Comments on: Roll Call: Not Going to SXSW or TED?

By: Deepak

Deepak — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:56:41 +0000

SXSW is not really my kinda conference, but TED I would love to go to. Since I don’t have the bandwidth (too much travel) nor the cash, I guess I will have to wait till 2012 or something.

By: Marc Orchant

Marc Orchant — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:33:14 +0000

Chris – not going to either. Would love to do TED but have never been able to combine time and $$. SXSW always seems to conflict with something else I have going – the MVP Summit this year. Would love to go though – Austin is a fun town.

I will be at Gnomedex though – finally! Looking forward to that in a big, big way. (And I’m bringing my honey – hope she’ll have a chance to finally meet you after all the stories I’ve told her).

By: Robert Sanzalone

Robert Sanzalone — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:07:44 +0000

Thanks Chris. Well I guess I don’t REALLY feel out of the loop after all. No I won’t be attending these this year either.

By: Iggy

Iggy — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:40:41 +0000

Would love to make a trip back down to Texas. Not in the cards. I’d be lucky enough to make it out NorthWest when and if the pre-party is announced for later this month. It would interesting to see how much Texas has changed since I lived there though.

By: Nicole Simon

Nicole Simon — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:17:12 +0000

I wanted to go for SWSX and blogher but had to cancel due to customers in between meeting of that conferences. For me it is more of a “once a year trip” to get back in touch with a lot of people although it is on the other side of the earth.

I heard though that in the near of blogher in summer there is supposed to be this other funny conference in seattly around that time which I might be able to put this year on my schedule ;) ;)

By: schlomo

schlomo — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:20:09 +0000

Thought I wasn’t going, but it looks like I’ll be pulled into Texas for a couple days– but I’m trying hard not to!!!

By: jasmine

jasmine — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:56:30 +0000

TED is an invite only (or for a very hefty price) event. The good thing is that you can still search and view speakers’ presentations without attending the event through PodZinger or the TEDTalks video library for free at http://tedtalks.podzinger.com.

By: Tristan Louis

Tristan Louis — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:34:15 +0000

Don’t know what it’s been about this year but I’ve been feeling that I should cut back on conferences. So no TED, no SXSW, and still debating Web 2.0 attendance. Work’s been crazy so I’ve actually been able to be more productive by NOT attending conferences :)

Besides, I just need to find a few twitter sheeps going so I can hear about everything happening there without physically being there. For example, yesterday, I “twitteratended” 2 conferences virtually through tweets from other people…

By: raines

raines — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:50:12 +0000

SXSW on the Cheap

I registered way early to get the discount. And planned other work-related visits while in the region. And dovetailed with my current train trip to Chicag. And staying at the youth hostel. And going without a car (there’s actually some great bike rentals in town). And eating at parties. So my sxsw budget is fairly minimal.

The main question is how much time/effort t invest in guerilla marketing while there. I always play that part by ear.

By: Steve Rhodes

Steve Rhodes — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:26:40 +0000

Someday I’ll go to SXSW (and perhaps TED – though now you can watch/listen to the podcasts).

There is more going on in San Francisco than I can do including the SF Int. Asian American Film Festival (Steve Chen of YouTube will be on a panel) and the Anarchist Book Fair.

By: TWiG

TWiG — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:57:41 +0000

I wouldnt mind hitting up SXSW just to see Mike Jones play some sweet sweet jazz.. BUT.. Im loosing my house and all that.. soooooo… I cant even think to go.. weee!!

By: Susan F. Heywood

Susan F. Heywood — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 08:05:51 +0000

I’ll be observing virtually, although it sounds like the SXSW event is going to be really cool. Ditto on TED – also sounds like stellar content, but out of my sphere.

What’s a concise definition you’d use for “twitter sheep?” I like it as a term.

By: Paul Stamatiou

Paul Stamatiou — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 07:23:41 +0000

I’m not going to SXSWi for another year in a row. Georgia Tech’s spring break is the week after SXSW… bad timing, really.

By: David Geller

David Geller — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 06:55:58 +0000

Don’t knock TED until you try it. It’s not about being important (clearly the case for me) but just coming up with the cold cash. Approximately $4,500 this year. $6,000 next year. And, next year is already sold out! But, the speakers and the attendees are genuinely interesting – sometimes facinating. Chris, you really should start attending this event because I think it would have a positive influence on your excellent conferences. I had heard about TEd for years and years and never had the resources or time to attend. When I finally started to have both I got hooked. This year’s event, like others, promises to be special. I just arrived in Monterey and look forward to three full days learning about a whole raft of things I know close to zip about. And, that’s extremely exciting – for me.

By: Jeff Hester

Jeff Hester — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 06:51:10 +0000

I would love to go to either conference, but like you, too much going on right now. As a side note, TED founder Richard Wurman was my first year architecture professor at Cal Poly — and he liked my beach house proposal — will that help get me in?

Next year I’ll be at SXSW.