “Cat” Chow, a 33-year-old artist, was on the standby list for a flight from St. Louis to Austin, booked through American Airlines. When she found out the flight was full, Chow snuck past gate agents, boarded the plane and hid in the bathroom, authorities said.
When a passenger knocked on the bathroom door, Chow took the man’s seat. When his wife made her move, she took another seat. After she was forced to move again, a flight attendant discovered her, court documents said.
An agent with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was called to the airport. Airport police also were waiting for Chow when the plane landed.
Chow told authorities she “knew what she did was wrong, but wanted to meet with her friends in Austin . . . to participate in the South by Southwest activities,” documents said.
Airport police say they found marijuana and six antidepressant tablets without a prescription label.
Chow was charged with boarding an airplane without permission, a federal crime, and two state misdemeanors, possession of marijuana and possession of a dangerous drug.
Chow was being held in the Travis County jail on a $3,000 bail.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:31 am
Sounds like a wonderful nerdfest ó a veritable nerd-o-rama. Wish I coulda been there.
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:42 am
I’m an editor at a small newspaper, and we all use D70s for our photos to accompany our articles (we’re a small enough paper that all of the writers are also photographers, so anything beyond pro-sumer level would be a little silly), and we’ve already sent back two to the shop to be repaired, and yesterday, my colleague’s had a bit of a meltdown and is also going back.
I was craving one for myself, but now that I see all of the problems that you and Beth, and this place have had, I’m going with Canon. I guess my point is, it’s not just your store. Bah.
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:37 am
I must be the odd one. I briefly glanced at the Nikon D70 and then went right over to the Minolta 5D. Even after finding out about Minolta selling all their digital stuff over to Sony.
I didn’t even bother looking at Canon. I guess all that comes from owning a Minolta film SLR and absolutely loving it.
I’ve had the 5D for almost a month now and I’m LOVING it. I want to marry it and have its babies. My husband is jealous.
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:59 am
Glad to see that my second home-town was able to give you a proper reception… …and its good to know that she (TX) still has the ability to make visitors sweat their ass off.
(can I say ass on here?)
March 23rd, 2006 at 10:29 am
Canon 20D all the way, the missus is looking at the 5D, and with the exception of the 1.6 focal multiplier difference, she can use all that sweet sweet L series glass she spent an arm and a leg on.
Examples here: http://ardentphotos.com/default.aspx - click on links/categories on the left.
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:08 am
Can i buy your flash?
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:14 am
I’ve had my Nikon D70s for a little over four months and have not had any problems. I have always been partial to Nikon. Their lenses are terrific and the new 18-200mm VR is unparalleled. I reccommend.
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I have a D70 and I have never had any problems with mine (knocking on wood), however I work at a camera store & read nerdy camera forums about the D70 and know that some of them do have problems. IMHO, it seems that’s just something inherant with digital technology, that some models do malfunction. Canon SLRs are nice cameras too- as are their lenses, so if you switched camps, you’d probably be quite happy with their products. Personally, I like Nikon’s SLR camera body & lens design better, plus the high quality of their lenses, but again, usually people are either in the Nikon camp or the Canon camp, and really everyone wins in the end.
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Not to take the conversation off of cameras and back to SXSW or anything, but does anyone out there know if there is more video footage of of blog-related discussion sessions?
I’d also be *extremely* interested in finding out if there is video or audio recordings of the Bloggie awards. I’m a contributor to The Movie Blog podcast, which won for Best Podcast of a Weblog, and I’d like to hear them announce the award!
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Dooce was a contributing factor in our D70 purchase as I commented before:
http://www.blurbomat.com/archives/2006/02/28/before_after#14930
We are very pleased with our D70 and its compatibility with the bevy of lenses we were able to use from our N50 set up. I am convinced if you are going to spend that much for an SLR body, buy the heaviest one. Not to scientific, I know.
I know.
March 23rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Can’t get enough of that Iron Cactus, I say.
I’ll be going back to the North Austin location this Sunday courtesy of Microsoft.
Dress code: flamingo.
Menu: fish tacos. What else?
March 24th, 2006 at 12:11 am
Thanks for the recap of the conference and the links! I really enjoyed linking to the interview between Heather and Jason Kottke the first time you linked it, while you were down there.
I can totally understand your trepidation about meeting fans– but it sounds like it was a great experience. I really loved the idea being thrown around on Dooce about a tour. Might be a great way to make money, too. Have you guys thought about it? Of course, Leta is very young…
And thanks for the info about the camera. Very good to know.
March 24th, 2006 at 7:50 am
Sorry to hear about your camera problems. I have a D50, and so far have not had any problems with the shutter. I love my camera. I bought Nikon because I heard about it here, and at Dooce.
As much as the D70 costs, the kind of problem you’re having is unacceptable.
March 24th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I have a D70 and LOVE it. Thankfully I haven’t had any issues with the shutter speed (knock on wood!) but I wouldn’t trade my camera for anything.