emma welles

i’m finally mostly recovered from the week-long party that is south by southwest. i had never been to austin before (or even to texas) and i was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and comfortable the city is.  i met a few amazing locals (cathy, charlotte, miranda, & the random lady who gave buster and i a ride when we were stranded at kerby lane in the rain) and met lots of awesome nerds/rockers from around the country (but mostly from san francisco): ryan, cameron, ali, kristen, buzz, jen, aubrey, willow (WANT).  several of these folks work together on attacked by jackets.

i checked out a few panels during the interactive conference, most notably the LOLWUT? panel with the guys from icanhascheezburger.com,  one of my favorite sites EVER.  it was hilarious how they are running it like an actual company, with 9 employees and 4 full-time developers.  it’s pretty consistently one of the most popular blogs on wordpress, and it makes me happy that someone’s passion can turn into their career. they also gave out burgerking cheeseburgers at the end.  “I can has cheezeburger!” i exclaimed.

i also throughly enjoyed the keynote from Frank Warren of PostSecret. he’s so sweet and genuine and another example of a random passion turning into a career. his speech was inspirational and emotional, and the “questions” at the end included a marriage proposal and a teary plea for guidance in dealing with a sick family member.  i’m pretty sure i teared up a bit a few times.

anyway, sxsw was a great time, and a great way to meet friends of friends of friends.  i tried “networking” events but felt so awkward about making obligatory conversation i didn’t get a chance to do much of that.  oh well. maybe next year i’ll have more to talk about with strangers.