Geek Spring Break

The entire company would go if it were feasible, but ISITE Design shipped six fortunate folks down to SXSW Interactive 2008 in Austin, Texas to soak in the sessions, converse (and party) with peers, and get completely immersed in all things web. Dubbed “Geek Spring Break” this year's show did not disappoint. We asked the group to share some highlights before the buzz wears off. Here's what they said.

Getting Unbored | by Melissa Casburn
A colleague gave me great advice: “If you're bored during a program, leave and go get unbored. There's no reason to stay somewhere if you're not excited” Words to live by with up to 13 programs available during each of 5 daily sessions over 5 days, and almost as many parties every night. Just when you thought you couldn't listen anymore, learn anymore, or even keep your eyes open, you'd turn a corner and somebody would blow your mind with a few geeky words. The whole event was verbal caffeine, served up in triple shots.

Cheezburgers For All | by Jeff Cram
The best thing about SXSW Interactive is that it's so much more than just a “web conference.” It pushes the boundaries of new media and challenges attendees to expand horizons in all directions. I found it interesting to observe the business of new media alongside the creative and altruistic community that is driving it forward. Watching the founder of I Can Has Cheezburger talk about their rapid rise is inspiration enough that anything is indeed possible.

Nurturing Creativity | by James Keller
I learned that there are processes that can be applied to nurture creativity. This process should allow for collaboration and understanding amongst the team, provide the team room for failure, and most importantly facilitate a sense of play into our work product. If we are doing our jobs right, we are in the business of making people happier – whether this is through helping someone to find what they're looking for more quickly, through enabling more engaging communication with others, or merely by enabling them to achieve a mundane task a little more easily. In any of these pursuits, creativity is critical to achieving success.

Inside the Geek Mothership | by Al Partridge
SXSWi 2008 rawked because it lived up to its reputation as the geek mothership. I met several of my web heroes, learned about new cutting edge approaches and ideas for solving everyday web problems, and networked non-stop with my fellow geeks. The panels and keynotes were some of the best of the last three years. The keynote featuring Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook turned out to be comic theatre while the Keynote by Jane McGonigal was truly inspirational. Oh yeah and the food was terrific and I got my picture on the Wired website!

iPhone Overload | by George Ross
I got to experience firsthand the full power of social interaction online with the Zuckerberg/Lacy Keynote. The content of the interview aside, having witnessed an event unfold in real time in person, on the Meebo chat board, Twitter and blogs I was again struck by the potential power of these new mediums to reshape how we perceive and interact with events and reminded why I love the internet. I also firmly believe Apple was giving away iPhones at the conference and I was not invited. There were so many I had to double check my conference goodie bag to make sure I did not miss mine.

Interactive Rock Stars | by Jeanne Turner
For me, SXSW was a vivid blur of inspiring speakers, interesting panel discussions, and fascinating new people. I attended lectures from thought leaders in the interactive field: Henry Jenkins, Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, Kathy Sierra, co-creator of the Head First series of books, and Jane McGonigal, award-winning games researcher and game designer. In the same way that young musicians are motivated by seeing their idols perform live, SXSW inspired me to keep working toward becoming an interactive “rock star.”