This South By South West Thing

Image by David Berkowitz via FlickrI have to admit, it has started to tug at me a little. I just looked up and found out it starts on March 11. That's Friday.

Okay, Ron Rofe, put in the first 10K. Send me to South By South West. All I would need is a two way plane ticket. How would I do that? I have never bought a plane ticket in America. How would I go from the airport to downtown? I don't think the A train works there. Where would I stay? I guess by now it's too late to be making hotel reservations. If it is warm enough, I could sleep anywhere. I could sleep by the roadside.

I actually sent emails to three people I know. One bounced back. Another did not respond. The third said he was in San Antonio. Maybe somebody who already has hotel reservations will let me squeeze in. I don't need a mattress, no blanket. But I do sleep. I am one of those seven, eight hours kind.

GroupOn Did Not Launch At South By South West

Image via WikipediaGroupOn has grown like crazy. But it was not launched at South By South West. And I have an observation to make.

GroupOn has this very clear offline component to it. It has hired thousands of sales people. And its customer base is your very average person, the Walmart types. They want to save money. They want to save money on haircuts.

That is why you do not hear GroupOn and South By South West in one sentence. I never have. Because GroupOn's early adopters were not the kind of people who end up at South By South West.

Overall I feel good about South By South West. But I also have a word of caution for the crowd. You don't want to end up in some kind of an echo chamber where you are only hearing each other. It is possible to collect too many business cards. What are you going to do with them? Networking is a good thing overall, but too many business cards can also mean a lack of focus.

Like the Kayak.com CEO likes to say, I don't go to events.