The Film and Interactive elements of South by Southwest wrapped up on Wednesday, meaning it was time for me to head back to the UK.
The first couple of days of my visit were a little dreary and grey, but this all cleared by the time I left, meaning that as I headed to Austin airport, the city was bathed in sunshine and live music poured out of every bar. The Music element was just getting started and it was very tempting to extend my stay a few days longer…
The panels I enjoyed the most were probably Lessig’s (as mentioned before), and Gary Vaynerchuk’s which I just caught the end of. I had only tangentially heard of Gary before, and the topic of his talk was no doubt less epic than Larry’s, but the enthusiasm he brought was just amazing. Someone in the audience likened him to an eight year-old on speed; combine that with wicked humour and Belorussian DNA and you’re about there.
The word on the street is that the most valuable part of SxSW is not the organised panels, but the informal, serendipitous meetings which happen in all the after-parties, lunch breaks and hallways. Now I’m not sure about that; being lucky enough to live in San Francisco, I get those sort of chance encounters all the time – the range of amazing people you run into is one of my favourite things about the Bay!
Instead, it was the little glimpses of Texan life off the well-beaten SxSW track which I valued the most.
For example, on our last night, George and I headed out for a steak dinner (which is traditional in Texas), Brazilian-style (which is not). The idea is that you get a little marker with a red side and a green side. As long as the marker is green side up, obsequious chaps in jodphurs rush around with steaming spits of deliciousness, smothering your plate in fillet mignon, sirloin, chops, cutlets, sausages, … It was incredible.
Another highlight was going to a Texas two-step night. We only knew about it because Christoff’s friend, Pearl, put us onto it (then patiently pushed us round the dance floor while we stepped on her). Two-step’s a style of dancing with three steps in it, and although it’s hideously simple, I completely failed to master even the basic pattern. It’s galling to be shown up at a physical activity by overweight octogenarians, but this happened repeatedly – there was even a grandpa there with a special move – suddenly jumping a couple of feet into the air, clicking his heels, then continuing to sashay around the dancefloor as if nothing had happened.
Overall, I found that the everyday Austinites were much more down-to-earth and honest than the hipster San Francisco crowd, and unbelievably liberal given the state’s voting record. Still can’t wait to get back to the west coast though 
