X@SXSW: Day One

Arrived at 3pm, and promptly dashed over to the registration line, which ended up taking two hours, which was to be blunt, not ideal, but you’re surrounded by so many cool people that it’s easy to strike up a conversation to pass the time. We spend so much time in our little bubbles that it’s easy to forget that there are other people out there, doing really amazing things, and I think that’s one of the greatest parts of this conference. After registration, I only had time for one panel, which was Software Alchemy and the Arc of Technology with Alan Cooper, author and founder of Cooper in San Francisco, who among other things discussed letting the people creating, designing, and writing the code take more of a lead in the direction of their projects, since they are the ones most familiar with it, and are actually testing it with users. After the panel, I grabbed some free drinks and food (if you have to pay for anything as a SXSW attendee, you are doing something very wrong) and sloshed home in the rain, but not before stocking up on ponchos and an umbrella for what looks to be an equally wet day tomorrow.