07 March 2008

Day 1 is obviously meant to accomplish the following:

1. Assimilation: Those who live here or are repeat attenders may not need this, but I definitely took an hour or two to just figure things out. I found the hotel, unpacked, drove to the convention center, looked around at the hundreds of thousands of people and then found the line to register.
2. Registration: I stood in line for close to an hour to get my badge and then another 15-20 minutes for materials.
3. Introduction: Panels only went from 2-6 with the bulk of them taking place between 3:30 and 6. Nothing crazy - just enough to introduce you to the way the schedule works and to prepare you for a packed day tomorrow.

Panels today:

• Book Reading: The Principles of Beautiful Web Design (Beaird)
• Book Reading: Building Findable Websites (Walter)

Excitement for the day:

• Interviewed by local Austin CBS affiliate: I was asked these questions while in the registration line: Where are you from? What interests you about SXSW? How much money do you plan on spending total while in Austin? I'll have to see if it shows up on the late news tonight.

Tonight's meal:

• P.F. Chang's China Bistro: I went big the first night assuming that I may be tied up the majority of the nights with after parties, film screenings and award shows.

Better get some sleep - tomorrow's schedule starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 a.m. Sunday morning...