SXSW: ground zero

The interactive conference doesn't open until Saturday, but of course Friday has its own share of SXSW activities, mostly administrative and social. I registered for the conference, and marvelled at the massive storehouse of swag bags awaiting owners. Later I met up with Tim and wandered between the Gingerman to Break Bread with Brad and the Red Bull House to mingle amongst the tech toys and blogerati, courtesy of Buzznet.

The whole first night was less crowded and chaotic than I expected. Hell, I even had my choice between two free street parking spots within 2 blocks of the convention center. Somehow I don't think that karma will continue as the interactive, film, and music events lever into full gear.

For never having attended SXSW interactive before, I also felt remarkably at home. It helped to hang out with Tim, who knows far more folks in the online community than I do, but it's also a very welcoming and (dare I say it) interactive crowd; not entirely the reclusive misanthropists that popular stereotypes would lead you to believe.

The Buzznet party was fun, although a little sparse given the pre-conference lag and competing events. I've never used Buzznet, but will give them a shot and compare with the much-enamored Flickr. As of this moment in the space-tech continuum, it seems their primary advantage is the ability to share video. I don't generate much video content, so that doesn't immediately compel me to double my photo-tagging workload, but it could be an interesting resource. The guys from Buzznet were very cool, and it was great fun meeting some previously unknown Zilker neighbors and chatting with Doc Searls. I guess it really is all about the conversations.