SXSW Interactive: Friday Highlights

First up: Programming and Minimalism, presented by Jon Dahl from Zencoder. By describing programming as "defining complex precesses in a precise way", Dahl went on to draw parallels to craftsmen. Working in small teams, with exact skills, habits and practices, programming involves taking a complex, abstract idea and then communicating it. This leads directly to a correlation with writing poems or composing music. Art tends to follow a cycle from simple and interesting to complex and stale. Sound familiar (Microsoft Windows, we're looking at you!)? Slipping over to the written word, Dahl paraphrased George Orwell's commentary "Politics and the English Language" that sloppy writing leads to sloppy thoughts. ("Whr r u" texters, we're looking at you!) An example of poorly chosen words: USA Patriot Act. More direct, appropriate title: Expanded Surveillance Act. Bringing this back around to programming now - minimalism and clarity are needed for programming because it is complex at its core. Ten rules (that are meant to be broken every now and then) included using the simplest approach, accepting constraints, don't over abstract, actively clean up code, and simplify your code.

Next up we found a panel that included a couple Google team members discussing how technical folks can more effectively work with marketers. Representatives from SimpleGeo, Barbarian Group and Tribal DDB were also on the panel giving advice and real world scenarios for creative agencies working with technical companies. Rebuking the thought that "marketing is what companies do when their product sucks", the need for all kinds of curation of a brand is needed through a products lifecycle. Untethered creativity ("random crazy people") in your group is also necessary as it is all too easy to become systemized.

After a brief meetup with Larry Chiang, a fellow tech blogger, in the press lounge, we booked it over to the Block Party Capitalism panel. Several small business owners discussed the ins and outs of taking an analog problem ("no room in my closet", "don't want to carry books on the train") and finding an elegant digital solution. Key takeaway: FedEx wasn't valuable without a network, but had to have a network in order to be profitable. You've got to figure out a way to sell your idea and have others embrace/fund it. While there are many paths to achieve this, it's clear that many companies are hoping that this year's SXSW Interactive Conference may serve just that purpose!

To cap off the afternoon, hoards of thirsty SXSWi attendees made their way to grab a free drink in the Brush Park lounge, and on to a myriad of opening night parties, to prep for the next big day!