Having been to a wide range of conferences this year (from SXSW to Lift, Re:publica and Ersatz yesterday) i agree wholeheartedly with Russell Davies:
Remember when conferences were in the basements of hotels and featured lime cordial and mint imperials? And you had to go because they were the only way to get new knowledge from people who knew stuff but were three years away from finishing their book. The internet’s killed them.
Now you can read everything you need to know almost before you need to know it.
[...]
So conferences are turning into something else, finding new reasons to exist. The Interesting model is one way to go – cheap, easy, informal, low-risk. Or there’s the TED way; flashy, significant, expensive, you-had-to-be-there.
There’s absolutely no reason for bashing either model — they are completely different in nature, and we need both. I tend to like the intimate settings a lot more than the all-encompassing megalomanic gatherings, but having said that, SXSW was the best conference I’ve ever attended.
The only problem is that at SXSW you’ll have three-four sessions at the same time, so you have to choose carefully. They could overcome this by making it smaller, and then we reached the beginning of this argument again.
Tomorrow, at 3:40pm I’m leaving Copenhagen for Austin, TX. I’ll be there at 10:46pm. Not CET, but CST – a seven hour difference. Which means that I’ll be traveling for 14 hours and 34 minutes. Make that an even 17 hours and it’s from door to door.
Why am I still happy then? I’ll be attending the magnificent South By South West conference. A few years ago one of my dreams were to visit the music part of SXSW since it’s about 10 times bigger than the Danish Spot festival in Århus. Now, however, I’ll be attending the Interactive part of the conference, and that is even better.
I’ve been in the US a couple of times – even studied there for four months – and it’s always been good fun. It’s been focused on the northeast part of the country, though (Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Boston), so I can’t wait to see what it’s like down south. Mostly because it’s +20° C and not 0° C this time of year.
Seeing that I’m a first-time SXSW attendee, I have no idea what to expect. Sure, I’ve read a lot about the panels and keynotes, but you never really understand something like Reboot before you’ve been there. I imagine it’s the same for SXSW. Why else would people argue that it’s good for them not to go as they won’t be hungover for two weeks then?
If you’re interested, you can have a look at my schedule here: My SXSW schedule. It’s overbooked, overflowing and overly exciting.
I’ll bring a video cam along with me, and hopefully I’ll be able to upload a few videos during the conference to give you a feel for what it’s like. Otherwise, it’ll be when I get home and maybe even with a bit of editing.
If you’re going as well, get in touch and I’ll tell you lots and lots and lots about online video and why 23 Video is the right choice for you and your organization: mark@marks.dk.
You should follow me on Twitter if you want to follow along during the escapades over the next week or so: @marks.