South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX :: March 11-17
My travels this spring kicked off with South by Southwest. Work sent me this year for the opportunity to build on my knowledge and understanding of the web during SXSW Interactive, as well as the chance to meet so many like-minded geeks. For those of you who aren’t aware, SXSW is actually three events that take place over the course of ten days: Interactive covers web and video game development, Film includes the film festival and film-related panels, and Music incorporates the thousands of showcases and industry sessions. Because I had a platinum pass—thank you Mākaha Studios!—I had access to all three aspects of SXSW. I’ll focus on Interactive for this entry.

It’s no joke that Twitter was such a useful tool when I was there. Through Twitter and SXSW’s social website, my.SXSW, I met several other attendees from Hawai‘i, with whom I bounced off knowledge and feedback on sessions, and explored the tastes of Austin… particularly BBQ and Cuban food! I sampled the latter food option during a “Lost” fans/Hawai‘i meetup that local web evangelist and fellow SXSW attendee Ryan Ozawa set up.

The ExpressionEngine 2.0 panel was a highlight session for me, thank goodness, because I use EE at work and it was one I was looking forward to the most. It was everything an outstanding presentation should be: engaging, informative, and occasionally funny. And the slides did what they were supposed to: they were visual aids, not crutches for each presenter.

Let’s contrast this with some low points during SXSW Interactive. The presentation for HTML5 Accessibility lacked direction and professionalism — the PowerPoint slides were dense with text. The presenter sounded like she knew what she was talking about, but let’s face it, she was boring and for much of her presentation, refused to aim her mouth toward the mic in such a way that the entire huge ballroom could hear her. This was one of two events that I actually walked out on, the other event being the “keynote” (in a dry interview format) with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Not sure why I didn’t walk out on Twitter CEO Evan Williams’s keynote (also a dry interview format), but I might as well should have because I zoned out for most of it.

RIP Justin :: March 11
Of course, these supposed low points pale in comparison to the most significant low I experienced while I was in Austin—this one was personal. The night before the start of SXSW, I got a call that my good friend and colleague, Justin Cash, passed away. We trained together at Apple and talked a lot online about geeky stuff, work, and life. When he passed, he was getting ready to move out to crash at a friend’s apartment as he waited to hear about a potential job transfer to Honolulu. We were also in the middle of preparing our music blog, where you can now read the music review he wrote up shortly before he passed, as well as a bit more info on Justin.

I could not believe that it happened so suddenly and at such an inopportune moment. He was looking forward to making a life change and all of a sudden, it was taken away from him. I felt helpless; there was nothing I could do. I felt guilty for having so much to look forward to for that week and a half—or really, the next month or so—and that somehow I shouldn’t be allowed to have that. The guilt resurfaced when I flew to New York City a month after his death (more on that trip eventually) because I felt like I should have visited Justin while he was still alive. After quite a bit of thinking throughout my travels, I know Justin would not have wanted me to stop what I was doing on his behalf. He’d think I’d be silly for doing so.

Next entry: SXSW Film and Music

A lot has happened to me since my last blog entry. For starters, I graduated from Hawai‘i Pacific University in May with a B.A. in Advertising. Go me!

Since September I’ve been working full time at a little media production company in Wai‘anae called Makaha Studios. There, I’m in charge of our Web site projects. My official title? “Director of Web Development.” I know, it sounds very official. Though I consider myself to be tech-savvy, it definitely is a learning process. At this point, I’m feeling a bit more comfortable with my position at the company, but a hardcore programmer, I am not. That’s why we have Bill and Kaleb! I just got my own little office this week, complete with a glass desk, white bucket chair, and blue filing cabinet that I picked out at Office Max. Plus, there are a few projects I’m excited about taking part in. I’ll spare you the details.

I’m still working at my previous job on the weekends, helping people create Web sites and other personal, computer-related projects of their own. But I’m also helping sell computers too. I like the variety of having my two jobs. I get to expose myself to the different sides of technology: creating and helping others create using technology, and convincing others to join in on the fun.

Speaking of which, if you have a Twitter account, follow me. My user name is libz.

http://flickr.com/photos/libperalta/sets/72157604723013727/

Also, turns out I’m heading back to the Bay Area! Apparently, Apple sends one Genius and one Creative from each store for training at their headquarters (a.k.a. the mothership) in Cupertino. Just when I was bummed out that last week’s trip went by too quickly! My manager told me earlier this week that they’re planning on sending me there in June. Yay! =)

For my advertising seminar class, we’ll be planning a campaign for the annual National Student Advertising Competition. I ended up being team captain, which works out, since I’m also president of HPU’s American Advertising Federation chapter. Since we’re the only Hawaii university participating this year, we’ll be competing as a wild card team in the District 14 (Northern California/Northern Nevada) competition in San Francisco in April.

I’m also in the running for a communications fellowship in New York City. My interview is next week, so wish me luck with that.

For photography class, I’ll have to build a camera to demonstrate the basic inner workings of one. That’s due in March. I also have to present a case study on Apple’s “Get a Mac” ad campaign for that advertising seminar class in late February. For anthro, I’m presenting the book Things Fall Apart next week. And I have to build a PowerPoint on a new technology for my online Communication Futures class.

Outside of school, I attended the annual Hawaii Advertising Federation Conference last Thursday. Interesting stuff, but it sucked waking up so early. I was supposed to wake up at 4:30 am but I ended up waking up at 5:30 am, so I had to rush to get ready. Of course, I missed my bus, so my mom drove me to Nanakuli to catch up with it. Yeah, unfair, I know. =P

I also went to Goodwill’s annual silent auction last night with most of the Olomana crew. My feet were sore by the end of the evening because of the setup. There were food stands all over the place, and several rooms with the silent auction items. Seating was all over the place, but they were mostly taken. Other than that, I had a good time. I had a glass of red wine—not a big fan of wine—and watched the “Signing Stars.” That was cool. A group of people with developmental disabilities went up on stage and did sign language along with a Leann Rimes song.

So as you can see, I’ve been and will be pretty busy. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I just hate being stressed out.