20
Mar
This past week I attended SXSW for the second year. Last year I went with an Interactive badge and this year went gold to do Film as well. I have been slowly getting into film making and writing the past year and thought it would be a great change to not only see some awesome films but attend some panels along the way. I have spent a lot of time recently writing and storyboarding ideas but haven’t actually shown anybody yet. One thing that was different having both badges versus last year is spare time. This year I didn’t have nearly the amount of time I did last year to do other parts of SXSW like the tradeshow, screenburn, trying new places to eat and just in general hanging out at the convention center. I found myself bouncing from panel to panel pretty quickly and then heading to the Paramount for film screenings which included either a decent walk or the film shuttle and then standing in line for awhile. Plus the hours spend watching films eat up a lot of time that I had last year.
That being said, having a film badge this year was awesome and I will be doing Gold from now on. I attended some great film panels on storyboarding, shooting films improve style, visual effects on a budge and blowing stuff up. I learned some great things from these panels and got inspired the entire time. I attempted to bounce between interactive and film panels as much as I could and felt a little disappointed that I didn’t get to attend more film panels. Along with the panels comes great film screenings. The opening night movie and my first film to see at SXSW was Kick-Ass. We waited in line for awhile and the movie was just amazing. There is something very different about attending not only a film screening/world premier but watching it in a 1,200 seat theater with the cast, writers and crew of the movie. Kinda makes you want to see every movie at a screening. Staying for the Q&A after every film is also worth it. (more…)
09
Mar
South By Southwest is geek spring break. Last year was my first year attending and I was blown away by it. Meeting new people, learning whats going on in the world of interactive, the panels, speakers, trade show, events and of course the BBQ made it an awesome experience. I had always heard that SXSW is the conference that you start counting down the days until the next one as soon as that one ends. This holds true for my first year. The following morning I began thinking about 2010 and coming back to SXSW. Although I’ve only been once, it is the single biggest event I look forward to in the year.
Last year I attended the conference alone but did meet plenty of people and enjoyed it. This year I am returning to Austin with not only an interactive badge but a film badge as well. I will also be heading down there with John Hoover, who is going for the first time. There is a huge list of panels and speakers I want to see, a decent list of films I would love to watch given the chance and a handful of parties that are on the list. Will I get to do it all? Of course not. Will I get to do even more? Hell yeah! Thats the beauty of SXSW. If your going to SXSW be sure to find me and say hi. I’m looking forward to meeting lots of people. Check out my SXSW Profile for some of the panels/events I plan to attend.
07
Mar
This weekend my goal was to get a quick vcard online with links to all the social networks that I use or try to use. SXSW is coming in a few days and wanted an easier way for people to not only find me but find me around several networks. In this process I had to move around some domains. JamesFleeting.com I’ve had for awhile and did nothing with until I turned it into a tumblr awhile back, is now where my vcard is at, so check it out. Its pretty simple for now, at some point when I get time it will turn into a better about, contact and resume page. The tumblr is not gone though, it moved domains to fleetingFTW.com. The tumblr has always been where I post/reblog random findings from the internet. Its not a personal blog and doesn’t revolve around a set theme, its just random internet crap that I found funny or interesting at the time.
So, feel free to connect with me on any of the networks on my vcard and if your going to be at SXSW look me up, introduce yourself, etc. Looking forward to meeting some new people.
