March 16th, 2007
Annual Jaunt Across the Pond
Well, it’s all over for another year. This was my third year at SxSW and despite being ridiculously sick during the first couple of days, it was probably the most interesting. I’m choosing my words carefully there.
There is little doubt that SxSW is growing at an alarming rate. I heard some people say there were close to five thousand attendees to the Interactive Festival alone this year. That’s an awful lot of people. In fact, for the first time, I wasn’t allowed into some of the panels due to lack of space. That hasn’t happened to me before and this year it happened three times. Too many people or just small rooms?
Too much Navel-Gazing?
I don’t mean to gripe, really. Maybe it’s the jet-lag, but I have come away from this years SxSW feeling a little odd. On one hand, it’s nice to see more panels being devoted to graphic design, user experience and content. As Zeldman pointed out yesterday, I too felt a little out of place last year having not recently launched, been bought out, or selling my latest, greatest web-app. This year, there was more talk of the craft of web design and I think that is great.
The other side of me is a little disappointed though. Not with the quality of the conference but with a general feeling of navel-gazing with the attending crowds and panelists. More so than previous years, I felt a lot of the panels I attended were preaching to the converted, or worse still, to your mates. Maybe I was guilty of that too? And what is the point of that?
All grumpyness aside, I really enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. This is really the highlight of SxSW for me. Even though I didn’t make it out to many of the parties whilst I was still nursing my sick throat, I did manage to make it to the bowling (where a few of us manage to surprise ourselves and make it through to the second round), the EllisLab party and of course the Great British Booze Up.
Grids and Typography
The presentations I had to give went well. First off, Grids Are Good, went down a storm on Saturday. I just wish we had more time. All credit really must go to Khoi on this for the amazing amount of preparation he put in. Like I said, I was still nursing a raging headache, a fever and a sore throat and it really was touch and go in the Green Room. Never-the-less, it went well.
Web Typography Sucks, presented with Rich, went very well on Tuesday. I was feeling much better, relaxed and confident and the time flew by. I was pleased we’d left plenty of time at the end for questions—there really didn’t seem to be enough of that this year. The slides are up online and the podcast will follow no doubt.
Next year?
I’m looking forward to next year. I’m hoping for a few things:
- The continuing rise of the graphic design based panels and presentations from designers who know their shit on this medium. One on Art Direction would be great next year.
- More practical presentations. We don’t all know everything ok? Personally, I like going to panels and presentations where practical things can be learnt. We all don’t have oodles of time to sit and read books and blogs all day. Sometimes, bullet-points are good.
- No illness. It’d be nice to be well next year and I’ll be able to enjoy some of the parties. Who knows, maybe Mrs B. will be in tow too.
So, if I didn’t meet you this year, then I hope to next year. If I did, nice to see you again. Just a shame we have to wait a whole year.
This was my first SXSWi and I went home overloaded with information; and not just from the panels. I enjoyed the social events more than the conference itself; meeting new people was a blast.
I wish your grids session was longer, there was so much to take in at one time, but the power session timing, in my opinion, did not work out. Lets hope they dont try that next year. The fact that I had to walk all the way around the conference venue to some elevators to get to another room was a hassle as well.
I did not get to meet you, nor see your web typography session (I did read the slides though, very nice), but there is always next year. Lets hope a cold doesnt hit year this time next year!
Brian
PS(so are you going to get back to the book now? ;P)
This was my first ever SXSW (having only attended two @media shows before that), and must say I had a ball!
I was slightly annoyed by the 25 minute length presentations, which to me seemed far too short, and the hour ones sometimes felt like they dragged on a little too long.
Overall, I was impressed by the range of topics covered, and compared to @media, I actually felt there was less preaching to the converted, but perhaps that’s because I deliberately avoided the panels that sounded similar to talks I’ve heard before.
Finally, I would just like to add that it was great to finally meet you (and Andy) on the last day, and I hope you have more enjoyable/healthy SXSW next year.
It was lovely to finally meet you after having read your work online for so long. I missed the grids presentation, but I thought the typography talk was excellent—and specifically, that you and Richard did a great job providing useful information for both serious typography folks and relative beginners.
This year was my first SXSW, and I was a bit bowled over by the number of people and panels; next year I’m going to try and get to more of the panels that seem out of my area. Carrie Bickner-Zeldman’s digital preservation panel was great and quite unlike anything else I saw this year, and I wish I’d seen a few more of the other unusual talks.
Brian: Yep, the book is on my list. Believe me, there’s so much in the pipeline at the moment, that I need to get that done. Soon.
Paul: It was great to meet you too Paul. I agree, I hope they ditch the 25 minute thing, but if they don’t, I hope the panelists (me included here), take note that a new format requires a slightly different approach.
erin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed the presentation. It was great to finally meet you too. Next year, I’m also going to make a real effort to go to some panels outside of my area. I was guilty of attending too many design focussed panels this year.
It seems a lot of us attenders felt the same way. It was my first time to attend SXSW and, truth be told, I was a bit disappointed in a lot of the panels.
Honestly, yours and Khoi’s panel on grids was great. I never knew you were feeling so bad, but you guys did an incredible job. Part of me wished it was much longer, but part of me thinks it was the right length because it forced me to pay attention. I am actually implementing what I learned about grids on a new project and it is working beautifully!
Most of what I liked about the panels was the panelists that told stories, what they learned from it and the basic principle for the rest of us to take to heart. Some of the panelists were rather dull, though, as they tended to be too technical or just provide stories without any “lesson learned” to share.
Outside of that, did anyone else enjoy the Wireless Dial-up Internet access as much as I did? :P
I did, however, meet a lot of great people and that was the best thing about my first experience at SXSW.
Wow — so many of us were at SXSW for the first time this year. Too bad I didn’t get to meet more of you!
I attended the Typography panel and thought it was one of the best panels I attended. SXSW was amazing and I’m definitely going back next year!
I loved the podcast of Web Typography Sucks. I found it much easier to grasp on a second listen when viewed along with the slides. Would you be interested in an enhanced AAC version with the slides in the file as well? I’d be happy to do that. Just send me an email.
Enjoyed the podcast for Web Typography Sucks, particularly reading along with the slides (it’s like a little bit of SXSW came to my home). I’d been reading the bits on grid design with Khoi & you as well, and had two quick questions:
- When you’re looking at the vertical rhythm, I can see the bits with line-height for headings to make them take one unit (like the example of a heading at 18px, and the vertical space at 18px, so a line-height of 1em). What do you do if the heading is bigger than a unit?
- For grid design and hanging punctuation, are there times when hanging bullet points etc. can cause them to bleed in to another column, or should you make the gutters big enough to avoid this happening?
Anyways, enjoying reading the site — thanks for making all this content available.
There is no question at all in my mind that both the grid and typography sessions were by FAR the best ones that I attended the entire 5 days I was at SXSW.
No disrespect to the other panelists in other sessions, but your two sessions left me eager to get back to my computer, thirsty to learn more, and gave me ACTUAL take-away information that I could take REAL NOTES on.
I don’t mind discussion panels, but many of them quickly degenerate into unrehearsed comedy routines. And although I respect differing opinions on things as diverse as high-class vs. low-class web design, I really enjoy learning and hoped to learn as much as possible at SXSW.
I kept recalling my experience at PhotoShop World in Boston a few years ago. Every session was the kind where you LEARNED something. I took notes. And I always left with at least ONE nugget I could take back and use immediately.
So thank you so much for your informative panels. This is information I can use.
It also makes it FAR easier for me to come back to my office and say… this is what I LEARNED (they like to feel I wasn’t just wasting their money there… imagine). Instead I have to try to relay what some designer thinks about designing for the lower classes. Who cares?
There is certainly a place for theory and opinion at SXSW, but I think the powers that be should introduce more “lesson” type sessions like yours were. They changed the way I do things. THAT is the point… isn’t it?
Thank you for energizing my creativity again. Your two sessions were the best. Easily.
Useful presentation.
Can I ask why you use a base body type setting of 12px in your presentation with all the complex em settings — and why not say the 62.5% setting to get a base setting of 10pt ?
Just curious — I’m trying to decide which method to use.