caligater

I’m boarding a plane this morning for Austin, Texas. It’s my first time to Texas and my first big social web/tech/geeky conference, SXSW Interactive.

Two of my SXSWi roommates, Elaine Ellis and Ginger Pelz, each asked me the same question last week: “Do you have specific goals for the conference?”

Uhmmm…huh?

Yeah. I didn’t really have an answer. *hangs head in shame*

In the last few days, though, I’ve made some digital and literal space in my life. This space hints at an answer to the question Ginger and Elaine asked me.

• I plowed through my email inbox (People. There are four items in my inbox right now. *pats self on back*)
• I winnowed down my RSS feeder
• I closed Firefox last night and chose not to “save open tabs”
• I cleaned up Facebook personal info, photos and fan pages
• I pruned who I’m following on Twitter and blocked a bunch of spambots
• I moved and deleted a gaggle of files from my precious little MacBook Air
• I deleted apps on my iPhone
• I made a to-do list for projects for the next two months

Essentially, I’ve attempted to minimize my streams of information.

I want to create space & fertile ground for fresh ideas and new connections.

My SXSWi goal? Meet people. Begin meaningful relationships.

Who knows…I could encounter: my next bit of work, resources for writing my thesis, new friendships or innovative projects to collaborate on. Finding any one of these would be amazing. I’m already squeeeee-ing about getting to meet—in person—many of the people I’ve formed friendships with on the social web. So. Very. Excited.

So, as I’ve prepared for SXSWi, I’ve made space. I made sure all of my day-to-day stuff was taken care of; I’ve made a rough and I’m-sure-it-will-change-every-ten-minutes-anyway-list of panels and parties I want to attend; and most importantly, I’ve made space for new ideas and new people.

Coda:

My SXSWi goal, subpart 1: Hand out every single one of my swanky new Moo business cards. I don’t want ANY of these in my possession when I get home. :)