AK Tech Girl : Reporting from South by Southwest Interactive

AK Tech Girl

So much technology, so little time. As AK Tech Girl, I'll bring you frequent byte-sized pieces of technology to help make sense of all those whistles and widgets. How can blogs, Web applications and gadgets really help you in your work and home life? I'll show you how! Ask your burning Internet and gadget questions here - ask us about anything BUT your computer (see your computer guy for that one). This is your life on tech, made easier.

Image by Karen Larsen, used with permission.

About me

BLOGGER

Aliza Sherman Risdahl

Aliza Sherman is an avid blogger, a freelance writer for national publications, and works as an Internet strategist for companies and nonprofits in Alaska and around the world. She is a resident of Second Life where she owns a virtual island, holds live events, and hosts a business television show. In her First Life here in Anchorage, she is married to a hunky wildlife biologist and is mom to their precocious 2-year-old daughter. (Photo by Clark Mishler, used with permission.)

Reporting from South by Southwest Interactive

Posted by techgirl

Posted: March 15, 2009 - 12:48 pm

Comments (0) |

It has been a whirlwind week of packing for travel, driving from Tok to Anchorage, 15 hours and three planes with a toddler from Anchorage to get to Austin, Texas for this year's South by Southwest Interactive conference. For those of you "in the know" about conferences, SXSW - as it is known - started out as a conference for indy bands, expanded into film and then broadened its reach into SXSW, proving out the importance of the convergence of music/film/digital.

The conference, held at the Austin Convention Center, is huge and overwhelming. Even the Interactive portion is chock-full of luminaries, wannabes, newbies, numerous concurrent sessions, and a slew of parties across town. Sessions have covered the current state of and the future of mobile technology; the power of moms online; web design techniques; daddy bloggers, girl gaming, and social media for nonprofits.

I haven't found an Alaska contingent here yet although I can't believe they aren't represented here other than me properly representing Tok by telling people I'm based in the Social Media Capital of the World. Then again, getting here is long, expensive and the registration here is pretty pricey as well - a bone of contention for many filmmakers, musicians and new media startups who simply can't afford to go.

So for those of you who can't make it, here are a few scenes from the last few days.

Loic Le Meur of Seesmic.com and Jeff Pulver of JeffPulver.com