In mid-September 2005 I joined the 9rules network. Now I’m leaving it.

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Saddam Hussein has just been sentenced to death. The trial has taken over a year to complete, with lots of different twists and turns. With no disrespect to people who have been affected by Saddam’s reign, I find the whole situation a joke…

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There seem to be some kind of worshipping of certain personalities online, and at the same time, well-known web people who misuse their position. I don’t know if it’s me becoming jaded or if it’s an accurate impression of the state of the web, but here goes…

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I’ve been interviewed by Dag König about SXSW and we’re also talking about web trends in general (his 50th podcast, congrats!). And yes, this is in Swedish as well, so I know most of you won’t understand it. I’m sorry, but as soon as someone asks me to do one in English, I’ll share it right away!

Go to AV #50 – Samtal med Robert Nyman om konferensen SXSW to listen to it

Ok, this post is kind of overdue, but I ought to write it since I want to tell you that I’m back from the SXSW Interactive Conference. I have had a great time, but at the same time I’m glad to be back home.

The web is already riddled with people dissecting every panel so I won’t put to much effort into that. Instead, in the next five posts or so, I will describe day by day what went on, to which panels I went to and what I thought of them, people I met etc. My hope is that it will be interesting to you even if you weren’t there and not just all about the panels.

My first gut feeling when I got home was that I didn’t want to touch a computer. I was sick of them, although I was one of the few that didn’t use one while in Austin, as opposed to all the other people live-blogging, taking notes and so on. I think the conference was just like an overdose to me, too much computer geeks in one place. There were also things like meeting people with too little self-distance or people not being as humble as they should be that kind of got me down. I really have to say, though, that most people were a delight to meet!

Also, I think I realized that while it would be great to work with any of the persons attending SXSW, where everyone knows about web standards, accessibility, are also already sick of the term Web 2.0, I would have to go home and meet a lot of customers and web developers that are nothing of the sort. People not interested in doing a proper job, just in getting paid and then scurry on home. For some reason, certain people in life seem to think that being good at something automatically means working 80 hours a week. That’s not the case, just learn to do things right and feel the rush of actually being proud over what you do.

All in all, the people and events I will tell you about stood out and made it a wonderful experience, so I’m genuinely happy I went. My only hope is that people reading my blog and then meet me in person at SXSW don’t feel like they found out that I’m nothing like they expected and that I disappointed them; that while they like my writing I bored them in person.

I would also direct thanks to Daniel Hansson, my friend and travel colleague, who always seems to end up in the most peculiar and entertaining situations.

There are some people I really want to mention for being such outstanding individuals, for making my visit the great time it was and for being as good persons as I want to be. If you ever get the chance, make sure to meet then and talk to them, or alternatively, read what they write (the ones that blog, that is). Trust me; they will most likely enrich your lives. This is not meant as name-dropping, but rather just a guide to great people. They are:

Carl Camera

It’s hard to find a more friendly, nice and caring human being. Always happy, constantly eager to please, and doesn’t seem to hold a grudge for anyone in the world. Texas inhabitant together with his lovely family.

Stuart Colville

Stuart is a very funny and happy English bloke that certainly has got a tough skin and a good distance to things. We had many long nightly talks about things and seem to agree almost a little too much.

Chris Mills

A totally crazy guy from England. About twice my height, long hair and a long beard, he looks like some crazed-out ent, and he’s got a sense of humor to go with that.

Dave Schroeder

Very laid-back, but always on top of things and a wicked sense of what’s fun. With an appearance like a Neil Young look-alike, this Minnesota-guy is always up to something.

Shane Shepherd

One of the caring persons, always feeling empathy for others and just being there when needed. And another Texas inhabitant, no less!

Honorary mentions should also go to some other truly nice people I meet and spent some time with, and they are also most recommended to meet in real life:

• Jakob Heuser
• Erik Sagen aka Kartooner (just Sagen to the ones that know him really well ;-))
• David Seah (or just call him David Shea, he loves that :-D)
• Eric Shepherd
• Jonathan Snook

Tomorrow morning I will embark on a journey that contains of 12 hours on a plane (actually, two planes) that will eventually take me to Austin and the SXSW Interactive Conference. I’m not traveling alone, but with my colleague Daniel H, so at least I will have some company.

There will be days of meeting old and new friends, a chance to finally meet people I’ve known for a while in person; of learning, networking, partying and chilling. There will also be bowling. Also, one thing I definitely have to do is to meet up with Carl Camera and have a burrito with him, still blushing from the nice words he once said about me. But Carl, please, let me pay! 🙂

Whatever happens, telling by the weather forecast at least it seems like I won’t be freezing. 🙂

Naturally, I will miss Fredrika and Emilia so much it will hurt, but I think this is an opportunity that I can’t miss out on, and I hope they can manage for a week (question is: can I?).

Please don’t expect live blogging or any of that crap. I’m there to have a good time and relax so don’t expect any post here within 1½ – 2 weeks.

Till then: enjoy!

In March, the biggest web event of the year (at least in my eyes) is taking place in Austin, Texas, USA; its name is SXSW Interactive. There will be speaking performances from virtually every interesting person in the business, and the networking possibilities are infinite. And now I’m lucky enough to announce that I’m going! 🙂

I spoke to Roger the other day, and he informed me that he had decided not to go. I guess that means I’m the only Swede, no, correction, the only blogging Swede that I know who is going; I’m traveling there together with a Swedish colleague, Daniel. He is a hilarious guy, so I’m fairly sure that we will have a lot of fun trying endure all the hours on different flights (yes, it’s a pretty long journey from Stockholm to Austin).

Anyway, I do hope I can be a good representative for Swedish web development, and I look forward to learning a lot and to meeting very inspiring people as well a number of friends I’ve made in the web development community, almost too numerous to mention. And if I did, you would just regard me as a namedropping freak, so I won’t do that. 🙂

So, what the hell do I look like then? How do I find Robert Nyman? Well, I look something like this:

I’m staying at the Hilton, where a number of cool people are also staying. Are you going? Write a comment and let me know!