Next Thursday, I’m flying out to Austin for my first SXSW. I’m excited and a little overwhelmed. But let’s start with the exciting stuff.
Meeting you
I’m excited to meet you guys! Please come up and introduce yourselves. Hooray for new friends! To find me, follow me on Twitter. I haven’t yet figured out which app to use for planning my schedule. (That’s one of the overwhelming things. More on that later.)
Book giveaway
I’m going to have a few copies of my book, Flexible Web Design: Creating Liquid and Elastic Layouts with CSS, to give away. Want one? Find me and tell me why you want to learn about flexible design. iPad is an acceptable one word answer. Then presto, the book (if I haven’t given them all away yet) is yours!
I’ll probably also have flyers with a discount code for buying Flexible Web Design. Hopefully.
My panel
I’m presenting in the CSS3 Design with HTML5 workshop at 3:30 on Saturday in Ballroom F, with Christopher Schmitt and Stephanie Sullivan. Come check it out. As long as you’re not going to heckle me and post mean things on Twitter, that is.
Halp! I’m a noob!
Ok, now the overwhelming stuff. I have no idea how this SXSW thing works. If anyone has any essential tips, or links to articles with tips, I will love you forever. Some of the questions that are going through my mind:
- How many business cards should I take with me?
- Which of the myriad scheduling apps should I use?
- What are the best iPhone apps to help me through? (Note: I don’t have an iPhone, just an iPod Touch. Don’t hate me.)
- Which are the best events and parties to go to for schmoozing?
- Which are the best parties to go to for having fun? (Note: I don’t drink. But I still like to have fun.)
- What do women typically wear during the day? What about to parties at night?
- Where can I eat good food for cheap?
- Does Austin have any good bakeries, and if so, how can I get my hands on some delicious cookies? (This is always my first question when traveling. I always try to find the nearest bakery to my hotel. Sadly, most cities do not have bakeries up to my standards. At least, not cookie bakeries.)
Ok, that’s enough for now. Again, come meet me, see my panel, hang out.
Bring comfortable shoes. #1 rule at SXSW in terms of clothing is that your feet will hurt, so, bring comfortable shoes. otherwise, wear whatever you feel comfortable in. For me it’s jeans and freeware (all those free t-shirts from conferences). Bring one light sweater and one medium sweater for the evening, and a light windbreaker / drizzle retardant is likely all you need.
All parties are schmooze fests. If you find one that is a snooze fest, move on to the next.
See you there, noob!
Thanks Estelle! I was looking for some new Merrells yesterday, but haven’t been able to find any I like. Except on shoebuy.com — but it’s too late to order online. Dang.
Keen shoes are the most comfortable shoes for walking in all day long. Nordstrom sells them and so does REI.