What I’m hoping for from SXSW

I’ve been to loads of conferences over the years. Most of them have left me feeling ‘whelmed’ at best and at most other times frustrated.

I blogged last year about one conference I attended in London last May. There was a general feeling that the speakers offered nothing new, virtually no excitement or insight and most of the talks boiled down to a personal retrospective. That’s fair enough you may say, but the conference was billed as being about the future of the industry.

It felt as if the speakers had just been asked to turn up and speak about anything they wanted. No vetting by the organiser and seemingly very little brief to the speakers.

As such I’ve given up on any conferences this year. Apart, obviously, from the biggy. The one we’re all off to.

So this being my first SXSW, and what looks to be a mouthwatering list of speakers and five days of talks, here’s what I’m hoping for.

• Surprise and delight. I want to see evidence of people who are developing truly new ways of ‘thinking and doing’ in the interactive space. It’s not enough to just mash up a few APIs in 2010.
• It might be nice to hear about some things that may not have worked. Getting on stage and talking about successful projects is common. Getting up in front of hundreds and talking about a complete failure (and the whys) is far more interesting.
• I’d like to hear about methods, processes and new ways of working.
• I’m sure, in five days, we can muster a couple of moments when my jaw hits the floor and my mind is blown. Failing that, funny presentations are always a treat.
• It would be nice if not everyone agreed with each other and there was some useful, healthy, impassioned debate. Don’t you just hate it when panels all agree with each other?
• I’d love it if someone spoke about something that I’d never actually considered or thought of before. A thing that makes me want to go away and start reading / playing. Put something new on my radar.
• I definitely don’t want to hear any agency creds.
• I’m also expecting some great after parties and the opportunity to meet some great people IRL for the first time.

How about you? Anyone have any great recommendations for talks to attend? What are you expecting / hoping for?