The highlight of the GEL Conference was an amazing trip to Dead Horse Bay, which is on the outskirts of Brooklyn towards JFK airport. You can read about the place on wikipedia and here's a google map of the place.
Anthropologists Robin Nagle (her 2009 GEL talk was amazing) and Howard Warren took a group of about a dozen attendees on the journey, telling us the history of the place all along the way. At the turn of the last century, it was a place where literally dead horses were brought for processing into products (rendering, using their hides, etc). Later in 1953, when an expressway was being built through Brooklyn, they bulldozed straight through apartments and homes, dumping the refuse on Barren Island where Dead Horse Bay is located.
The trash from 1953 is still all around, as we happened to catch the beach at a low-tide revealing a quarter mile of coastline covered in old bottles and jars. It's pretty fascinating stuff and fun to think about how you'd interpret what life in 1953 was like given what was left behind. Of course, most all the fabric, paper, and plastics have deteriorated and gone, leaving behind mostly glass. If it was hundreds of years into the future, you'd think the people of 1953 Brooklyn sat around drinking soda all day, eating food that required loads of maple syrup, and spent most of their time bleaching things with Clorox (when they weren't applying nail polish or face cream). Those kinds of bottles compromised almost everything you see.
I put 17 shots on Flickr from the day here, check them out and if you get a chance, I can't recommend a trip to Dead Horse Bay enough. Two things though: there were loads of ticks in the trees and bushes above that dropped on top of us as we walked towards the bay, and please don't take things from the bay so others can enjoy it.
Now that I've slept it off and a couple days have passed, I feel like I can start processing the past week in Austin Texas for the South By Southwest Interactive Conference. Some quick bits follow.
Huge Crowds
I'd heard this would be the biggest SXSWi ever and I certainly remember not having as much fun the last time I was there in 2007. Back in 2007, I couldn't find my friends among the crowds and I didn't know some good friends even attended until after I returned home. This year it was definitely bigger, but I'd have to say Twitter and Foursquare saved the day and made it manageable because they served as a friend filter and handy search device for figuring out where the 50-100 people I know and care about seeing were among the 10,000 anonymous conference attendees.
The first couple days I kind of hated the crowds and how hard it was to find friends in the halls (SXSWi from the previous ten years included years where I'd see more people I knew than didn't know if I walked down a hallway between panels) but soon I realized everyone I knew was tweeting their location and I could use my friends list in Foursquare to figure out where to go. Heck, even though I complained about 23 things happening at the same time as the panel I was on, the simple web app SitBy.Us worked great for finding friends and panels to enjoy as well.
The crowds reminded me of how people used to say there were too many blogs, and that after a few years people just invented better search and discovery methods to help you find the few blogs that should matter to you. So I didn't have to talk to 10,000 people and I eventually found ways to find the 100 people that mattered to me.
That all said, one rule I lived by was Never Stand In Line For A Party. When 10,000+ people hear there is a Twitter party, there will be a long ass line to get into a bar that can only hold a few hundred. That means I missed some of the big parties but after spending 45min in lines during 2007 SXSWi to get to a party I stood around in for an hour, I realized party lines are pointless. Instead, I attended nightly events that lacked lines like The Fray Cafe, The Break Bread for Brad get together, The SXSW Web Awards, the 20x2 show, nice dinners with friends, house parties, and Nerdcore Hip Hop Concerts.
Rent a House!
After having a child a few years ago, my family tends to rent houses when vacationing instead of staying in hotels and it's been great. This year for SXSW I rented a three bedroom modern house in a nice neighborhood just a couple miles from the convention center. It was about the same price as a single hotel room downtown and Team MetaFilter (four people) got to stay in it. It was also great to make my own simple breakfast and get several quiet hours each night to upload photos, write, code, etc. I did have to rent a car and I barely drank because I was driving everyone around but it was really nice to get restful sleep in a calm roomy place. It was a nice change from the drunken stumble home to a tiny $400/night downtown room with people having sex on the floor above at 3am while I'm trying to sleep.
Panels, panels, everywhere
There were certainly a zillion things to go see presented and I have to say unlike my last SXSW visit, I came away with good ideas from the panels and discussions. I wrote a couple pages of notes of things I need to add to my web applications and ideas for new features on sites I run. It was great to come away feeling invigorated and informed instead of merely hearing the same people saying the same things I'd read online already.
Performance
I've been obsessed lately with what makes a good performer and given the immense rooms most SXSW talks took place in, the only memorable ones were when a speaker could really perform, especially in the cavernous spaces.
I took part in a panel that sort of went so-so because I think we were all three introverts on stage and I was mumbling my thoughts instead of really engaging the audience and speaking from the heart. I felt like we might have over prepared and the easy banter the panel enjoyed when talking beforehand didn't come across on stage.
Gary Vaynerchuk had a similar message to the one my panel was trying to convey (work on side projects, make them awesome, make a living from them, follow your passions) but he gave his talk in the most amazing way possible -- super high energy, super entertaining, and almost more like a celebration or a sermon in places. I used to ignore the Gary Vee love around the internet because I used to think it was mostly marketing types that loved him so he had to be a fake, but after I saw his Web 2.0 Keynote from 2008 online, I became a fan and seeing him give a talk like that in person is almost revolutionary. Gary is the real deal and worth following.
Always Be Content Creating
I didn't intend to be doing much while I was in Austin, but I did end up talking MetaFilter inside baseball on the Slappy Pinchbottom radio show with Josh & Jessamyn, as well as my new friend MC Frontalot (his new album is great!). I'll link to a download of the show whenever I track one down. I also just happened to drop by This Week in Google show and my part starts about 30min into this show where I talk about Fuelly, privacy, and my tumor. I took a bunch of photos while I was out and about, including the super fun Bike Hugger Mobile Social which turned into just about the most efficient group ride I've ever done with 700 people at once. Below is some video from the radio show, featuring Josh and Jessamyn singing the "Asshat" song about moderating MetaFilter.
From the moment this year's SXSW started, I wasn't sure it was going to be a good time given the size and scope of it after ten years, but I definitely came away inspired, entertained, and exhausted like the best of the previous years.
It's pretty hard to summarize or even relate how MaxFunCon went last weekend, so maybe I'll start with some history.
Nearly a year ago, Jesse Thorn emailed me to say he was seriously considering throwing a comedy/internet type conference/festival outside of Los Angeles, and would I like to sponsor it to get the ball rolling. Jesse described who he'd like to have in the nightly line-ups, and had a loose idea of some podcasts being recorded live in the day. I had no idea what to expect, but I had a feeling it could be good, so I gave Jesse some sponsorship money and the ball started rolling.
This past weekend is mostly a blur, but I remember laughing so hard I cried both nights of comedy. I learned a ton about cooking simple desserts from Julia Crookston. I loved hearing nerds sit quietly during a musical set and instead of yelling at the performer, when they did make noise, it was to offer cooperative harmony that actually made the songs better. I thought the podcasts were great as well.
But the thing that really made it all work was the people. I listen to podcasts alone for the most part, and for The Sound of Young America, I only know one other person that listens to it that I can discuss shows with. I think most podcast listening is a solitary thing done in the car on long commutes or at the gym climbing imaginary stairs, so when you bring everyone that listens to a podcast together, I had no idea what that kind of crowd would be like.
Turns out they are extraordinarily nice, tremendously open, and generous with conversation and sharing of spirits (booze). Having only 150 people worked wonderfully as the five strangers I met the first afternoon became quick acquaintances and no matter where I ate at each meal or stood next to during an event, it was easy to strike up a conversation about the weekend and ourselves. The "famous" people that starred in the shows were attendees themselves and I found everyone to be approachable, funny, and interesting to be around.
The food was great. I don't recall a conference ever having food that surpassed standard airline food (I mean, what's the deal with airline food, amirite?), but every meal was amazing and didn't taste like the standard institutional stuff that passes as catered conference food.
It was great that we didn't need money while we were there. When Jesse said everything was taken care of, he was right. Being outside of LA and basically in the sticks also helped -- we were isolated which made making friends and sticking together for three days straight much easier. In the end, the whole thing felt like some sort of magical cruise loaded with people I liked, people I knew, and tons of people I never met before but somehow the cruise director knew I'd like.
About the only downside of the event was one of my own making. I drink very rarely, on the order of a glass of beer or wine once every 3-6 months. Maybe once a year I have more than one beer and it's even rarer when I drink to the point of being tipsy. I drank several beers on Saturday night then followed it up with a couple delicious daiquiris prepared by Dr. Cocktail. I drank tons of water at the after party, stumbled home, then awoke with every symptom cliché in the book. Everything was too loud, too bright, and anything in my stomach was quickly ejected. I missed most of the last morning thanks to my first adult hangover of my life. Stupid me, but next time I'll definitely slow it down and keep it under control.
In the end, it was some of the best times I've had. It's tough to compare to other conferences because I mostly attend serious technical conferences unconcerned about how much fun attendees are having, but MaxFunCon was worth every penny of the sponsorship. I think Jesse stumbled upon a perfect combination of small but manageable amount of attendees that were extraordinarily nice combined with ample good food and drink and finished off with amazing comedy, music, and podcast showcases.
If I could sign up for next year's event today, I would.
I'm going to be speaking at Bizjam Seattle this Wednesday afternoon about my high road approach to blogging (eschewing SEO snake oil and not being an annoying person on every social network). Judging by the titles, I suspect half the talks will be preaching the opposite of what I'm planning to say, so it'll either be a breath of fresh air in a sea of insanity for attendees, or it'll go over like a lead balloon. Either way, it should be fun.
Here are my slides:
update: I gave the talk and it went over well. I added my notes for every slide to Slideshare. Click the "view" link above, then click on the "Comments on Slide 1" tab below the slides to see my notes. It should look like this when you click on it. Then, use the arrows to go from slide to slide and you can read my notes for what I talked about on each slide (since the slides themselves have very little info on them).
Last week, I attended my third GEL conference in New York City. Like previous versions of this conference, it's a day of talks from speakers that have a variety of stories to tell about "good experiences." The diversity of the speakers' backgrounds is the strength of the conference and this year didn't disappoint. In a world of technology conferences that feature the same five subjects talked about by the same dozen people, I look forward to GEL every year to hear from health care workers, artists, restauranteurs, musicians, and yes, technologists.
A few years back, the conference split into two days where day one is an experience or tour and day two are standard talks given in an auditorium. Last year I had a blast touring MoMA and learning to juggle pins, this year I had a great time doing a Central Park soundwalk (pb describes it here in his GEL recap). The walk was great, you basically blindfold yourself, grab a rope, and start shuffling around for about 20 minutes. If you've never tried anything like this before, I can't recommend it enough. The first few minutes are pure anxiety bordering on panic but eventually you get used to the shuffling feet and with your eyes firmly shut for an extended period, your hearing takes over. I was blown away by the variety of birds in Central Park and sounds of people and music that accompanied our walk. The biggest surprise for me was finding that my brain tried to start "mapping" sound as we walked -- I remember hearing strollers rolling towards me or birds growing near and in my mind I was placing them in a virtual canvas so I knew where they were headed and when I could expect to pass them.
After the blindfold walk, we sat and talked about what we heard and experienced, then we walked and stopped at various locations in the park to enjoy sound (with our eyes closed) from a single location. The mind-blowing moment during this section happened when I was sitting next to a walking path just outside of both a softball game and a merry-go-round. As people walked past and balls were hit, I heard some light foot padding and instantly recognized it as a dog going past. The first thought that sprang into my head was "that is the sound of a small, light dog" and surprised at the thought, I opened my eyes to see a little poodle trotting past. Now, I don't know if I figured that out by chance or if my brain has a database of various dog sounds by weight I wasn't aware of, but being in that place and state of mind was a wonderful exercise in getting reacquainted with my sense of hearing. The other highlight was walking to the center of the park and being in a spot in Manhattan where I could see no buildings of any kind, I was completely surrounded by natural things like trees and grass, and I could barely hear any sounds from the city. I didn't know a place like that existed in NYC.
The day of talks went well and the subject matter and style is a lot like the TED conference. The best talks were both entertaining and enlightening and even if I had to classify a few talks as less than superb, I at least learned something about an industry I didn't know anything about. In past years of GEL, I've remembered a few break out amazing talks that stuck with me for weeks and a few horrible stinkers that had me looking at my watch. This year's talks had a few memorable points but no single talk stood out as truly amazing but on the positive side I don't recall wanting any talk to end early.
If you attend a lot of technology conferences and you're growing tired of hearing the same old thing, try out the GEL conference -- sometimes it's hit and miss and all over the map, but it's always a good time in a wonderful city.
- The subject matter felt like a perfect mix of various subjects. Sometimes a SXSW feels like every panel is about blogging, or money, or mobile apps, or CSS, but this year felt like it had something for everyone. Kudos to Hugh and the planners for getting that just right.
- There was almost no hallway time! I think it was the crowds, because when panels would get out, it was like a flood of humans taking up every inch of the halls and you'd be swept up if you were sitting on the ground with a laptop. So all my schmoozing was at parties instead of the convention center.
- Having half the talks on one side of the convention center, and half a ten minute walk away on the other side seemed like poor planning. I felt like I was back at college, running across campus during a short break.
- This was my seventh SXSW but the first one that I truly enjoyed stress-free. In the past, I'd wake up early and hit the first panel and motor through the entire day, but I'd eventually reach exhaustion early in the evening and have to retire early. This year I stayed on west coast time and only saw one panel before noon the entire time. It was a great vacation, and it's all about staying out until 2 and sleeping until 10.
- The panel I spoke on went alright, but I think what held it back was that I never met two of the participants before. My favorite panels always include people I've known and can joke with. I'm afraid the unfamiliarity came through to the audience and we would have been a lot more fun to listen to and watch if we were looser around each other. Lane Becker's panel reminded me of this, and I always love Lane's panels because he can keep things jovial and everyone seems to be old friends (without being chummy)
- There never seemed to be enough time for questions. Talks either ran too long or questioners rambled. If I were to redo this year, I would have brought a wind-up egg timer and convinced our moderator that after every 5 minutes of the panel talking to each other we'd stop and take a question (and those asking questions would have 1 minute to get it out).
- There were a lot of parties, but they weren't outrageous. There was no imported sashmi platters or fire dancers like in 2000, this was simply a bunch of rented bars with free drinks (a party at SXSW this year seemed to run about $5k which isn't an insane number, especially compared to whatever people did during the bubble of 2000).
- I heard a lot of advice on how to run a business online, both good and bad. I decided on the flight home that I'll be starting a new blog talking about the lessons I've learned building and running a business. More on this soon.
- Wil Wright's panel blew my mind. He talked a mile a minute, but not so fast you couldn't understand or keep up. It was like a full 40 minutes of total laserbeam concentration for me. His slides were great too -- revealing his points in several layers as he shotgunned us with his thesis -- you barely noticed that he probably made them in Microsoft Paint using cilp art from the 1980s. They almost had a handmade quality to them.
He played Spore for about ten minutes and it was an incredible simulation game. It was a perfect mix of SimCity, The Sims, and the basic principles of science. It looked quite fun (a bit cartoony and Wii-like) and I could see it being immersive without consuming my entire life like I bet World of Warcraft would. I can't wait until that game gets released.
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