We made it back from South by Southwest (SXSW), and as you can see I didn't have any chances to post something from the conference while in Austin.

This was the first time I have attended SXSW and I have mixed emotions about the event.  In general the sessions were the weakest part, with most presenters being thoroughly unprepared.  Of course, it could have just been bad luck since some of my teammates attended sessions that they really liked.  The keynote with Mark Zuckerberg was also a joke.
 
That being the case, I did make some new connections and our team had a GREAT time hanging out together and with a few of our friends from Edelman.  Traveling together further reaffirms how special our team is.  I think that one of the reasons Rockfish has been so successful is because we all come to work and get to “play” together each day.  Sure, our toys are computers and software.  But if that’s what you love doing then you might as well do it working around people you like and respect.
 
Two of my personal highlights included meeting Jeff Bezos and Guy Kawasaki. 

  As far as I know, Jeff wasn't presenting at the event.  I know I'm getting old in Internet years as most people I've showed this picture to have no idea who this is.  In the mid to late 90's when I was running my own e-commerce company, Jeff was the "hero" of building an online business.  Today it's just old, reliable, profitable, and boring Amazon.com.
 
I've kept up with Guy Kawasaki's blog now for some time.  Guy has written and spoken extensively on starting technology companies.  Dana and I actually make a brief appearance on his blog in the photo slideshow from the event.

I may post a few more pictures when I get them or a video of Chris Baran “rocking” on Guitar Hero soon.  He actually had a very respectable showing against one awesome player that Microsoft sponsored to have at their Silverlight booth.