South by South …wha?

Posted 12 months ago at 1:14 am. 2 comments

Todd and I are packing are bags for Austin, where we will be spending 5 glorious days being complete internet dorks at SXSW.  I feel really lucky that I get to go this year.  Things just happened to work out so that I’m not really spending an arm and a leg (maybe just an elbow and a foot).  I’m really excited just to be involved in the spectacle, and hope that I at least learn a little something along the way.  I feel overwhelmed by the schedule… at many points during the conference there are 3 or more panels or events that interest me happening at exactly the same time.  Torture…  But I suppose that’s how these things go.  It’d be boring if you didn’t have to make those tough decisions, wouldn’t it?

Aside from all the learning and being inspired, SXSW is also a time to meet lots of cool, interesting, creative and smart people.  But those cool, interesting, creative and smart people are going to be meeting a lot of other CICSPs too.  So how do you make them remember you, and the awesome conversation you had about social media or Playdoh?  Lots of people do business cards, stickers or other types of swag.  I thought about making some MooCards from my Flickr photos.  But I don’t really pride myself in photography – so if I had to pick something from Flickr to make cards out of, it would be some drawings.  Then, I thought, why not just draw some doodles on some frickin’ cards, write my name on them and give them out? 

Just think of them like original works of art that conveniently fit in your wallet.  And they really didn’t take me long to make, so if it gets bent in your messenger bag or you drop it in a puddle (caused by the downpour Austin is predicted to get the first few days of the conference), you don’t have to feel too bad about it I guess.  So wow, original, one-of-a-kind artwork – for the small small price of holding a conversation with me.

I plan on spending my layover time in the Denver airport tomorrow finishing writing my name on them all, along with my website and Twitter handle.  With maybe something like “I like to draw and code websites” or something like that.  I’m hoping I made enough.  I think there about 25 – more than I thought I’d end up with.  Actually I’ll be kinda sad if I go home without giving them all away.  If that happens that probably means I’m a social failure and a networking boob, OR it means that no one likes my drawings… Hmm, yea, hopefully I’m just a social failure at the very worst.

Anyway, I’ve been playing around lately with a doodley-comic-style caricature of myself, so it was fun to try out some different ideas.  Plus, got to break out the gouache … I love how the colors look with the thick black ink.  Here are more (but not all) of them:

If you are at SXSW too, leave a comment or send me a DM on Twitter if you want one of these! I’m @jabru.