SXSW-bound

Last year, I missed SXSW Interactive because it just happened to coincide with the start of my new job. One year later and wiser, I'm heading back to Austin for the third time in four years. My last two trips to Austin were incredibly rewarding. 

So SXSW rocks.  For starters, there's snow on the ground right now in Washington, D.C.  Austin is in the '70s…   

SXSW 2004 exposed me to some of the best and brightest in the design community. I met a lot of people who were doing interesting, creative, and challenging design work.  Many of the most impressive people I met got where they were only after some gory layoff or dot-com career injury. Hearing so many people's stories of moving from dreary, unrewarding work to something better inspired me to put in my notice when I got back to Washington. One month later, I had jumped from the corporate to the nonprofit sector, kissed half my salary goodbye, but woke up every day to a more exciting, rewarding career.  It wasn't the easiest move to make, but it was the best career move of my life.  And SXSW '04 was a big part of nudging me off the end of the diving board and letting me see that the water below was fine.

SXSW 2005 helped me sink my teeth further into some smarter approaches to web design, Flash, CSS, and interactive community building. Again, the conference gave me a boost that fueled a lot of innovative work I tried to do for People for the American Way.   

Finally, it's always rewarding to be around smart, clever, creative people.  Yeah… those guys, plus my brother, too.