SXSW 2011 and a few early morning thoughts
SXSW 2011, Monday, March 14. It’s early morning, 8am to be precise, and at this time of day SXSW is a different world, stirring in me thoughts of long ago and a comparison with Internet World. This morning there’s just a few people strolling the empty halls. Perhaps they’re from the UK or Europe (I met a nice couple from Belgium yesterday) in which case this is more or less the afternoon for them. Or maybe there’s those rare somewhat odd “morning” people that can wake up at 5am chipper, with a cheery and annoying “Good morning!” as soon as you even think about looking in their direction (I’m one of those sad group of individuals).
As I stroll through the emptiness, the air of expectation and hidden power of Potential energy that will in a few hours be the reality of SXSW 2011 Monday is all around. A hidden but real feeling pervades the echoing halls. A memory flashes, I remember the same feeling I had in a long-ago time when the Internet was “new,” 14 years ago, and a massive show called Spring Internet World 1997 was the happening spot in the Los Angeles, California convention center. Strolling through the Internet World exhibition halls, the massive exhibition halls of Internet World, vendors plied their trades, then as they do today. I was there, drinking in the excitement that was this thing called the Web. Cool items like “PointCast” and “BackWeb” were the new hot technology everyone talked about. HotMail was a brand new free email tool, it exchanged “free” for “advertising” what a concept!
Today, the exhibit hall will open (note to SXSW, you’ve lost a major monetization opportunity not having that hall open starting Friday, I was really looking forward to wandering the halls for several days) and all the usual suspects will be there, but suspects of 14 years later. New technologies we’ve never heard of, vendors pitching the next big thing, the promise of cool and popular things to come. What will be the next big thing? I guarantee it’s someone in that exhibit hall, in a small booth tucked away from the main alleyway, hastily printed business cards and tattered displays hide the new hidden, soon to be amazing opportunity.
Slowly, the masses start to arrive, in a few hours this place will be jostling with the excitement of over 100,000 people, all focused on interactive ways and means. We are all different, yet we all share the common thread of energy, excitement and expectation for what comes next. It’s what drew us to the Spring Internet World 1997 14 years ago, and it’s what draws us to SXSW 2011 now. It will draw us 14 years in the future. I hope to be there, early in the morning, awaiting it, I hope you’ll be there too.
