I just arrived in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest Interactive. It’s my first time. I see it as a chance to bump into some of the great minds in the tech industry and find out where they think we’re headed. It will surely also be a chance to drink and eat too much and accumulate many pieces of swag. I don’t think there’s going to be much in the way of news.
Don’t get me wrong; SXSWi will be full of the drummed-up enthusiasm and scripted app launches that pass as day-to-day tech news. There will be lots of new ambient location-based social apps to choose from by the time this festival is over. If the trendy stuff is worth covering, I’ll let you know. But if it bores me, I won’t bother you with it.
Richard MacManus, Dan Frommer and I are here in Austin, and the rest of our team is holding down the fort. Our presence at SXSW this year will be largely exploratory. Our site is getting ready to make some great changes, and we’re here at tech’s biggest party to figure out where we want to fit in.
I’m sure we’ll see cool products, and I’m sure we’ll write about them, but for my part, I’m keeping my options wide open. I’ve got about eight great meetings lined up, and I can spend the rest of the time dropping in on sessions and talking to people. I plan to write mostly about those encounters. If you’re looking for an app round-up, I’m sure you can find it elsewhere.
But if stories, actual stories from SXSWi are what you’re looking for, you should follow along here. And if there’s something you think we’re missing, feel free to ping us on Twitter, and we’ll go find it.
Jon: @JonMwords
Dan: @fromedome
Richard: @ricmacnz
