Well since I am just getting caught up after the SXSW interactive festival it's finally time to write a quick little wrap up post. This was my first year to actually buy a pass to the event instead of just going to all the unofficial meet-ups, lunches and happy hours. Even though I had a access to the festival,  I still spent more time networking with people at the unofficial events than I did at the official festival activities.

The panels that I went to where not all that exciting I must say. Not that they weren't packed with good information it's just that nothing ground breaking was discussed or presented. Maybe it was just what I went to see. I guess when it's your job to be up to date with the latest in all things search marketing, your pretty much caught up with everything that's being discussed. Don't get me wrong it was really nice to be around all these like minded individuals and discuss what's going on in the world of SEO, SEM, local search, social, etc. With that said it seemed to be just a big meet up of these individuals from around the world. Which in is awesome in it's own right. That's why I will be back next year for sure.

What I found really impressive though was the size of the festival this year and all that was offered. It seemed like it went on forever across downtown Austin and even reaching farther than just downtown. Living in Austin and knowing what it's like when SXSW is not going on I had something to compare it to. The thing I kinda liked the most of the official festivities was the convention center floor. Whoa... there where a ton of new start ups, products and companies from all over the world. Very interesting to see all of the ideas that have popped up and how far things have come in just one short year.

If you come to SXSW you had better have a plan of attack for the whole week. If not you will get caught up going in circles trying to figure out what to do and by the time you do, the event you wanted to go to will be over.  Next year I am just going to stick with the unofficial side of things. It seems like I make better connections that way. I don't know why it's just the way it is, maybe it's the whole outsider thing. One thing I would do is plan a recovery day at the end of the festival just to chill and de-compress if not you will be so exhausted you wont get much done anyway.

Hope to see you there next year!

Well the past 5 days at SXSW Interactive festival have been amazing and really exhausting all at the same time. Kinda ready to get off this crazy ride at this point. One more day to go, whew. I don't know if I could do the music side of things also. Happy to be getting out of town next weekend so I am not obligated. Heck I like a cold beer as much as the next guy but it's like a food and booze overload.

Speaking of overload, you can't even do the obligatory meet someone, exchange business cards, shake hands without some being handed a drink of some kind. I even resorted to telling people I was a recovering alcoholic so I didn't offend anyone. You had better believe the saying "everything is bigger in Texas." It's just how things are done.

There is way to much to do to actually get anything done. With the "official" SXSW events and the "unofficial" SXSW" events. It's impossible to decide what's going to be good and what's not. First of all the "official" events are great but can tend to be a bit stuffy (if you know what I mean). The "unofficial" events are like crashing the biggest party in Texas just because you can. So yeah it feels cool. Not to mention they are much more relaxed and people are a bit more open to discussion. Try to get to both if you can don't just get stuck in a rut there is plenty to do you just have to look.

Well that's all for now have to run back to SXSW this morning. Next post will be takeaways from the actual events.