connecting*the*dots

On Thursday I’m heading to Austin for the 2006 SXSW Internet Conference and Film Festival. It took me a while to figure out if I could make it, but with my latest research project moving into recruitment mode, it looks like I’ll be free… enough. In-between live blogging panel discussions, hitting after parties and enjoying independent films, I’ll probably have to do some work here and there, but I can deal.

Aside from the input of media and ideas (and reconnecting with long lost friends and colleagues) I’m really looking forward to meeting the people whom I’ve shared discourse on blogs or lists for the past six years. This is my first conference since the IA Summit in La Jolla, way back in 2000. A lot has happened since then.

I’m terrible with names, and sometimes even faces, so please excuse me upfront if you see me squinting in your direction as if I’m attempting long-division; I’m not being rude, I’m just being me (can’t help it).

Here’s the SXSW pre-schedule that I’m attempting to follow:

Friday March 10th:
7:00pm - Thank You For Smoking (Film)
9:30pm - Music Videos (Shorts)

Saturday March 11th:
10:00am - Beyond Folksonomies: Knitting Tag Clouds for Grandma (Panel)
11:30am - We Got Naked, Now What? (Panel)
1:45pm - Wide Awake (Film)
3:30pm - James Surowiecki Presentation: The Wisdom of Crowds
5:00pm - Tantek Çelik Presentation: Creating Building Blocks for Independents
7:00pm - Al Franken: God Spoke (Film)
8:00pm - frog design SXSW Opening Party

Sunday March 12th:
10:00am - Design and Social Responsibilty (Panel)
11:30pm - The Future of Education in a Digitally Convergent World (Panel)
2:00pm - Keynote Conversation: Heather Armstrong / Jason Kottke
3:30pm - Running Your New Media Business (Panel)
5:00pm - Serious Games for Learning (Panel)
6:00pm - Flickr, Upcoming.org, and Del.icio.us in the company of Yahoo! (Drinks)
8:45pm - The Last Romantic (Film)

Monday March 13th:
10:00am - Cluetrain: Seven Years Later (Panel)
11:30am - Microformats: Evolving The Web (Panel)
2:00pm - Craig Newmark Keynote Interview
3:30pm - Peter Morville Presentation: Ambient Findability
5:00pm - The New Startup Cultures (Panel)
7:00pm - EFF/EFF-Austin/Creative Commons/League of Technical Voters (Drinks)
9:00pm - Adaptive Path + Consumating + Odeo SXSW Party

Tuesday March 14th
11:15am - Shadow Company (Film)
2:00pm - Burnie Burns Keynote
3:30pm - Democratization of the Moving Image (Panel)
5:00pm - Bruce Sterling Presentation: The State of the World
8:00pm - Hard Candy (Film)

Hope to see (and meet) you there!

UPDATE: I’ll be staying at Homestead Austin - Downtown (wherever that is)