Week in review
It’s been all about two phenomenal conferences this week: SxSW and MIX10.
Anyone missing out on the real deal was not to be disappointed, with information sharing at an all-time high. Social networking sites such as Twitter, Flickr and Foursquare supported a constant stream of updates, opinions and news, proving that privacy paranoia is a thing of the past.
More than ever, those who stayed at home could get up-to-the second sound bites from both speakers and attendees straight to their home or office. It was all the fun of the fair without having to queue for the loo.
SxSW
12 - 21 March 2010
For those lucky enough to go to The South by Southwest (SxSW) conference this year, the line-up promised a wow-factor week of discovery and innovation.
Now celebrating 24 years of original music, independent films and emerging technologies, Austin, Texas played host to a huge range of interested onlookers, from diehard tech geeks to achingly hip film aficionados.
Keynotes and performances by the likes of Valerie Casey, founder and Executive Director of the Designers Accord, legendary rockers, Motorhead, and iconic actors, Bill Murray, Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek ensured that the event pulled in excited devotees in their thousands.
Concern mounted in the eMedia that SxSW had been ruined by the Twitterati, and was encouraging celeb gawkers and rubber-neckers, while true techies and start-ups were left to look on from the side-lines.
User generated output told a different story though, with reports of exciting new music discoveries, intense learning experiences and unique networking opportunities.
MIX10
15 - 17 March 2010
Designers and developers descended on Las Vegas in their droves this week for the eagerly anticipated annual conference from Microsoft, MIX10.
The tech supernova rolled out their ever-impressive cast of gurus, including Scott Hanselman, Brad Abrams, Phil Haack and Miguel de Icaza to extoll the virtues of Silverlight and the Windows 7 Phone series.
User experience drew some much-needed attention this year, with the likes of Nick Finck talking about the process of creating great wireframes, Noah Gedrich, Eric Perez and Sean Scott speaking about creating great experiences through collaboration, and Nishant Kothary delving into behavioural economics and psychology to explain how the process of software design reveals our humanness.
Did you go to SxSW, MIX10 or any other events you'd like to share your thoughts about this week? Contact us and we'll publish your comments in next week's article.
