Some of the intriguing glass sculptures in the SE stairwell of the Austin Convention Center. Quite a bit more appealing than the institutional drab of the meeting rooms.
Met some great people, including Rhea of The Boomer Chronicles, and Virginia of First 50 Words. Plus a lot of cool, nice, smart techies.
Yes, I was at the PostSecret session with Mr. Warren, and witnessed the young man sharing his secret with the audience--he proposed to his girlfriend on stage, and to his relief, she accepted. A young woman shared her fear about her sister's illness. This was not your typical SXSWi session. "PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." The art and the revelations compel you to dig deeper.
The only two sessions I could find on elders and technology were "Over Fifty and Not Dead Yet," targeting enterpreneurs who want to know how to market to us geezers and geezettes. I made a little comment at the end of the session, which resulted in an invitation to one of the "Conversations," a new feature this year. "Your Mom 2.0" slanted toward the usability and design techies. Some interesting discussion there.
I was disappointed that these were the only two this year. I suppose we're not that interesting--either that, or the generational gap is deeper than I thought. The obvious answer to that is to propose more sessions on aging and technology. Anyone game to work on such a presentation?
3.16.2008
SXSWi images
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7 comments:
Sounds good and like you enjoyed yourself immensely!!! If you need help, just holler!!!!!! I'm game!!!
Perhaps the Boomers crossing the 65 threshold coupled with our small numbers just isn't enough of an attraction. Do you have some ideas for sessions they might find appealing? Expect you'll have a winner if they see a way to make money.
It was great to meet you face to face! Thanks for coming to the panel.
SXSW does seem to be lacking interest in elders. Ronni Bennett presented there two or three years ago and could likely give you some insight on her experience as it might bear on any efforts toward future presentations you might devise. Guess we just have to keep whittling away with our presence at these tech conventions. Sooner or later maybe they'll desire to become more inclusive.
Kay, keep talking. Any ideas you may have are welcome. I expect we will come up with some solutions if we just put a little thought into it.
rhea, enjoyed your panel immensely, and came away with some great links. Thanks for being so patient and understanding with the "youngsters" in the audience ;) It was great to meet you--I'll give you a heads-up the next time I come to Boston, and we can meet somewhere on Washington St. :)
joared, yes, Ronni told me that speaking at SXSW wasn't quite the experience she expected. Monetizing may be the answer. I'm thinking now about a panel made up of BOTH younger techies and elder strategists, mix it up to draw from several audiences. Maybe convincing a forward-thinking tech company to sponsor a "think tank," or grant to explore the issues. It will take a lot of collaboration and exposure, but I think it's doable.
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