Confessions of a SXSW Virgin

Well, the big confession, aside from the fact that I'm SO not packed at all (though I have a list!) is that I'm excited but also really nervous. About the panel, about finding my way around, about the whole thing. But I'm mostly totally excited to hang with my NYC friends like Rachel Fershleiser and Liza Sabater and Mikki Halpin and to meet my fellow panelists and all sorts of cool people. And Liz Belile! Jason Toney! Annalee Newitz! Cory Silverberg! Plus plenty of people I've never heard of but I'm sure are super cool. Okay, I'm less nervous than excited. And, armed with my new Johnny Cupcakes "Make Cupcakes Not War" t-shirt and macbook, I shall be there.

When I arrive, the lovely Shelly Swift of Austin's Babycakes bakery will have delivered yummy cupcakes to my hotel! Check them out if you want a cupcake delivery of your own - she makes chocolate peanut butter ones and chocolate peppermint and lots of other flavors. Yum! These photos are by Austin photographer Cory Ryan.





Here are the panels I'm going to try to go to. I put mine at the top cause you should all come to it!

Monday I'm signing First-Timers and Caught Looking at 3 pm at the iF South by Bookstore

Do You Blog on the First Date?

Room 10AB

Monday, March 12th

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

You've just had a great night out with a hot prospect. Should you post about it? The answer, for many, is yes and they then ask their friends to weigh in. One recent blog features a woman who is inviting readers to vote on which guy she should lose her virginity to! Why are they doing this and why are we reading it? Is this Dating 2.0? Or Exhibitionism 101?

Moderator: Mikki Halpin Writer, Freelance Writer

mikki halpin Writer, Freelance Writer
Melanie Boyer Dating Blogger, Washington City Paper/About Last Night
Rachel Bussel Freelance
Emily Listfield Writer, Redbook Magazine
Alyssa Shelasky Glamour


From Blog to Book

Room Ballroom F

Saturday, March 10th

3:30 pm - 3:55 pm

Can your blog really make you a star in the world of book publishing?This session includes feedback from a variety of bloggers-turned-authors whose recently-released books have propelled them to the top of the best-seller lists.

John Hargrave Media Shower Inc
Tucker Max

Parent Bloggers 2.0: Can 'Diaper Diarist' Make Real Dollars?

Room 9AB

Sunday, March 11th

10:00 am - 11:00 am

In 2005 David Hochman wrote in the New York Times, "The baby blog in many cases is an online shrine to parental self-absorption." Since then, the baby blog has come a long way--and advertisers and networks like Blogging Baby, BlogHer, Federated Media, Minti, ClubMom, and Nickelodeon's Parents Connect are taking notice. How has this new attention affected the way parents put themselves--and their kids--online? Is "mommyblogging" still marginal--or is it ready to be monetized?

Moderator: Marrit Ingman , Austin Chronicle

Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle
Asha Dornfest Founder/Editor, Parent Hacks
Danny Evans Writer, Dad Gone Mad
Tracey Gaughran-Perez Author, Sweetney.com
Amy Corbett Storch Amalah.com


Blogging Where Speech Isn't Free

Room Ballroom F

Sunday, March 11th

11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Many nations have no tradition of free speech, and in those contexts, blogging can be extremely dangerous. How can those bloggers protect themselves, and how can we help them?

Moderator: Jon Lebkowsky Partner, Polycot Consulting LLC

Jon Lebkowsky Partner, Polycot Consulting LLC
Shahed Amanullah Founder, Halalfire Media LLC
Robert Faris Harvard Law School - Berkman Center
Shava Nerad Exec Dir, The Tor Project
Ethan Zuckerman Co-Founder, Global Voices


I Can't Believe You Sent That: E-mail Disasters, Large and Small and How to Avoid Them

Room 19AB

Sunday, March 11th

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

The real problem with email lies in its quality, not quantity. People make too many mistakes with email -- "Reply All" disasters, for example. And many people email mindlessly, with language too casual or too cold. In our forthcoming book, SEND (due out April 2007), we explore ways -- based on science and our own experience -- to create emails that are less annoying and more effective. We'll present these, along with the results of an anecdotal survey revealing what about email most aggravates SXSW participants (join the discussion in advance at www.thinkbeforeyousend.com). First 100 panel attendees get free review copy of the book.

Will Schwalbe Random House
David Shipley Random House/New York Times


Sex and Computational Technology

Room 9AB

Sunday, March 11th

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Computer technology has moved off the desktop and into homes, cars, pockets, and urban streets, in support of human relationships casual or intimate. Sex is an important facet of human experience, something that intertwines with intimacy, domesticity, mental health, play, and many other areas of our lives. Sex + tech is more than lots o' internet porn. Let's talk about teledildonics, virtuality, intimate interfaces, assistive technologies, and more.

Moderator: Amanda Williams , University of California at Irvine

Amanda Williams University of California at Irvine
Violet Blue Blogger, Open Source Sex
Johanna Brewer University of California at Irvine
Kyle Machulis Engineer, Nonpolynomial Labs
Cory Silverberg Author & Educator, Come As You Are & About.com

The Future of the Book: Dead or Alive?

Room 9AB

Tuesday, March 13th

10:00 am - 11:00 am

How will information survive? Will digital archiving keep our information and memories intact, or will we lose more bits than we save? What do books mean in the digital age? Will old time publishing survive? Who are the real bookmakers today? What does it mean today that anyone can be their own publisher?

Moderator: Peter Merholz President/Co-Founder, Adaptive Path

Brewster Kahle Internet Archive
Terri Ducay Vice President Design, Cheskin
Eileen Gittins CEO, Blurb
Peter Merholz President/Co-Founder, Adaptive Path

Monday, March 12, 2007
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Where
The Ritz
320 E. 6th St.
Austin, Texas
Category
Social
Description
We're hitting the road for our favourite shindig: SXSW!

Drinks, nachos and and a twist: each guest for as long as it takes them to drink one beer.

Theme: Continuous Partial Attention
Leading tech thinker Linda Stone coined the term to describe the way many of us live. What is worth our full attention? How do we give it? For how long? Join Heather and guests at her 11th SXSW appearance for this special show. Each guest, leading indie geeks, musicians, filmmakers and attention cultivators will join Heather for as long as it takes them to drink one beer.

Guests include:
•Justin Hall [links.net]
•Ryanne Hodson [Ryanishungry.com]
•Micki Krimmel [Mickipedia.com]
•Liz Belile [yoga teacher + feminist p*rnster]
•Lane Becker [Satisfaction]
•Derek Powazek [8020 Publishing | JPG Magazine]
•filmmaker Doug Pray [Scratch, Big Rig]
•Kent Nichols [Askaninja.com]

Comedian Heather Gold brings the talk show format into the 21st century. Heather DJs people and the show mashes up diverse thinkers, entertainers, doers and the audience around a universal theme.

Based in San Francisco, the live show regularly sells out and has been described as "This American Life in real-time."

Past guests include: CorningWare designer and past Director of Stanford's Process of Change Lab Sara Little Turnbull, Dr. Lillian Rubin, novelist Michelle Tea and Flickr cofounder Caterina Fake, comic Betsy Salkind (The Tonight Show) and creator of Yahoo Hack Day Bradley Horowitz.

FREE just RSVP at Upcoming

http://www.heathergold.com