I had to step into a Men’s Room, to handle some personal business. Needed to drain some coffee. As I swung through the door and rounded the corner, I noted there were four urinals. Three were occupied. Identical young men, clad in casual baggy jeans, various shirts, and draped over each one, on the right shoulder, was a faux messenger bag. More than a purse, less than a backpack, something in between. I just had a phone/PDA/pencil & paper. I’m so out of the loop. My shoulder bag, when I tote it, carries a laptop workstation, books & magazines, and assorted cables plus a lucky charm or two. I let out a sigh, I’m just not hip anymore.
In the same bathroom, washing my hands, I listened while one guy complimented another on his presentation, “You realize, you’re half the age of the other guy on the panel?”
I should learn how to write better – more gripping – entries.
As I was headed over the Congress Bridge, I listened while a boatswain hollered instructions to the rowing (sculling) crew, “Look out for the shallow part by the water plants,” and I wanted to make note – another weed bed to fish – just a little west of that bridge, apparently. All them rowers are good for something.
I think it was Mr. Bradbury, didn’t catch his first name, of Feed Demon fame, “Look: with a blog, I don’t have to announce every release.” Or something to that effect.
Which was weird, as the number two workshop was, as it turned out, the same person as last year, only now the book is out. Poor girl, teetering on 4-inch stiletto heels. Her curly hair frizzed by the moisture. In fact, part of the handout looked really similar to what she handed out last year. The PowerPoint presentation has been cleaned up a little, though. The presentation? It was 100% improved. Pretty much the same data, and I’m sure it’s all covered in her book about how to get more paying visitors, or some such web usability title. But the presentation itself? Last year, it was one of the worst cases of presentation I’ve ever seen, exacerbated by good content, and this year, it was like, something fresh. A lot of the same ground was covered. Faster page loading, customer feedback, plain navigation links, tight code, style sheets. Name things clear, not clever.
She recounted a story about that ZeFrank guy. He did a small video, his usual style, and the clip was widely circulated, “I got over a million hits, made like, $300 in T-shirt sales from that!”
Lunch break, wandered over to the Hideout. Had a cup of coffee, a double shot of espresso, and stood outside, trying to discern a direction, when, my eyes did alight on a familiar form: a certain red-headed Capricorn. She went on and on about the various films she’d just seen, most notably: Supersize Me.
Wandered around a bit, wound up chatting with the film maker from 24 hours of Craig’s List (Taurus and I predicted the movie would be a sleeper for another six months, gradually finding its niche after Halloween).
Fortified by Thai food and more caffeine, I wandered back to the convention arena. The trade show seems rather focused on movie-making. I stepped out onto a smoking balcony, succumbed to a free pack of American Spirits (bless them for being sponsors), and listened.
“Where’s the guitars? Where’s the pool table?”
“That’s the musicians. That’s next week.”
“I am a musician, but forget that, I’m going to start making porno. There’s more money.”
SXSW Volunteers are an interesting lot. I’m guessing that “smoking lounge” is about 5 floors up, makes for some interesting interactions. Thankfully, no one thought I was a musician.
I wandered into the last workshop on my agenda, and immediately got a big “hello” from Pud. One of his associates had a Sony Vaio with an apple sticker on it. “Hey, is that one of the new Apples? Super-slim notebook?”
The presentation was about “Monetizing the Blogs.” Look: it’s a tiny ad, but there’s a requisite Bass Pro ad on this site. Plus I link to Amazon whenever I can. It’s not much, and it’s won’t ever amount to much, but it’s something to help the “revenue stream.”
I’ve had a journal/web log/whatever since late 1998. In fact, I’ve had written material on the web, since 1994. By 1995, I was understanding the power of buried links, so it’s been “blog style” for a long, long time. Just web-based form of communication. So I like listening to folks talk about trends. This is a trend. Then, after the talk, I asked the main presenter what his birthday was. Bad call on my part, because any sales/pep talk I was about to deliver just got shot out of the water – 11/28. Sagittarius. Same as me. Yeah, that kid is hot. Not like that, I mean, his idea is hot. He’s spotted a trend, and it’s making money. It’s a good model.
After citing problems with big media, those Sagittarius types do so well in journalism anyway, he was expounding, “Blog are going to be the lynchpin in cross media….”
It all goes back that idea that you can leave a comment.
Feast Day of St. Louise
St. Louise was the patron saint of widows.
One more R&J reference.
Unrelated:
Questions and hypothesis about Easter Island.
Gratuitous kitty cam picture.
