I’m representing Real Art this week at South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas this week. When it comes to web design, development, social media, and interactivity, this is a 5-day hurricaine of awesome. The most common word used to describe the event – scaled up from 12,000 to 20,000 attendees this year – is “overwhelming”. The event takes on its own culture where it’s expected for attendees to communicate with speakers via tweet. It’s also understood that attendees walk out of presentations that don’t appeal to them.

I’m learning a ton and forming lots of new ideas to take back home to Real Art and our clients. Both the speakers and the other attendees have been inspiring. I’ve been enjoying meeting smart, creative, involved people everywhere I turn. They’re all excited to meet me and discuss ideas. Those of you that know me well can imagine how much I love that!

I’m tweeting about it as it happens and getting ready to share it in detail via blog posts. In the meantime, follow @realart or @patricehall for my thoughts during speaker presentations.