Friends, it’s that time of year again. South by Southwest time. I’ll be at Austin’s annual festival of geekery and beer-drinkery starting Friday, March 11, right through Tuesday, March 15. In addition to ogling internet heroes and catching up with old chums, I’m especially excited to be part of several portions of the SXSW proceedings.
My Talk
On Saturday at 9:30 am, I’ll stake out the Austin Hilton’s mighty Salon J to talk iPad app design:
iPad Design Headaches (Take Two Tablets, and Call Me in the Morning)
The iPad and its entourage of Android tablets have introduced a new style of computing, confronting designers with unfamiliar aches and pains. Learn the symptoms (and fixes) for a range of new-to-the-world iPad interface ailments, including Greedy Pixel Syndrome, the dreaded Frankeninterface, and the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” bait and switch. Explore practical techniques and eye-opening gotchas of tablet interface design, all grounded in the ergonomics, context, psychology, and nascent culture of these new devices (both iOS and Android). The presentation inoculates you against common problems with close-up looks at successful iPad apps from early sketches to final design. Genial bedside manner is administered by Josh Clark, author of Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps (O’Reilly, 2010).
Book Signings
I’m doing a pair of book signings. Come get my John Hancock on one of my books or, even better, just swing by to say hello.
Saturday, 11:10–11:30am. SX Book Store: Austin Convention Center (4th floor, outside Ballroom D)
Monday, 5:00–6:00pm. O’Reilly booth: Austin Convention Center (trade show floor, exhibit hall 3/4)
iPhone Developer Meetup
On Saturday at 3:30 pm, I’m emceeing the official SXSW meet up for iPhone developers (Austin Hilton, room 615 AB). Lord knows there are plenty of opportunities to rub elbows with like-minded folks at SXSW, but this one’s focused, without the noisy background rumpus of SXSW’s enormous parties. Never fear, that doesn’t mean that it will be buttoned up, either: there’s a cash bar. Here are the details from on high:
As the SXSW Interactive Festival continues to grow, it often becomes harder to discover /network with the specific type of people you want to network with. Hence a full slate of daytime Meet Ups are scheduled for the 2011 event. These Meet Ups are definitely not a panel session – nor do they offer any kind of formal presentation or AV setup. On the contrary, these sessions are a room where many different conversations and (and will) go on at once. This timeslot is for registrants to network with other SXSW Interactive, Gold and Platinum registrants who are iphone developers. Cash bar onsite.
Other Places I’ll Be
Best of all, I’m also a member of the audience. But with over 750 panels this year, it’s no easy trick to pluck out the small handful that the laws of space and time allow you. I’ve struggled and strained, however, and I somehow managed to suss out my picks. I’ve posted my schedule at a few of the SXSW-themed social calendars:
My SXSW calendar at Lanyrd:
Panels I’m attending | Others that caught my eye | Both at onceMy Sitby.us calendar (nifty mobile calendar that lets you check in at panels and see where your pals are)
Hey: don’t be a stranger. If you spot me, give me a shout and say howdy, y’hear?
