Interactivity
Day three of SXSW brought the trade shows. Corey and I went to check out the different vendors
and started weaving through the myriad of booths. Free swag? Yes, please. Freebies included shirts, pins, stickers, candy, wristbands, 
pens, guitar picks, and more. There were also games and chances to win prizes, such as with the “Server Challenge,” which gives a MacBook Air to the person who can lock in the fastest time for putting a server back together by the end of the week. At least that’s what I think I was watching. Naturally, Corey played.
As we neared the end of our trade show tour, we saw a guy working a booth with a name tag that read Lupe Fiasco. It didn’t really look like him, and why would Lupe Fiasco be working SX, anyway? Later we found out it was totally him. Note to newbies: you will see celebrities.
My first session of the day reached full capacity before I could get in the door, as did my back-up plan, so I ended up catching A Life Worth Living Is a Life Worth Recording. The speaker, Trey Ratcliff, is famous on the internets for his HDR photography. His memorable quotes include, “An artist creates for the sake of creating, and he shares with the world as a means to connect,” and “Fuck the establishment. Make your own establishment.” How very pointed and punk.
Later I walk about a mile to the Sheraton to catch a panel on social media–specifically, how we socialize online and offline and how they affect each other. My exhaustion caught up with me and I almost nodded off a couple times despite the intriguing panel and their viewpoints.
Austin After Dark
After the day is over, Corey and I meet up with the KC crew and grab grub at The Old School. Around 7:30 we walk over to the club where Girl Talk is playing later to check out the line and stay ahead of the crowd, but apparently that is impossible at SXSW. The line was already a few blocks long and wrapped around the building and into an ally. With the doors not opening for another hour, it was likely to take a couple hours to get in (if they didn’t hit capacity before we got up there, which was very plausible). Not to mention that the line for drinks would be horrendous, so we abandon our place in line and head back towards 6th.
The back of Adam Duritz’s head
At some point in the evening, we’re walking down the main strip and I glance up to see a bigger guy sporting jeans, a sports jacket, and thick, black dreads. This could only mean one thing. I was staring at Adam Duritz. The Counting Crows are one of my top five favorite bands of all time, and Duritz is one of the most tortured, eccentric personalities I know. Which I like. I’ve traveled to St. Louis to see them play outside, I’ve participated in album art contests, and I’ve considered getting “August and Everything After” tattooed on my body. Without thinking, I graze his arm and start to say, “Hi,” but the girl he’s with grabs his arm and exclaims, “Adam, Adam!” diverting his attention to something mundane in the opposite direction. Feeling slighted (but not defeated), I grab Liz and we stalk them until I can take a blurry photo of the back of his head.
I crop the girl he’s with out.
Separated from the boys, Liz and I grab some late-night food at Casino and drinks before heading home around midnight and getting some shut-eye before my last day begins.