SXSW: Bizness, brews, and bonding

It’s Sunday night and I’ve landed in one of the many South by Southwest lounges – with a cold Lone Star Beer at my side and blisters on my feet.

There is significant party cred attached to the SXSW franchise, and no shortage of (free) drinks and (free) food to be found at the Austin Convention Center and beyond. But that’s just one small piece of a cozy conference vibe that fosters a culture of work hard, play hard, and get to know each other. (Related story: Booze and Blogging.)

Make no mistake about it: SXSWi is a five-day marathon. The choice of sessions, panels, workshops, keynotes, and meetups is overwhelming. And with two more days yet to go, it was energizing to hear from many of you over the weekend who were following along on Twitter and foursquare. What a great blend of technology and inclusion.

Thanks to a tip from @briansullan, I tracked down Web standards guru and author, Jeffrey Zeldman, and co-author, Ethan Marcotte. Ed Matesevac, @ep3runs, turned me on to Dan Ariely––an acclaimed professor at Duke University and best-selling author of “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions.”I also noted Company partners outside our department tapping into Twitter and retweeting some of our live-blogging. Thanks for joining us!

SXSW Interactive ends Tuesday night and we’ll keep bringing it to you until then.