I saw Mike Tyson at SXSW. Partied with the Angry Birds Crew. And found IDEO’s Birth Control talk to be the best session I went to... And that was day 1!
This blog title could also have been “Swoop, poop, Zappos, and Fugaboo”... The most quoted phrase by speakers referred to executives that ‘swoop’ into projects, ‘poop’ on design, and then ‘swoop’ away again. Most hilarious use was Jason Putorti (former lead designer of Mint.com) against Aaron Patzer (Mint.com founder) in a panel about designers vs. developers.
I’m a big fan of learning about and hoping to have great culture in the work place. So it was quite a treat to be handed the book Delivering Happiness from the man himself, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (who’s name I just spelled correctly for the first time ever without having to look it up! do I win a prize?).
And in classic SXSW fashion, perhaps the most interesting conversation I had was sitting at a burger stand, chomping on some fries, and meeting the founders of Fugaboo. They’re trying to bring more ‘neighbor’ into neighborhoods by bringing to digital life all those pegboards and stapled light posts about local activities and ways to get more involved with those who live around you. Their ‘Facebook’ for neighborhoods will be available soon, and if I have my guesses right, could be something you’ll be using soon yourself!
What else did I learn? Do not go to a wedding in New Orleans before SXSW. Unless you are Charlie Sheen. Simply too much of too much. It was hard to keep up with all the networking night life of SXSW.
Lastly, what do I think of SXSW? I think it’s quite possibly where we’ll take the whole company to next year for our annual All Hands. We had just finished this year’s in our San Francisco office. After my 1st trip to SXSW, what better conference/fiesta to take the whole company to?! We’re still small enough to even think of such a thing. And better do it soon before SXSW consumes itself like an over-heated sun into a black hole. Such a huge, amazing conference.
And I haven’t even mentioned the 'more geebees twins' or Beardyman or Hugh MacLeod or Das Racist or my new YouTube tube socks!
May you all avoid swoop and poop.
This blog title could also have been “Swoop, poop, Zappos, and Fugaboo”... The most quoted phrase by speakers referred to executives that ‘swoop’ into projects, ‘poop’ on design, and then ‘swoop’ away again. Most hilarious use was Jason Putorti (former lead designer of Mint.com) against Aaron Patzer (Mint.com founder) in a panel about designers vs. developers.
I’m a big fan of learning about and hoping to have great culture in the work place. So it was quite a treat to be handed the book Delivering Happiness from the man himself, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (who’s name I just spelled correctly for the first time ever without having to look it up! do I win a prize?).
And in classic SXSW fashion, perhaps the most interesting conversation I had was sitting at a burger stand, chomping on some fries, and meeting the founders of Fugaboo. They’re trying to bring more ‘neighbor’ into neighborhoods by bringing to digital life all those pegboards and stapled light posts about local activities and ways to get more involved with those who live around you. Their ‘Facebook’ for neighborhoods will be available soon, and if I have my guesses right, could be something you’ll be using soon yourself!
What else did I learn? Do not go to a wedding in New Orleans before SXSW. Unless you are Charlie Sheen. Simply too much of too much. It was hard to keep up with all the networking night life of SXSW.
Lastly, what do I think of SXSW? I think it’s quite possibly where we’ll take the whole company to next year for our annual All Hands. We had just finished this year’s in our San Francisco office. After my 1st trip to SXSW, what better conference/fiesta to take the whole company to?! We’re still small enough to even think of such a thing. And better do it soon before SXSW consumes itself like an over-heated sun into a black hole. Such a huge, amazing conference.
And I haven’t even mentioned the 'more geebees twins' or Beardyman or Hugh MacLeod or Das Racist or my new YouTube tube socks!
May you all avoid swoop and poop.