Member Article

Musings of a SXSWi first-timer

Slightly over a week after arriving back from SXSWi in Austin, and the recovery is just about complete. You hear stories about the mayhem, the craziness and the serendipitous moments on offer across the pond at this gathering of the great and good of all that is technology.

There are places to read and learn about the great new products and progressions in tech on show at SXSWi, like here. For my part, in case it’s of any use to anyone thinking of making the trip, here are a few of my own reflections on the experience as a complete novice and first-timer.

Know what you want to achieve

Admittedly, the decision to attend SXSWi was a late one for us. I had ideas on what I wanted to achieve while there and these were two-fold:

To drum up some interest as part of our latest product launch kinde.st
To network; to make some valuable contacts from other budding/established tech communities around the world

Unfortunately, the first of these was, as it turned out, almost impossible. There was simply so much “noise” out there with regard to product launches that to successfully shout about our own without the level of planning (and financial outlay) required was incredibly difficult.

Having a stand in an exhibition hall or advertising presence on the plethora of merchandise available would afford interested people an opportunity to engage and find out more. Outside of this, the last thing people want is an iPad thrust in their face on the off-chance they may be the perfect customer as they navigate the Austin Convention Center.

So, there was a conscious decision not to waste time and, instead, to focus on meeting and talking to interesting people. This was far more fruitful and, of course, also provided the opportunity to talk about the right products to the right people.

I was better when I listened

No doubt I’m teaching people how to suck eggs with this one, but the most interesting, useful and memorable conversations I had were such because I was learning about people and their businesses. It’s not difficult to be interested in what other people are doing, even if it bears little relevance to your own broad agenda. Just be interested.

Another bonus to this is that after a few days, you’ll be sick of your own voice, business and products anyway, so why not listen to someone far more interesting than yourself? People appreciate being listened to when they’re passionate about what they’re doing and can tell the difference between someone who’s looking to get something out of them and someone who doesn’t need a pay-off from the conversation.

Prepare to be tired

Because you will be tired. Days are long and full but planning helps. “Rabbit in the headlights” would be a fair description of myself during first day and a half or so at SXSWi as venues, talks, meet-ups and people bombarded the senses. Once this subsides, you’re left with a little more clarity around how you should be spending your time. Pick your events well ahead of time and stick to them during the day. Then, be open to the possibility that you will be awake and interacting long into the night, often with a drink in your hand. By the way, I own an iPhone and can vouch for this.

You don’t know until you know

“Well, now I know what it’s like” probably isn’t the answer the rest of the boardroom will want to hear when they ask about the ROI for the trip to Austin. However, I think it’s a valid point to say there’s value in just knowing.

Next time I will have a solid idea of how I would look to conduct a product launch from SXSW, if there is a next time and that’s what needs to be done. Next time I strike up a conversation with somebody who’s been there I’ll have an idea of what they’re talking about and be able to contribute and discuss.

Most importantly, next time there’ll be no rabbit in the headlights time; that’s just a process that had to be gone through whether it was this year or in five years time. Overall, I’d recommend SXSWi to anybody looking to learn more about others and where they sit in amongst the wider, global tech community.

Apart form the immediate contacts that have been made and followed up already, much of the value of SXSWi will, I’m sure, reveal itself over time, most likely in other conversations with interesting people.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Stanley .