Fear and Loathing at SXSW Interactive

Introduction

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Hunter Thompson once feared he'd witnessed the high water mark of freedom and hope in San Francisco in the 1960s and less than a decade later the feeling had receded into a cynical, paranoid Nixon America. Looking out the window of the 12th floor of this faceless, generic, near luxury chain hotel on Red River Street in Austin, Texas this week you can see the future easier than you can remember the past. At South by Southwest, amongst the thought leaders and pioneers of the next society, you can feel the tide rising again.

Yes, the economy is in disarray as the old mechanisms fail and governments struggle to keep pace with change. Major problems exist in the world, as they always have, and every election brings a new round of corrupt bureaucratic do gooders that will cause a new, more elaborate mess for the next. But there is an optimism here. It may be caused by the unbelievably immense, free flowing and distributed wealth among the group, or it may be that technology, by nature, attracts those that believe they can solve the world's problems. I didn't leave this week long event with a single specific solution, but more the sense that between all involved, a platform for solving problems is being created. What you find at SXSW this year is the maturity of the Internet from self expression to collective expression, and from individual sites vying for attention to worldwide collaboration engine.

An event that brings together a cross section of the world's foremost technology, film and related creative thinkers and talent cannot be easily summarized, but I'll attempt to provide, in the words of Pixar's classic character Anton Ego, perspective. Overall, I felt that #SXSWi, as its Twitter hash tag has virtually renamed it, was well orchestrated. While some sessions were far better than others and each had its own mix of lecture, discussion, and participation, the hallways, bars, restaurants and streets of Austin were full of intelligent people moving the culture forward to a better place. The golden streets of Tomorrowland have their potholes though, and without criticism there can be no progress. With this mind, I offer the following.

Fear and Loathing at SXSW

  • Introduction
  • Good Help is Hard to Find
  • Social Location Is Creepy
  • Startup Dreams of the Middle Class
  • Microsoft Has Lost Its Way
  • Tim Ferriss and the Cult of Celebrity
  • Old Conversations Are Social Suicide
  • Freelance Nation 2.0: Startup Nation
  • Generation Gaps of Several Months
  • Tame Lawyers and UK Startup Incentives
  • Austin Is Still Weird
  • Bittersweet Branding Gyrations
  • The Kids Are Alright
  • Translating American Car Culture
  • Living Beyond Nations: No Place Like Home
  • Digital is Still Too Digital

Thank you for reading.