SxSW: Initial Thougths

Eve Dmochowska    Events, SxSW    

I’m on Day 4 of my US trip, and although I actually am able to sleep now, my mind is still at that state where I have to ask other people what day of the week it is.

SxSW (South by South West) is an experience, and a half. It’s unlike any other conference I have ever attended. There is no focus, there are no tracks. What there is a plethora of choice of session after session after session. If one is diligent and committed to the cause, one can attend up to 6 sessions per day, each lasting an hour. There is a choice of at least 15 sessions to choose from during each time slot, and no session is repeated. Simple math will tell you that that is a) a lot of talks and b) we are missing out on too many.

What amazes me is how little overlap there is on session attendance among the South African team. Each morning, we summarize for each other what each one of us is attending, while eating breakfast and catching up on work. My friends tend to get excited by talks that would put me to sleep. That’s a good thing: it means we are a diverse bunch, and our skills and interests are wide spread. That translates into a bigger pool of more diverse talent, and also suggests that each one is honing an area of expertise that the others can tap into as needed.

As I said, there is no specific track. So the attendees are 100% responsible for shaping their SxSW experience. That is a bit daunting, but also a lot of fun. It is also very challenging, since I find myself floating all over the space moving from one discipline to a completely different one. The downside of that is that there is a suspicion that I am not getting as much from the conference as I should be, since I touch on subjects briefly (one hour session) rather than going in deep and dirty with a full day track. So, today, my chosen talks are:

• Beyond LAMP: Scaling websites past mySQL
• Merchandising: The other white meat of monatization
• Coding for pleasure: developing killer spare time apps
• System Design and Inspiration (this is a keynote, with no other alternatives. Might give it a miss)
• Crowdsourcing Innovative social change
• Gmail: Behind the scenes

It’s taken me a couple of days to adjust my expectations of SxSW: it is a “conference” that should be used for inspiration, to kick start a creative process, to accelerate your success, to change your approach to your work day, to give you confidence to think out the box. That is very different from a conference that gives you expertise in a specific, narrow discipline that you can translate quickly into increased revenue for yourself. There should be a place for both types of conferences in your annual schedule. I suspect SxSW is the most inspirational, “general” conference out there, and you would be better off if you attend it.

Also, the diversity of the talks ensures that you meet, or at least see in action, the most diverse bunch, of the most amazing people. I saw Chris Brogan having a coffee this morning, listened to Clay Shirky give a talk, am meeting the BBC to talk about Crowdfund. Where else, but here, I ask you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Take your venture to SxSW without getting on a plane

Eve Dmochowska    Events, People, Projects, Start Ups, SxSW    

Ok…things are getting a bit frazzled here, as final arrangements are made by the delegation on its way to SxSW…but a whole bunch of excitement is in the air.

As a final “push” to push S Africa on the unsuspecting attendees, I would like to give each SAfrican delegate 30 badges of South African startup logos (one badge=one logo; one delegate=30 badges). They can do with them as they wish…put it on their computer bags, tshirts, give away. Whatever.

If you have a startup, and a logo, and want to send it SxSW…send it to me as a file. We’ll make it happen.

(Well, I hope we’ll make it happen. Someone has to foot the R3,000 bill. If anyone wants to sponsor this, and get a *big* badge of *their* start up at SxSW…give me a call!)

Popularity: 35% [?]

Crowdfund launches! Let’s go!

Eve Dmochowska    Funding, Projects, Start Ups, SxSW    

I have been thinking, dreaming and scheming up this idea for months, and I have finally co-ordinated my life well enough to make this a core project for the next 12 months.

The Crowdfund concept is simple:

Pool the money of 1000 South Africans who invest R1,000 each towards a R1 million angel fund to help online start-ups get off the ground.

There is hardly any decent angel investment network, or even an angel investment culture, in South Africa. That has had devastating consequences the local online industry, and we are paying the price by not launching many (hardly any?) online applications with global appeal.

An angel network is crucial, because it provides the capital to startups to develop ideas into prototypes. Those ideas can then be taken to a more formal investment vehicle, like a venture capitalist, who is eager to invest more money, but only toward a proven concept.

The logic goes like this: Out of 10 companies in which a Venture Capitalist (VC) will invest, about six will fail. Two or three might break even. And one or two will be hugely successful, and will make the entire investment in the ten companies worthwhile. Problem is: you really do need to hedge your bets. Which is difficult to do, if there are no startups to choose from.

The Crowdfund aims to fix that. Not only do we want to change the investment mindset of an angel investor, but we want to encourage the development of good, solid, viable and huge-potential ideas, that can then be launched on the global scene with the help of local or international VCs.

It won’t happen if you don’t get involved. We need a crowd to make the Crowdfund work!

If you are intersted to find out more, please visit the website www.Crowdfunding.co.za .

Popularity: 2% [?]

SAfrica goes to SxSW – but who’s going?

Eve Dmochowska    Events, People, SxSW    

There are about 3 weeks left before a contingency of South Africans hits one of the biggest and best geek conferences in the US: SxSW (South by South West). I am hoping that the group will use this blog to post their experiences, views, opinions etc from SxSW. In the meantime, I thought I’d post a list of who exactly is going. So here it is, in no particular order:

Ivo Vegter opinionated journalist

Popularity: 100% [?]

What is SxSW interactive?

Eve Dmochowska    Events, Start Ups, SxSW    

Popularity: unranked [?]