SXSW Interactive

It’s official. SXSW 2009 Interactive is open for registration!

If you didn’t go last year, I recommend you get in early and get ready because over the next 7 months you will receive announcements about keynote speakers that will move you out of your Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Sign up early to get the best deal on badges and hotel prices.

Also, this year we made our first panel submission for SXSW Interactive. Our topic, Social Networks That Change The World, is one that we are passionate about at LevelTen. Over the last few months, we have been working with Sejal Hathi, who started Sisters4Peace at the age of 16. Girls Helping Girls, the online social network, "facilitates one-on-one mentorship, distributes educational toolkits, and connects aspiring girl change-makers around the globe who are working independently to launch their own projects." Help us get the votes needed to move forward in the panel submission process by voting for our panel! You will need to create an account before making your vote. SXSW Interactive received over 1,200 panel submissions, and we need your help in getting us up there promoting change on the web!

We'll be posting more information about the fest and panels as it comes our way. Stay tuned!

SXSW starts the week of March 13th. Interactive streams the 13th-17th. Film runs from the 13th-21. Music plays the 18th-22nd.

We'll see you there!

TOP 5 CLIENT REQUESTS

1. My Unqualified Friends have different Ideas...
   - Judge the idea on its merits, reasonably explain why it may not work, due to your research, experience, etc.
2. Purple is my favorite color, Why don't we use that?
   - Backup with documentation, color board, creative specs, etc
3. We need more stuff about the FOLD!!
   - A significant amount of research is available to show that users understand they can scroll for more content
4. There's so much EMPTY SPACE, can't you fill it?
   

It was 5 days, 4 nights, 3 cars, 2 petty cabs, and 1 song later. I had made it back from SXSW Interactive 2008. Aside from the fact that this festival is in the greatest city in the US, SXSW was chock-full of the industry leaders and inspirers in web design, social media, gaming, and film. I felt like a six-year-old kid with candy in my mouth walking around my dad's office suite on the 60th floor. Except, to the left of me was a corner area filled with legos ... in front of me a beer garden ... and to the right was guitar hero!

As a designer, I rely on my vision to impart a hierarchy of data within web pages. It takes a jarring reminder from the smart folks at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival to remind me that not everyone can see the colors I painstakingly deliberate over, the varied and specific shades that I cross-browser test for universal appeal. Even color contrast can be lost to a slight case of color-blindness.

So there I was, sitting in room 18ABCD at SXSW 2008 watching a presentation designed more for the Food and Hospitality industry than for an Interactive Conference, thinking, "why the hell did I spend good money to listen to this shit?"when I realized God IS in the details. While the presentation started at a painstakingly slow pace, the speaker began making his points and his objectives where uncovered.

God is in the details. Good design begins with inspiration. Less is more.

I'm back in the office today after a whirlwind trip down to Austin for the SXSW Interactive Festival, and I'm getting LOTS done since most of the office is still down there. This quote from Jason Fried of 37Signals really struck a cord...

Interruption is the enemy of productivity; a fragmented day is not a productive day.

Respect! Was the first panel I attended this year at 2008 SXSW Interactive Convention, and as a novice I really wasn't sure what to expect or what I would take away. The panel included several key personnel from HappyCog and they explored several aspects of the design and development process.

Coming to you live from the Austin Convention Center, LevelTen is here at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival. Walking up I was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of people in attendance. It really shows a positive trend in the interactive industry as a whole and I am personally curious as to the comparison of last year's attendance numbers to this year. But for now here are some pictures from Austin.