The Several Things I did This Weekend
SxSW
Unlike most weekends, I only did one major thing this past weekend – I went to South by Southwest (SxSW). I had no idea what to expect, it was overwhelming, I saw cool stuff, and I can’t wait to go again.
I left early Friday morning out of Orlando to Austin, Texas. South by Southwest is nine day event that features film, music and technology. I had an “Interactive” badge which focused on technology. I had no instructions from work as to what to do, how to tackle the show, or any goals. So, I made it up.
Friday I managed to register and work my way around some of the basic areas. My biggest breakthrough was attending my first session, “How to take your gap year.” This session focused on the idea that anyone can, and everyone should, take a long trip. The goal of the session was to help turn the dream of an one year trip abroad into reality. Kristin Zibell led the group and the session was based on her personal experiences and the workshops she now does as part of her web site, TakeYourBigTrip.com. The process, maybe obvious in hindsight but useful in a workshop is to: (1) Write down what your trip looks like, (2) write a mock postcard to a friend from your trip, (3) Identify each place/activity and write it on an index card, (4) add days to the cards, (5) and build an expense worksheet from the concept. What struck me most was her capturing the need to consider left behind expenses – mortgage, power, cell phones, etc.
Next, with the trip coming to reality through a budget there was another exercise on how to move from where we are today to the departure day.
The entire workshop made sense and I would strongly suggest to anyone with a desire to travel checking out Kristin’s web site.
At the workshop I learned a little more, from others, about things to do. It was near the end of the day though and I went back to the hotel to rest up for Saturday.
Saturday was different. I hit the Samsung studio and made a t-shirt. I went to Google Fiber and experienced Google Cardboard. This is the coolest thing ever for Android users. I strongly suggest checking it out. You cannot imagine what virtual reality is like without trying it. I felt it was easy to dismiss, but after the experience I feel differently. The rest of Saturday was spent exploring and finally making it to some of the SxSW parties – yes – free food and drink.
Sunday started with packing and heading into downtown. I had a 10:00am breakfast with a prospect and then went to the SxSW Tradeshow. The show is very much B2C, not B2B. However, I was able to make some contacts with prospects. What was more interesting was to see the range of technology offered, definitely my thing.
I finished the afternoon seeing some highlights that stuck with me. First, I attended an innovation accelerator finalist presentation. Three presenters highlighted different wearable technologies. Think “shark tank” meets “wearable.” The three companies were: (1) Feetz, (2) SoleEnergy and (3) Tinitell. Check them out. They are cool. I also stopped by the Garmin booth and think a new Garmin Fenix 3 needs to be in my future. It combines all of my sport watch, fitness monitor, and smartwatch needs. Hmm.
Lyft
Do you use ride sharing? I have used Uber in the past and of course we rent our cabin on AirBNB. This was my first weekend as a regular Lyft user though and it worked great. Rides always came within 2-3 minutes, the cars were clean and the people were great. My first ride was with a man named Augustine, from Nigeria. He was driving a brand new Toyota FJ that he hopes to send to his family in Nigeria. I asked how many Lyft rides he had give, about 700!!
Americans love big empty cars. I suspect if gasoline goes back to $5 per gallon everyone might get on the ride-sharing bandwagon.
My Screenplay
I talk about my screenplay because it keeps it in front of me. I have two actually. The first I have written 30 pages of script. The second is being developed differently as I am writing the synopsis first and then will work on the script. Last weekend Noel and I worked on storyline ideas and I spent a good part of Sunday afternoon and evening working on the story since my flight on SWA was delayed. It felt good to make progress and it is more interesting to see something in my head coming to fruition on paper.
It will be hard to keep up the momentum this week as I jump right back into work tomorrow after a, now, late arrival home. But, I want to keep working it as the screenplay is taking on personality.
Jim Gaffigan
The final thing I did this weekend was remind LeeAnn that Jim Gaffigan is coming to concert in Atlanta. I had no idea when, but it turns out August 16. Since we own a cabin in the woods near Atlanta I said we have to go – and we are!!
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