Yes, I was at SXSWi this year. No, I didn't blog it. I didn't blog before I went, I didn't blog while I was there. I didn't liveblog any panels or moblog any parties. I'm a travesty of a new media... guy...

Well, I'll blog it now, as best as I can remember it. You see, the only thing the attendies of this year's SXSW Interacetive Conference love more than terms like 'The Semantic Web' and 'Unobtrusive JavaScript', is booze. These nerds can drink. I, being a wannabee nerd and a relatively new drinker, had something to prove, you see.

Those intimately familiar with the conference are probably not the same people who will be visiting this page, so I'll take it from the top for the benefit of the unfamiliar. SXSW Interactive is arguably the predominant conference in the country on the topic of internet design and development. The majority of discussing and panels are bit bit less technical and a bit more theoretical. For instance, there were a number of panels centering around the current hot button of 'Citizen Journalism', or news blogging. Other panels concerned themselves with Web Standards and accesibility; the reasons why and the logic behind. There were no lessons in C# or photoshop tutorials, thank god.

Beyond the panels, SXSW is a gatherum of old friends and peers. It's a particularly weird vibe... Kind of like Burningman might be if it were held fully clothed in the Austin Convention Center. There's a decidedly bohemian air, even though the majority of shirts in the hallways bear some sort of reference to either and Atari game or the wearer's IP address. At 5pm sharp, the panels shut down and the bars open. And by open, I mean open. Open bars throughout the night every night. From 6-7 at this club and from 7-9 and the next club. Everyone knows when and where the drinks are free and the enrds are going crazy. Combine this with Austin's weekend habit of closing off all the streets in the bar district to traffic and holding a makeshift Mardi-Gras, and you've got quite a different kind of party.

Micki and I had several good friends there with us and managed to meet and greet with a number of other so-and-sos. Perhaps most notably Dunstan Orchard, who's blog I'm just loving, John Styn, who's cuffs match his collar (if you will), and Tantek Celik, who wrote IE 5.5 along with most of the HTML specs I've ever read.

That's it. No revalations, no saucy photos, no torrid details of nerd cross-polination. This is my SXSW wrap-up. Love it or leave it.

PS. - for proper coverage of SXSW, you might check in with Ben at home or at Austinist.