Data & Stuff // Neil Houston

You might have heard me bleet on about the fact I’m off to SXSWi – For those not in the know it’s South by South West Interactive festival. It’s something that appealed to me, ever since hearing about it though WXWM last year.

SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.

The alternative viewpoint is:

SXSWi is the school skiing trip to Austria: all the cool kids go on it at Easter and then talk incessantly about until the summer holidays.

I’ve got the essentials: pass, flights, hotel sorted. Want to know what sort of things are going on, then take a look at the Schedule to get an idea about the types of keynotes, panels, workshops and parties that will be occurring.

It’s my first time, and no doubt will be quite an experience, I’ll be after any tips and handy advice from the ’seasoned pros’ (or at least people who have been before). Let me know what you wish you would have known first time round etc.

Two (of many) panels that caught my eye include:

Data is Money: How Geeks are Changing Finance
Cooking for Geeks: Science, Hacks, & Good Food

The current thoughts are to take Day 1 ‘easy’, and to ensure that I’ve got ‘backups’ of panels – as undoubtedly I’ll either get time sidetracked, lost etc.

What else should I know about, get prepared for, bring with?