Today marks the end of my first trip to SXSW. On my flight down here from New York, I was extremely optimistic about the opportunity to discover what was so special about this annual mecca of interactive media. But, despite scouring the SXSW website prior to the trip, I had no idea what awaited me in Austin.
Wait…that’s not exactly true. I was pretty sure I’d trip over countless twenty-somethings sitting on the floor, recharging their devices at every available electrical outlet. I also figured I’d collide on the sidewalks with thousands more, staring down at their smartphones with blithe disregard for where their feet might take them. (For the record, I was 2-for-2 on these predictions.)
After attending my first couple of panels on day one my head was spinning, but I felt like I was beginning to understand the reasons behind all the buzz. Several PepsiCo associates and agency partners hit the town for dinner that evening, and I was eager to share my enthusiasm for the day’s experiences. After a few Shiner Bocks, the laughter among my millennial colleagues ensued:
“Did anyone read in Fast Company how Instagram thought they could utilize the new Twitter API to gamify the use of their photo filters?” Zach mused.
“Seriously?” Kaitlyn smiled. “That sounds about as likely as my grandmother’s Klout score reaching 100!”
Everyone laughed, so I nervously giggled along with them (or maybe a beat or two behind).
I was no longer so eager to share the details of my day.
Undaunted and determined to conceal my digital naivety (whoops – too late), I voraciously researched every iPhone app that seemed even remotely important to the SXSW attendees. If a location-based tool was mentioned in the official guide or by a panelist, I installed it. If I heard someone on the street or in a cab talk about an experience with an aggregator unfamiliar to me, I bookmarked it within minutes.
Reddit? Pin it? Digg it? Done!
I registered for each app fearlessly, tossing aside any notions of privacy I’d developed in the past 41 years. I found myself gleefully checking-in to new locations on Foursquare and Facebook every 10 or 15 feet, consuming snackable content on Mashable while stumbling upon anything and everything the Austin Convention Center served up.
Like the moment of epiphany for an immigrant in a strange new land – after immersing himself in a completely foreign language and culture – the garbled words and acronyms suddenly started to register in my brain as hauntingly familiar. Soon sentences – even entire conversations – started to make sense.
I attacked each successive panel with fervor, absorbing more and more of the content as my listening efficiency increased. Soon I was expressing my excitement for the next presentation with complete strangers in line, and passionately discussing what I’d learned each day with my colleagues. Surprisingly, they actually seemed interested in what I had to say!
By the last day of the interactive sessions, I was confidently raising my hand during the Q&A’s, eager to build upon my new understanding of this mysterious digital world. A couple of the panelists were kind enough to give me the ultimate Newbie reward: prefacing their answers with, “That’s a great question…”
As I sit here in the airport awaiting my flight home – thinking back on my week at SXSW – I chuckle quietly to myself:
You know what, Kaitlyn, that joke is funny…
(I think.)
See you next year.
