“Survival” was a major buzzword at the South by Southwest Interactive festival this year in Austin, Texas, and event planners and marketers talked often in life-or-death terms. They seemed desperate to keep attendees like me in Wi-Fi and non-GMO energy bars at all times. I appreciated the efforts (and love non-GMO energy bars) but the extremes belied what is to me the real value of the conference, which has less to do with elbowing my way through a crowd and more to do with the simple, quiet surprises that come from chance conversations and interesting people.
Much of this occurred to me while attending Gary Vaynerchuk’s session “How to Rock SXSW.” He’s an entrepreneur, author and angel investor and this session was planned for the first official day. But it included so much of the simple, “aha” stuff, with applications outside of this event and this town, or business in general, that I share it now, after SXSW has ended. (If you are pressed for time, and cannot skip ahead, it all boils down to one point: Be good, but try your damnedest to be better.)
Here are some of the biggest takeaways:
Pay forward first.
Enjoy more. (AKA: “Stop fracking bitching.”)
Farm. Don’t hunt.
Be human.
Be grateful.
Finish what you start.
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