I spent Sunday afternoon exploring the Interactive side of SXSW. First stop: the Interactive Keynote Conversation with Adafruit Industries’ Limor Fried and Phillip Torrone, Sr. Editor, MAKE Magazine. Billed as covering a “variety of fascinating topics including open source, hacking and the do-it-yourself (DIY) technology movement”, I thought it would be a good opportunity to stretch my brain a bit.

Torrone and Fried began the conversation by taking a look at some of their favorite recent projects, including:
-The bacon alarm clock – it actually warms up bacon for you. Ick.
-Gummy bear chandelier –The maker swears you can eat them for up to two years after it’s done. Don’t they melt from the heat?
-Plant project – the plants call you when they need water. And they’re pissed when they call.
-Deathstar subwoofer – need I say more?

[So far so good – I am understanding everything. The Deathstar subwoofer is now on the gift list for my brother, and the plant thing actually sounds like something that might save some of my greenery…]

The duo then went on to talk about how people are building their own technology and sharing it. At the most basic level, people share mechanics, i.e. they tell one another where to build the holes in the case. The next level of sharing is circuit board design, followed by sharing the software that runs inside microdevices. Fried also suggested that people may want to release data sheets and parts lists so that people can figure out where to get them. Apparently, Radio Shack is about to stop carrying all electronic components, so it’s really helpful to have info about where to get things.

[I have to admit – this panel is now officially over my head. I’m a film chick working for an online outlet. I took the SXSW guide’s suggestion to go to a panel out of my area and I have firmly landed outside of my comfort zone. Lots of talk of computer hardware and software I’ve never heard of. But this is the way you learn.]

Other tidbits I think I (correctly?) picked up:
-There’s a linksys router that you can tinker with to turn a $75 router into a $500 router. Now if only I’d spent the big bucks on a degree that taught me how to tinker…
-There is a lot of tension between various technology companies and their maker-savvy users. Apparently, the phone companies haven’t been the friendliest when it comes to letting people tinker with the software inside their devices. Not a surprise.
-Limor was working on an open source cell phone jammer, which is illegal in the United States. With open source projects, showing how to make the device is OK; building it and using it is not. Limor’s jammer fits it into a cigarette box. She did a demo of it during the panel…Verry sneaky, sis.
-Current debate: City-wide wifi debate. It’s an interesting concept that you can own property but not the airwaves above that property. Do you have the right to turn off city-wide wifi if you don’t want it in your school or your store or your company?

ONLINE FAN BASES & BLOGEBRITIES
Decided to continue my day of interactive panels at “Building an Online Fan Base”, where a group of experts and filmmakers talked about how to go about taking advantage of the web to promote one’s projects.

Top tips for indie filmmakers:
-If you take the time to listen & communication with your audience, you build what could be a community that has a vested interest in what you do.
-The very first step in building an online fan base is keeping it personal. Reach out to friends and family – call the 50 people you know. Then it will spread from there.
-Figure out what your hook is and the reach out to communities who would find that interesting, and get them talking about it. Look at the sliver of influential audience out there who can create awareness for your project.
-Don’t just get people’s emails – get their zip codes as well so that you can target screenings.
-Basic courtesy goes a long way. Keep in touch. Return emails in a timely way.

Afterwards, I stopped by “The Rise of the Blogebrity” panel. Lots of spirited debate about just what a “blogebrity” was, how web popularity is measured and creating online personas and brands.

Checking in became a bigger event than anticipated for many SXSW attendees who headed over to the Austin Convention Center on Friday afternoon. A computer glitch slowed check-ins early on, then later in the afternoon, large crowds emerged.