SXSW 2007 Wrapup

SXSW was amazing this year. Interactive was much bigger than last year, a sign the boom is back or something. Geek summer camp it was. I stayed a few extra days for Music this year, just to catch a little bit of the flavor. I got myself a wristband which enabled me to get into most of what I wanted to see. Almost every venue and street corner in Austin has a bad playing at all times. It’s quite insane really, but awesome if you love music. A highlight for me was seeing Pete Townshend in a small venue play acoustic guitar. He’s a spry and witty legend interacting with the audience and playing a few songs with other musicians who shared the stage with him that night. Here’s a clip I shot of Pete doing Drowned off of The Who’s Quadrophenia.

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The Future of Internet Video Panel



SXSW 2007
Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.

My panel went well. Packed house, 400+ peeps, standing room only. Having Internet rock stars on the panel probably had a little something to do with that. Hoping someone shot video of it, I don’t think SXSW did anything official. PC Magazine did a nice summary of the major points we hit. No, we were not the only panel to drink ourselves silly throughout. I think MJ downed a bottle of Jack on her panel.

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Vote for my panel at SXSW 2007

SXSW 2007 The good peeps over at SXSW have a nice interactive proposed panel picker thing up now. I submitted a proposal for a web video panel titled ‘What Does the Future Hold for Video on the Internet?’. Please go vote for me and pick 9 other proposed panels (of a possible 173) that look interesting to you. Mine is under ‘web audio / webvideo’ and looks like this:

What Does the Future Hold for Video on the Internet?
We are on the cusp of a sea change in how video is produced and consumed. Cameras, processing power, bandwidth keep getting cheaper. Broadband is ubiquitous, hosting is free. Editing tools are cheap and easy to use. Can this last? Will a two-tiered Internet emerge and stifle innovation of the past 2 years? Will incumbent big media companies figure out what the Internet generation wants depriving independents from access?

Vote for me and I’ll buy you a beer next time I see you. It’s all about freedom and democracy, just like beer.