Between panels at interactive and waiting in line for movies on 6th Street, SXSW provided lots of opportunities to learn, not all of them positive.
Branding at SXSW was not overstated
Every turn brought into view a new corporate sponsor. My biggest surprise was how off-puttingly generous they were. Chevy would take you for a ride. (Literally.) Samsung wanted to give you a fresh battery. (Curiously.) 7-Eleven wanted to give you a free pizza. (Unfortunately.) It was this personal touch carried about by a legion of paid workers that creeped me out. Please stay cold and distant, our corporate overlords!
People really like Seth Meyers
I found myself part of a near-mob of hundreds unable to gain entry to the Seth Meyers panel moderated by Olivia Munn. The room wasn’t one of the biggest in the convention center, but it still held a decent amount. That wasn’t nearly enough. I was assigned to shoot the event for the festival, and had to sweet talk my way in with the utmost professionalism. Luckily, it worked, and I got the shots. He is very funny, but I’m not sure Munn isn’t funnier. This is the last time I will care about either of them.
Jeffrey Tambor: “Try failure“
Tambor is a SXSW staple, and is famous for his acting class which draws sold out crowds every year. SXSWedu was able to get him for the keynote this year, and it was a delight. He’s as funny in person as you’d imagine, and has a real passion for education, as show by his current stint teaching acting at the university level.
His best piece of advice was to give failure a shot. He’ll have his students intentional try to fail at an activity. He even got one unsuspecting young man up on stage and had him try it. In trying to find our voice (or in trying to achieve any other goal), it’s sometimes helpful to try something you’re sure won’t work. I don’t know if it’s the freedom involved or just process of elimination, but putting yourself out there in this way can ultimately lead to a solution to the problem. I’ll have to try this with wryting.
Nate Silver is as awkward in person as one would expect
Silver was at SXSW to promote his new web venture, fivethirtyeight.com. He shared the stage with Bill Simmons, and the man just had no idea what to do with his hands or mouth when he wasn’t speaking. Luckily it’s a data journalism site, not one dedicated to sitting pretty. I’m sure he’ll do fine. (Or not.)