Mar
I rely on “shared items” feeds in my RSS reader. I “subscribe” to hundreds more feeds than I can follow and a firehose of ideas pours through every day. Shared items allow friends to highlight the “best of” their reading experiences and stream out little personal “highlight reels” from all the material they happen to read.
When friends share what’s exceptional, the river of incoming information is concentrated into a manageable stream. I miss alot, but I also get more value in less time. Honestly, I *like* how the “social media echo chamber” bounces good stuff to the surface to get shared much more widely.
South by So Much
Crammed with panels, parties and thousands of smart, creative people, South by Southwest Interactive festival (SXSWi for the under-140 crowd) was both wonderful and (for me, almost totally) overwhelming.
Speaking with Clarence (@DYKC), CC Chapman (@cc_chapman), Steve Hall (@adrants) and others at the airport, I kept feeling disappointed about people and things I’d missed.
Shared Items Metaphor for Events
Instead of feeling sad, why not consider storytelling part of the event? What if the videos and blog posts and photos and podcasts and personal recollections now pouring from my friends and contacts are as much a part of attending SXSW as actually showing up at a panel? Nobody can absorb all the best ideas, consume all the content, meet all the people or attend all the parties. Life just doesn’t scale. And to try is to spread ourselves too shallow and thin.
Though I know from stories told that I missed important things, by seeking out what my friends noticed and took away from the experience I’m extending the depth and breadth of being there. Of *course* you can’t do it all yourself. Do your part well. Dive deep, absorb, process and reflect. Then, make it a priority to engage and exchange stories with with others who did theirs.
Your knowledge and experience is not as firsthand that way. The experience is (literally) socially mediated. Stuff will be lost in translation, sure. But tackling a conference like that head on and trying to do it all spills plenty of the good stuff too.
Comments
Tell us what YOU did a great job absorbing/learning/discovering at SXSW. Better yet, give us a link to your blog posts, media and other ideas…
UPDATE
Some gems seen on Twitter:
As a shortcut for checking out recaps, here are some readymade Google search links:
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Comments
Leave a comment
-
Subscribe to Our Blogs
-
-
Laura,
It was great meeting you at SXSW. I posted a follow up post with what I considered the highlights of the conference, both panels and parties. I’ll keep it updated with downloads to the podcasts/etc.
Top Recommended Panels
It’s great that you put this thread together as I’m sure there’s so much we all missed…
Great meeting you at SXSW. I met so many people and I know there are so many more I could have met. Maybe next year!
You were a cool panelist on the Guy Kawasaki panel.
Loved watching your panel, and especially loved the twitter updates *during* the panel.
I think the panel/discussion I got the most out of was probably the simplest one — the trauma surgeon in Iraq that videoblogged his entire stay. It wasn’t geeky, no, but it showed that real people can use real technology in real (surreal, maybe?) situations. It showed me that technology has advanced SO much even in the past ten years, and honestly makes me excited about what’s coming up in the next ten.
Hi Laura -
I didn’t get a chance to meet you personally at SXSW but I listened to you speak and started following you on Twitter during the Guy Kawasaki panel. I’ve been twittering for a year now… but you made me think about it differently and I appreciate that! I am also enjoying your tweets!
Here is a link to my SXSW recap:
sxsw and the ways in which it blew my mind
Now to sustain the inspiration, follow up on the connections, and watch all the panels I missed online!
I was considering the use of a desktop RSS reader for digestion but I’ve found the “share” feature of Google Reader to be much more intuitive. I don’t know what Starred vs Shared is about. The difference between them is lost on me but I share everything that piques my mind.
What is your favorite tool for reading and/or sharing?
Great idea for a round-up. Even the debriefing gets overwhelming.
I wrote about networking in general thru the SXSW lens on my marketing blog…
…and what someone else has dubbed “the introvert’s guide to SXSW” on the mother ship.
And thanks for pointing to Jared’s list on Twitter. You’re the source of much nutty goodness, my little @Pistachio.