The Austin Installation
I'm sitting in Ballroom G of the Austin Convention Center.
There are worse and better places I could be.
I am in the last hours of my time in Austin for SXSWi and I need a lift. And the book reading I'd scheduled to attend was cancelled. Thats how I remembered the blog and how I've been meaning to get back to it for weeks.
It gives me such a sense of peace to write for no one in particular - for no dollars - for no higher purpose.
So back to Austin. I'm here on biz-ness. Which for me translates as free travel. Which, in theory, I am always up for. But travelling also pushes me right on out of my comfort zone and this trip, like any trip has had its ups and downs.
I'll catalogue the ups and that should point us to the downs.
The ups:
The moment I realized I was free to join the VIP lunch I'd helped to coordinate. I recalled a poignant statement made my Sheryl Sandberg about 'staying at the table'. She talked about it in her TED speech, which I watched a while back - before the Lean In controversy. I'm going to take inspiration from the work Sheryl is doing even though it has its privileged short-sightedness. So back to my Sheryl moment. I was sitting at the door, where I'd been handing out consolation prizes to non VIPs (tongue in cheek) when I realized that no one else was going to show up for the beauty bag I'd been handing out and that I could and SHOULD join the business women who were setting around a table and be inspired. It was an empowering moment, because I stepped out of my support role into a position of empowered participation.
This was followed by a seriously fun trip to a ModCloth closet where I picked up a flashy dress for Monday's Flashion Show. The show itself was a bubbly fun adventure, but the picking of the dress was the best part of the whole she-bang.
Next up:
LAUREN!!!! Yay. Familiar, friendly faces. Whew. Nothing makes me swell up with sunshine like seeing a friend in a sea of strangers. In preparing to come to Austin I realized the great fortune of knowing a couple of Texans. And Lauren is one of those people. Lauren did me the great favor of steering us away from downtown and leading me across the bridge to Cheer Up Charlie's. Cheer Up Charlie's is a quintessential Austin outpost. They serve LoneStar and food truck snacks. We met up with her GF, shared some laughs, some beers, some missteps and ultimately spent the whole afternoon and evening soaking in the sunshine and later the circus of 6th street.
Monday's Up:
Blue. I spent the better part of my 20s navigating a roller coaster of a relationship with her. We've since moved on in major ways. And maintain pretty limited contact. But she lives in Dallas and but her lady love lives in Austin and we realized we had a window for meeting up for lunch. And as we sat across the table of our vegetarian meal I felt that feeling of familiarity that makes her a part of my heart. It was comforting to review the last few years with someone who has a context that spans so many more.
Final up:
Making a 5 minute friend at Club De Ville and migrating over to Mohawk for an incredible show by the band Poolside. It was the end of a long day of learning and I needed (okay really wanted) a drink. I heard some seriously good beats being pumped out of bar and made my way in, despite the lame-ass backback I was carrying. It was good to tap into the music portion of SXSW - as I've been here for Interactive - knowing I'd miss much of whats great about the event with my Tuesday departure. The music was great, the sweet natured women I met were also pretty spot on and I left with a buoyant buzz for my last night on my disappointingly suburban futon sofa bed.
Okay. Speakers have taken back over this room. I should log off and get on with my day.
There are worse and better places I could be.
I am in the last hours of my time in Austin for SXSWi and I need a lift. And the book reading I'd scheduled to attend was cancelled. Thats how I remembered the blog and how I've been meaning to get back to it for weeks.
It gives me such a sense of peace to write for no one in particular - for no dollars - for no higher purpose.
So back to Austin. I'm here on biz-ness. Which for me translates as free travel. Which, in theory, I am always up for. But travelling also pushes me right on out of my comfort zone and this trip, like any trip has had its ups and downs.
I'll catalogue the ups and that should point us to the downs.
The ups:
The moment I realized I was free to join the VIP lunch I'd helped to coordinate. I recalled a poignant statement made my Sheryl Sandberg about 'staying at the table'. She talked about it in her TED speech, which I watched a while back - before the Lean In controversy. I'm going to take inspiration from the work Sheryl is doing even though it has its privileged short-sightedness. So back to my Sheryl moment. I was sitting at the door, where I'd been handing out consolation prizes to non VIPs (tongue in cheek) when I realized that no one else was going to show up for the beauty bag I'd been handing out and that I could and SHOULD join the business women who were setting around a table and be inspired. It was an empowering moment, because I stepped out of my support role into a position of empowered participation.
This was followed by a seriously fun trip to a ModCloth closet where I picked up a flashy dress for Monday's Flashion Show. The show itself was a bubbly fun adventure, but the picking of the dress was the best part of the whole she-bang.
Next up:
LAUREN!!!! Yay. Familiar, friendly faces. Whew. Nothing makes me swell up with sunshine like seeing a friend in a sea of strangers. In preparing to come to Austin I realized the great fortune of knowing a couple of Texans. And Lauren is one of those people. Lauren did me the great favor of steering us away from downtown and leading me across the bridge to Cheer Up Charlie's. Cheer Up Charlie's is a quintessential Austin outpost. They serve LoneStar and food truck snacks. We met up with her GF, shared some laughs, some beers, some missteps and ultimately spent the whole afternoon and evening soaking in the sunshine and later the circus of 6th street.
Monday's Up:
Blue. I spent the better part of my 20s navigating a roller coaster of a relationship with her. We've since moved on in major ways. And maintain pretty limited contact. But she lives in Dallas and but her lady love lives in Austin and we realized we had a window for meeting up for lunch. And as we sat across the table of our vegetarian meal I felt that feeling of familiarity that makes her a part of my heart. It was comforting to review the last few years with someone who has a context that spans so many more.
Final up:
Making a 5 minute friend at Club De Ville and migrating over to Mohawk for an incredible show by the band Poolside. It was the end of a long day of learning and I needed (okay really wanted) a drink. I heard some seriously good beats being pumped out of bar and made my way in, despite the lame-ass backback I was carrying. It was good to tap into the music portion of SXSW - as I've been here for Interactive - knowing I'd miss much of whats great about the event with my Tuesday departure. The music was great, the sweet natured women I met were also pretty spot on and I left with a buoyant buzz for my last night on my disappointingly suburban futon sofa bed.
Okay. Speakers have taken back over this room. I should log off and get on with my day.
Comments
Post a Comment