The SXSW Experience: Interactive Weekend

M. Luke McDonell is a writer, artist, and photographer living in San Francisco. A veteran of South by Southwest, she is contributing diary bulletins from the 2014 show. The following report emanates from the weekend of SXSW Interactive.


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6th Street at dusk

Saturday March 8th

It was the last panel on Saturday that reinvigorated me after a sometimes frustrating day, reminding me what South by Southwest is really all about.

But first, I went to the Neil Degrasse Tyson keynote and found a line that didn’t end. It wasn’t just long — it kept growing, and whenever I thought I was close, 50 more people joined the queue. When I finally found my place, the line was a modest two or three people wide, but as we shuffled towards the ballroom, people stuck to my left and right like I was a snowball rolling downhill until the line was 15 people wide. Argh. Of course I didn’t get in, and I didn’t go to one of the overflow rooms because I have a strict rule that I do not watch “TV” while I’m here. I heard he was awesome. 🙁

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The impossible line

The next panel was an unexpected pleasure. “TV’s decision makers: How do the shows you love end up on television?” I was curious about this process but hadn’t thought about it enough to realize that it is all about writing. My favorite quote, which could apply to any media, was from Gina Balian of FX, who said, “Great stories find audiences,” and these audiences don’t have to be massive.

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TV decision makers

Finally, the panel that made it all worthwhile, “The Untold Story of SXSW Interactive: An Oral History.” How did this all start? What was it like back in the day and how has it changed? What I loved about this panel was not only the message but the energy of the panelists.

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The Untold Story of SXSW

When SXSWi started as a multimedia component of the film festival, the parties involved had no idea how it would grow and stressed that back in the day, the participants were just fooling around, happy to meet other like-minded people, and not trying to start companies — though companies did end up growing out of some of these drunken late nights. Hugh Forrest, the director of interactive, cautioned us all not to stress if we can’t get in a certain panel and instead to be where we are, and to remember that interactive is about interacting with people. That was the reason he created it.

Buoyed by this, I headed out in the pouring rain and thunder and lighting. I intended to hit the “I F-cking Love Science” party next, but it was still raining hard and the event was at Stubbs, which is mainly outdoors. The SXSW Comedy opening party had a line around the block and my umbrella was soaked through, so I wimped out and called it a night.

Sunday March 9th

Early to bed, early to panel. Despite the cruel time change (daylight savings) I made it to an early panel, “Print is Amazingly Profitable.” Panelists included Michael Renaud, the Creative Director for Pitchfork, a widely respected guide to music. They’ve recently launched a quarterly print publication.

I caught the tail end of “Equipping and inspiring the next generation.” Dean Kamen wants schools support student science teams in the same way they support sports teams, giving them resources and having competitions.

The speaker for the next session, “Injecting computing everywhere,” Stephen Wolfram, imagines a future where knowledge and data are built into everything. He imagines it in a super technical way, too technical for me. No surprise. The guy is a genius.

Next, “The Future of Genetics in our everyday lives.” Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23 and me, came from a business/finance background and sees companies like 23 and me as revolutionizing healthcare by turning the focus on prevention instead of treatment. She truly seems to have an altruistic motive.

robot 300wI took a break from sessions to check out the trade show. Some years I don’t get to it because it closes at 6pm, the same time as the last session ends. I was hungry so I did the “tour de tiny candy bars.” It was like trick or treating for adults!

The trade show was bigger and more extravagant then I expected. What really amazed me was that countries had music and tech embassies here. The amount of money being dumped on Austin to influence and engage me and my fellow conference attendees is stunning. Obviously a whole lot of deal making is going down here … isn’t it? I can’t tell. The people wandering the floor had the same dazed look of mild interest I see at any trade show. The most surprising things I saw were a huge robot exoskeleton and the world’s first commercial microsatellite. Super random to have those next to music software.

I reached saturation and fled. A van with a 3d candy printer was parked just outside. Sixth Street was beginning to liven up, but wasn’t too crazy yet.

I’d walked by the Samsung Blogger Lounge many times but hadn’t been inside, so I decided what the heck — as commanded, I will blog!

Fortunately or unfortunately, I arrived at happy hour — a full spread of barbecue plus whiskey cocktails. All free of course! I got a drink and settled into a corner and managed a little writing before the music got too loud and I was tempted into another drink.

From here I headed straight to the IEEE party. I’ve been turned away from many of the parties I’d been trying to attend the past few days because they were at capacity, so I figured, screw it, the rest of you can party with Snoop Dog (aka Lion); I’m going full geek!

I couldn’t have made a better decision. The party was held in the beautiful, historic Driscoll hotel and I got to go right in … that alone was worth it. The room was gorgeous, with high ceilings, columns, and a huge outdoor balcony. Plenty of room for everyone.

From the moment I got to the top of the stairs, the party invited interaction and play. First, a photo booth. Did it! Then clown noses for everyone. I stuck one in my hair. In the center of the room was a six-person game using big heavy balls to control a video game projected on the floor. Next to that was the love child of whack-a-mole and twister, a home-made, six-foot-high mash the lighted buttons game for two. A DJ app allowed the crowd to control the music. Oh, and lasers! A huge, plastic-sheeted cube filled with smoke and lasers. The objective, should you choose to accept it, was to crawl, jump or slither through without breaking the beams. Fastest time wins. Finally, a netted area with a remote controlled helicopter. Party-goers tried to fly it to the top of a miniature skyscraper.  This turned out to be next to impossible but tons of fun. We cheered each other on.

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Lasers!

Seriously, these IEEE people know how to throw a party. The interactive element allowed me to meet so many people, and I worked up a sweat playing games — not from being in a badly-ventilated venue. I, perhaps a bit drunkenly, thanked anyone with an IEEE badge. Profusely.

M. Luke McDonell