The grapes of Austin and SXSW Interactive have fermented into the wine of memory. As I sip it, here are a few of the many flavors that emerge:
My book reading on Friday at 2:30 PM is the first official event of SXSW Interactive, which is like playing in the jayvee game before the varsity takes the floor. I play a good game, though. At the start of my session, there are maybe a hundred people in the audience, including Brian Murphy, who is the first person I introduced to the concept of improvisation in business, six years ago. More people arrive during the reading, including my friend Lin Su, who works in Search Experience for Yahoo. The audience is with me. I sell ten books afterward, not bad. Ray Nichols from New Orleans, whose business card introduces him as a ‘Gonzo Volunteer’ says he’s going to invite me to conduct GameChangers workshops for re-developers there. I hope this happens, it will be an honor. For the rest of the conference, three or four people a day come up to me and strike up conversations about GameChangers. One, Michael Moss, a video producer from Atlanta, greets me with, “It’s Mr. Yes-And!”
THE BUS RIDE. When I go to rent a car in Dallas, I discover that my driver’s license has expired, and that the only real option for me to get to Austin is aboard a bus. I am pissed at myself, and get even more pissed when the shuttle to the bus station is late to pick me up. Then I begin a conversation with Nelda, the shuttle coordinator. She has a patient, pleasant demeanor, and it’s not this phony cheeriness that somebody in the home office scripted for her role, it’s for real. It says to me as plainly as if she’s speaking it out loud that a delay in an airport shuttle bus, or having to take a bus instead of drive a rental car from Dallas to Austin is the least troublesome thing in the world. And she’s right. Nelda’s outlook reminds that we always have a choice how we see and react to setbacks, or to any situation for that matter.