Smart Kitty

I am back from SXSW! I am back with my elegant cat in my modest one-bedroom apartment. Hurray! La Quinta Inn conspired to prevent me from blogging. The taped together modem finally gave.

Here are the highlights of my last two days there:

1) The keynote by Frank Warren of Post Secret was the opposite mood of the angry Facebook sadness of the day before. People were crying and smiling and hugging. A man went on stage and proposed to his girlfriend! (She said yes) A woman cried and asked for support for her sister who was ill. Charitable donations! Hugs!

He read an interesting SXSW secret (there were drop boxes and blank post cards around the convention center): "I work for a large company that sent me here to steal ideas from startups. I am pretending to be a freelancer." Yuck.

2)I went to a party where someone who was talking to Scoble stopped to come talk to me. It could have been because I was near the food. But I will pretend like it was because I am more interesting and don't look like Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

3) At one point, I was talking to four men at the same time who were all over 6'3". It wasn't a romantic situation at all. (Sorry, internet) However, in a world where everyone (including me) is so damned short, it was pretty awesome.

4) I kept being surprised that people saw me as a "woman in the tech industry" after I told them what I do for a living. I think it's the glasses and lack of makeup, or maybe that I don't dress very stylishly. Apparently, I am facing great odds in a man's world. My job is to communicate things to people and support them, when it comes down to it. Sounds like "woman's work" to me. When I would downplay my technical knowledge (not out of modesty, but because it really is not my area of expertise, especially compared with most of the conference attendees), men would tell me I was wrong and that I was indeed a tech professional and knowledgeable about these things. OK, thanks, men! (They were not hitting on me, as they all mentioned wives or girlfriends lovingly and acted like gentlemen) Don't know if that was wishful thinking on their part, politeness, if I know more than I think or a combination of all three.

5) Seriously. Don't say "Twitter" to me. Ever.


6) Two of the sites that I work with, Dooce and Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, swept the Bloggies! Heather and Jon Armstrong (Dooce) are one of my favorite working-together couples. Adorable. Many of the people from sites I work with were there serving on panels, paneling circles around the folks next to them. Woo! Team spirit! Kent Nichols, co-creator of Ask A Ninja, was one of those panel stars, man. I'm always impressed by his no-bullshit approach, humor and business acumen. Pleasure doing business with you, sir.

7) It's taken a few days for me to accept the fact that I no longer get free booze and snacks simply by walking into a place.

8) Some people are jerks about switching seats in a plane so kids and parents can sit together. What is wrong with people? I gladly moved (from an aisle to a window seat) so children and parents could be next to each other. I was rewarded by smiling adorable well-behaved children giggling and waving at me. I must say, Asian children are the best. I may be able to make one myself if I mated with someone who was at least half Asian. Or I can adopt one. I'll keep you posted.