SXSW Day 1 Wrap-Up

Today was a swell day – I got to meet a slew of interesting folks.

Here’s the run-down:
Peter Himmelman. He’s a very thoughtful person.  After the panel this afternoon, he and I chatted at length about the theories of Ray Kurzweil, and how it impacted our worldviews.

Brad Hunstable. We’ve known each other online for a couple years now, and have had great conversations.  We finally got to have one in person today.

Chuck Freedman. He’s from Ribbit, a swell platform that any web developer should now know about.  I mean that – go check out my interview with him at SiliconANGLE.

Matt Cohen. He’s the CEO of OneSpot, one of my sponsors for the trip.  He gave me a ton of free invites to the company to pass out.  If you’re interested in having your own memetracker, find me and get one!

Liz Strauss. Haven’t seen her since WordCamp Dallas. She’s working on a lot of interesting projects, and seems to be of the opinion that social media spending is going to continue to go up despite the economic downturn.

The Dude. The actual dude.  Have you watched The Big Lebowski? It was based on an actual guy, and I got to meet him.  I didn’t catch him with a White Russian, but he’s just about everything you’d expect him to be.  I’ll get his links and the video of his panel later this weekend for ya. Truly priceless.

I Also Promised an Evening Schedule

PBSEngage
Most of my downtime is spent at the home base, the Belmont, which is running parties and get togethers all week long, but I caught wind of the PBS Engage event, which is scant on details, but looks interesting.
PBS Studio, 406 E 6th St Austin, Texas
Saturday, 6PM to 8PM

Robert Scoble’s IdeaLab
This is at the Belmont, and I’ll be sticking around partly to see if he’ll let me on camera, and partly to get the scoop on what his next venture is. You should come by, if you’re in the area, and join the studio audience (twitter me, and I’ll get you in).
the Belmont, 305 W 6th St Austin, Texas
Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 5PM

WordPress BBQ Meetup @ Conjunctured
I’ve been meaning to visit the Conjunctured studio since I first learned about them. I’m doing it Sunday.
Conjunctured - 1309 E 7th St - Austin, 78702
Sunday at 1:30 PM

Social Media Club presents: Pool 2.0 at SxSW in Austin, TX
Buffalo Billiards was awesome at SummerMash Austin.  I wanna go again.
Buffalo Billiards - 201 E 6th Street - Austin, 78701
Sunday at 8PM to Midnight.

There’s more stuff on Monday and Tuesday – the parties work up to a fevered pitch, and there’s quite a few on deck.  I haven’t decided which ones to go to. I’ll decide tomorrow and update you.