Mike D. @ ITP

Yeah, I’m not sure what I was thinking when I said I’d be updating this constanly. I’ve barely kept myself fed and watered, let alone blog properly. I’ve been good about Flickring tons of crap though, which can be seen here. I’m still way behind in organizing the sets, though, so you might be better off watching my cameraphone feed. I mean, if you’re that desperate to stalk. =)

Did a lot of attaching faces to names this week, which has been great — met the guys from Plazes, and while they’re a competitor to one of our own, I suppose, I like what they’re doing with mapping mashups and they dudes are supernice. They were kind enough to host us for many beers on the first night, and we got to see their product in action.  It’s a little absurd, at this point, as every relocation of the night (of which there are tons) means SMS’ing to Dodgeball, Twitter, Sgrcndy and now Plazes.  My wrist stings like a spanked baby’s butt.

On the same topic, I’m also now wholly addicted to Twitter, which I’m thoroughly enjoying, though it’s become clear to me at this conference that I need to take a LONG break from my phone and my laptop when I get back.  I think it’s official — if Twitter wasn’t “big” before, after SXSW, it will probably become a way of life for half the nerds here.  I’d LOVE to find out the stats on how many people have either joined or actually started really using the service during this week (as Nick Douglass of ValleyWag is currently Twittering about) — seems HUGE.

This conference has reminded me about why I fell so deeply in love with nerdery in the first place. Not every panel has been inspiring — in fact, some have been downright boring — but the people are passionate, and there’s just so much new stuff to be investigated, always. There’s a ton of academics here, and they’re researching great things, and the industry-leading voices have had a lot to say.

I’ll have to do a wrapup (and post a TON of pictures) later, but I’ll try to do some other updates as I get a chance.