South by Southwest

I'm in one of my favorite places at the moment, Austin, Texas. I'm here on business at the South by Southwest Interactive conference. I've come here to what's known as SXSW since 1999, except for a couple of years after the dot-com bust. But now that we're in the beginning stages of what people here are calling "the New New Economy," interactive media is getting hot again. So I'm here supporting my existing authors who are the stars of various panels, and seeking new ones to write about the next big thing.

Conferences like this are a flurry of interesting panels, going out to lunch and dinner with people, and then nights full of parties in hip Austin bars. This is the part of my job I like best: schmoozing and socializing, learning about heady new things and trying to envision what the future holds for all this web stuff.

Many of the panels are about blogging. You wouldn't think there'd be that much to say about blogging, but there is. Everything from the impact of blogs on the traditional media, politics, culture. My head is spinning with ideas.

Soon I hope to post some pictures of the goings on and maybe some of Austin. It's a sweet place.