A Hangover The Size Of Austin, TX
Okay, maybe I really don't have a hangover the size of Austin, TX...but I now that I'm back from SXSW Interactive, what I might be dealing with is Post-Conferece Let-Down...
Being a freelancer, I don't really have to leave my house. Ever. Not if I don't want to. And living where I live, I don't necessarily have the impetus to go out during the day...trust me. if you lived here, you wouldn't go out all that often either.
But in Austin, I had a reason to leave my hotel room. It was warm. It was sunny. I would be meeting up with friends and then learning some interesting stuff at panels.
Nine-to-five work was never like this, but college was a lot like it (esp. community college). I think that's what I miss--an academic setting, where I'm always learning something.
Yet I think the most important part of being in Austin at SXSWInteractive was connecting with people. It was great meeting people with like minds, who have their own blogs going on, who understand the medium and that it is so much different from web design or message boards or anything else. I didn't have to defend myself, or deal with people who pooh-pooh what I do. There was no one there to judge me and insist that I'm living in a bubble, that what I'm doing as a blogger has little merit because I'm not working a 60plus hour a week building a business according to a Master Plan, and that I should get a Real Job. No, there wasn't any of that. The community of other bloggers and tech folk understand what this world is about, and that it ain't easy, but also that it ain't standard.
And, as if being on an SXSWInteractive panel wasn't enough, I find my other blog mentioned in Time. (thanks for the pointer, Grace
Who knows what will happen next, but I doubt it has anything to do with a standard "day job" but more to do with the conferece.
Being a freelancer, I don't really have to leave my house. Ever. Not if I don't want to. And living where I live, I don't necessarily have the impetus to go out during the day...trust me. if you lived here, you wouldn't go out all that often either.
But in Austin, I had a reason to leave my hotel room. It was warm. It was sunny. I would be meeting up with friends and then learning some interesting stuff at panels.
Nine-to-five work was never like this, but college was a lot like it (esp. community college). I think that's what I miss--an academic setting, where I'm always learning something.
Yet I think the most important part of being in Austin at SXSWInteractive was connecting with people. It was great meeting people with like minds, who have their own blogs going on, who understand the medium and that it is so much different from web design or message boards or anything else. I didn't have to defend myself, or deal with people who pooh-pooh what I do. There was no one there to judge me and insist that I'm living in a bubble, that what I'm doing as a blogger has little merit because I'm not working a 60plus hour a week building a business according to a Master Plan, and that I should get a Real Job. No, there wasn't any of that. The community of other bloggers and tech folk understand what this world is about, and that it ain't easy, but also that it ain't standard.
And, as if being on an SXSWInteractive panel wasn't enough, I find my other blog mentioned in Time. (thanks for the pointer, Grace
Who knows what will happen next, but I doubt it has anything to do with a standard "day job" but more to do with the conferece.
posted by Tish Grier at 5:43 PM
2 Comments:
It was so great to meet you! How much fun was that!?!?! I keep walking to my kitchen water cooler expecting to find a blogger to talk to.
Alas, only dust bunnies.
see you soon!?!?!
lol! I know what you mean, J! I keep looking for people and, in my house, find nothing but old newspapers.
keep in touch and we'll figure out when our paths will cross again :-)
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