Waxy.org is the sandbox of I'm making the pilgrimage to Austin for SXSW Interactive again this year, but no crazy Worst Website Ever antics this time. But I will be speaking at a couple events, if you want to get together:
Sunday, 3:30pm
What Do I Do With Myself, Now that the Economy Has Collapsed?Lane Becker moderates a lineup of web geeks who started projects during the last bust, with some advice and lessons learned from our past success and failures. I'm very lucky to be on the lineup, along with the wonderful Ben Brown, Michael Sippey, and Jane Mount.
Monday, 7:30pm
The Heather Gold Show
Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road
Every year, writer/comedian Heather Gold brings her live, interactive talk show to Austin to interview artists, musicians, coders, and writers around a theme. This year's subject is "Something From Nothing," a loose conversation about inspiration and the creative drive, with CD Baby founder Derek Sivers, Huffduffer creator Jeremy Keith, Adaptive Path founder/Emmett Labs CEO Janice Fraser, singer/songwriter Amber Rubarth, and me! The Heather Gold Show is a small part of the huge Plutopia EFF-Austin party, a three-stage art and music extravaganza featuring Bruce Sterling and Ian McLagan from The Faces, so should be fun. Free admission for SXSW badge holders, $10 for everyone else.
Naturally, I'll be on Twitter and my picks for the show are on Upcoming and Sched.org. If you see me, say hi!
11:14 AM
Are there transcripts or videos? Up for publishing your notes, or at least a review of how things went? I've not yet made it to SxSW, so must live vicariously.
5:23 PM
Unfortunately, no transcripts or videos up yet. I think Heather Gold will be posting hers at some point.
I thought Lane's panel went well, but it was targeted mostly to an audience that wasn't around for the first bust. Old-school geeks probably didn't get much out of it, but the response on Twitter was mostly positive. It was our personal stories about making things for ourselves, hunkering down in safe jobs that can support an indie lifestyle.
The Heather Gold Show was staged at the bizarre Plutopia party, in a cavernous space filled with Burning Man types on stilts, throwing fire, and writhing around in makeup -- an unlikely venue for an intimate and interactive talk show. It ended up going on two hours late because of scheduling mishaps by the Plutopia organizers, but in the end, everything came together and we had a great time. Amber Rubarth performed a very lovely song, and we all took turns talking about the creative process while chugging Shiner Bock. It was fun, and the crowd was very responsive.