the ryan king

I got into Austin yesterday afternoon and have barely stopped since then. Geek Spring Break is in full action.

After checking into my hotel and picking up my badge I hit up the How to Rock SxSW panel. Despite finishing a bottle of Jack Daniels on stage (or maybe “because of”) the panel was fun. Not sure how much I learned, since I’m friends with most of the panelists.

On the party circuit last night, I hit up Break Bread with Brad. It moved to Buffalo Billiards this year (which is huge, by the way) and was a good time. Got to see a bunch of people that I hadn’t seen since this time last year.

Apparently I had a lot to drink last night (no surprises there), because this morning was a bit rough. Today’s panel action was not bad. I made it to “Under 18: Blogs, Wikis and Online Social Networks for Youth“, “Grids Are Good and How to Design with Them“, “Ruining the User Experience: When JavaScript and Ajax Go Bad” and Ghost in the Machine: Spirituality Online.

I’ve enjoyed the panels because I’ve been listening to topics that I’m not an expert on. I recommend that strategy to anyone.

Wow, I’ve had a great time at SxSW so far.

I got here last friday and went straight into party mode and haven’t stopped yet.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday I went to a bunch of panels, most of which were very interesting. I also met a bunch of people (who’s cards I’ve collected and need to email sometime) and made new friends (and dodgeball connections) from all over the place. And that was just the first part of the week.

As Interactive wound down, all the web geeks started rolling out and a new crowd began to arrive, now the town is overrun with music industry people and music fans and, most importantly, musicians.

Starting yesterday its been all rock, all the time. Just yesterday I saw The Slip and Denague Fever at Emo’s Annex, Calla at Red Eye Fly, Aberdeen City at Dirty Dog Bar, Brightblack Morning Light and The New Pornographers at Stubb’s and then…

The Flaming Lips!!!!

The Flaming Lips played a secret show at Fox and Hound at 11PM last night and I got to see it! Kris and Buzz have photos (they got up on stage to take them!).

After that, I planned on walking over to Emo’s main room to see Trail of the Dead, but I totally crashed, so I headed back to the hotel for some rest.

I’ve also seen a couple films– yesterday I watched LOL, a film about what happens when people are addicted to the interweb and it causes drama in their face-to-face lives. Not to name names, but the guy sitting next to me totally missed half the movie while playing with his crackberry.

This morning, I saw The Refugee All-star Band a film about Liberian refugees in Guinea who formed a band while living in refugee camps. The best parts? The band was sitting in the row right in front of me, took questions during the Q&A and will be performing tonight! They’re worth seeing live.

Anyway, off to more music, later.