So, we are on day three of the event, and what a few days it has been. The initial overwhelming experience has now settled down into a comfortable routine.

The journey over was long, a 9AM flight (UK time), and an arrival round 8.30PM (Austin time). Luckily after meeting up with some of the other West Midlands (#WXWM) folks we managed to pick up our event passes without the need to queue. Which meant that a few beers could be had before heading off to our Arts Council of England accommodation (nicknamed the Big Brother house). It also had the side benefit of being able to have a decent lie-in, as things were not kicking off till 2PM on the Friday.

Now, a lie-in would have been nice bit unfortunately, the jetlag had a side effect which meant a 6.30AM start. A productive morning ensued of catching up on the admin that I hadn’t been able to look at for Kitecrowd for quite a while.

Session wise, I’ve managed to visit a wide variety, from panels, solo speakers, core conversations and duo talk. I must admit in some cases I’ve learnt a) how shoddy my hearing can be, or b) how badly setup sound wise some of the rooms are.

That experience means that some sessions I chose based on their locations, as well as their content. The other key point is not to be afraid of walking out of the session if it’s not what is expected. After all there is always something else occurring around the corner.

Another side benefit, is free. Free is good, whether it’s water, coffee, beer or food it can be found if you know where, and when to look!

I’ll be doing a catchup of sessions I’ve been trying to hit and we’ll see what my notes really look like. Meanwhile, checkout the Saturday opening keynote notes, by Danah Boyd on SXSW.com. (Also available, her full talk notes Tags: Austin, sxsw, SXSWi, Texas, WXWM