People interacting is what SXSW Interactive was all about and I had a great time meeting people whom I have known or know from their presence on the internet. Jeffery Zeldman gave the opening Keynote and it was a brilliant un-talk that served as a wonderful introduction as I got to meet and talk with him over the following days.
Malcolm Gladwell gave the second day Keynote promoting his new book Blink, but he didn’t as he gave a great performance, then disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ana Marie Cox doesn’t have a blog anymore but she’s famous and continues to say all those words the boys like to hear. Al Franken got a ton of laughs and applause in a big room full of Texans, God bless America!
Alex Steffen nearly had to give the final days Keynote by himself but was noticeable relieved when Bruce Sterling made a dramatic entrance and they talked of a future somewhere between the unthinkable and the unimaginable.
Although this was not a conference about computers, I couldn’t help but notice all the Apple Powerbooks everywhere, the Scobileizer’s Tablet PC and my laptop were the exception. The highlight for me accrued at Bruce Sterling’s party, arriving early and quickly recognizing Woz, spending over an hour with him and all his fascinations, of all his accomplishments he is most proud of his children.
SXSW affirms that people have learned to interact through machines and not the other way around. It was great to catch-up with the Vloggers, Andrew and Chuck their everywhere these days and most deservedly so.
The Web 2.0 alumni were there to attest that that conference was a milestone and it was nice to see, Jason, Jason, Jason, Mary, Marc, Craig, Jeff, and Tantek. During a panel on the future of the internet I received an email announcing this years Web 2.0 conference and hopefully our circle will continue to grow.