These people didn't like SXSW too much.

April 23, 2000 12:27 AM

These people didn't like SXSW too much. I know a lot of people here went to SXSW this year, and these people treated it like shit. (Sorry, yes I know it's been over a month since SXSW, but that's what happens when I let personal email get backlogged to 148.)
posted by bluechief (7 comments total)

What a sad, pathetic, little ankle biter.
posted by y6y6y6 at 7:08 AM on April 23, 2000

I thought it was funny.

Uh, do I need to disclaim that? Okay.

I wasn't at SXSW, have no opinion on the festival, and no animosity toward its founders, speakers, or attendees.

Just thought it was a funny piece of invective. Enjoyed the writer's horror at suits, stickiness, and exit strategies. Enjoyed the cheap shots and crude asides. Enjoyed the guy's verbal mobster posing, grownup-bashing, and other vicious stunts.

If you take the article personally, you're missing the point. If you can't see the absurdity of MBAs and VCs scrambling to turn somebody's homepage into a business and get out before it crashes, you haven't been in this medium very long, or you haven't been paying attention.

I know (hearsay) SXSW is much more about the medium - and less about the money - than other festivals. God knows how he would have written about one of those.

I think it's a funny piece of writing, and nothing to sweat about, though it does make a point about the dot-com mentality. Most of the SXSW fans I know would agree with that point.

In 1980 I played with the Insect Surfers, a post-punk techno-surf band. We showcased at New Music America. Before the gig I wandered through the booths. A salesman straight outta Central Casting ("hello, Central Casting, I need a 'failed salesman' type") was leaning on a hippy-type college DJ, practically spitting in his face as he said:

"Here's why YOU'RE going to play 'The New Music.'"

I said to myself, "this is over." And it was.
posted by Zeldman at 10:22 AM on April 23, 2000

I would agree with Zeldman for the most part. It's almost always funny to listen to people go on so passionately, whether positive or negative, in this case mainly because I don't think it's thought out well enough or knowledgeable enough for anyone to take it personally.
posted by bluechief at 10:48 AM on April 23, 2000

Let's face it, isn't SXSW the new Sundance? Look at what a piece of commercial dogshit Sundance turned into. . . I thought the article was bitter but probably accurate and why I'd never go to such an event to begin with, unless someone else was paying for everything!
posted by alienation at 10:48 AM on April 23, 2000

Well, I thought it was funny also. However....

The part that pisses me off is the author's endless poop about how old people don't "get it". Everyone else is a dork. He gets it. And that's why we should find him interesting, or why we should give a shit about anything he has to say.

But what the fuck is it that he gets? Some one tell me. This prick is a pathetic slacker. What does he "get"? How to download MP3s? How to install Red Hat? Ewww! Maybe he knows how to build a website! Maybe he reads /. Ewww, he's so clever!

Well check this out loser. Annoying little nippers like you have been whining about how adults don't "get it" for the last few hundred years. So much for your stunning insights into dot com social functions. So people who want to make lots of money don't "get it". Bill Gates didn't "get it". Cops don't "get it". Crawl back in your bedroom and write a Napster clone. I can't wait till your kids tell you that you "don't get it" and you have a chance to explain to them how cool you are.

Just kidding. But that was sort of fun.
posted by y6y6y6 at 2:04 PM on April 23, 2000

Douche by Douchewest

That's funny right there.
posted by jennyb at 6:26 PM on April 24, 2000

The Zeldman writes:
> If you can't see the absurdity of MBAs and VCs
> scrambling to turn somebody's homepage into a
> business and get out before it crashes, you haven't
> been in this medium very long, or you haven't been
> paying attention.

Write on brother! I, a dog, started my dog for blogs
(http://www.doggieblog.com/) a long time ago, but it was taken over by the BetterDogFood folks. Before I knew it, I became a mascot! Big bleah!

> I know (hearsay) SXSW is much more about the
> medium - and less about the money - than other
> festivals.

Yeah! As Marshall said, the medium should be the message. We need more attention to content producers (and canine producers!) and less to the big-money petfood crowd.

Blog on!


posted by betterdog at 5:50 PM on June 11, 2000