SXSW: Prep

SXSW in Austin, Texas for 5 days with GrooveU.

We were off school the day before our very early morning departure. Unfortunately, days off school just means more work shifts at my hotel job, so the prep work to go to SXSW was in a word, rushed. I in fact packed my luggage mere hours before I left to meet my carpool. Fortunately, there were no actual issue that resulted from the rushed prep, just got stopped by TSA for accidentally packing a pocket knife. Meh.
The hard part was mental prep. SXSW was huge, and I had to do a lot of research to get the most out of it. I had a schedule to make and mentor sessions to cancel, as I had reserved 19 of them. Never really got around to either until the day before each, procrastination at its best.

With only one exception, I followed our SXSW one-sheet to the letter. 
After my first panel, I immediately wished I had business cards. I don't necessarily regret not bringing them, I wasn't sure of their design or even my exact career focus that I would present myself for. Don't even have an elevator pitch down. Any card that I would have had would have had many misleading and logistical issues. Even so, not having them was an evident issue. 

I suppose I could have prepared better, but sometimes there are things that nothing can prepare you for.