SXSWi

South by Southwest has been the most amazing experience. I initially felt judged by my peers for spending a significant amount of money to attend the conference, but I feel like it was such a great investment. I spent five days surrounded by inspiring people, some of whom took me under their wing and gave me advice on how to make the most out of my education and eventual career, others who gave me their business card and said to shoot them an email when I'm job hunting. I met designers, marketing coordinators, executives, authors, small business owners, innovators and more. I connected with people from companies like Razorfish, GSD&M, GamePlan, BBC and Yahoo. I traded business cards with people from all over the country and world. I went to panels on market research, networking, the future of mobile advertising and more. I saw a keynote conversation between Guy Kawasaki and Chris Anderson on the idea of a free marketplace. I attended book readings, most notably the inspirational David Meerman Scott (author of World Wide Rave), who gave me a free copy of his book and said I have a great career ahead of me. Yes, I am saying "I" a lot, but that is why I went to this conference; to grow as a student and professional. I believe I reached that goal. I was offered a summer job in New York City with a great company called Sphere. I made friends with many people from San Francisco, who I am excited to see again when I visit in May. Sure, not all of these contacts will be a catalyst to amazing things, but I have sent out my "thank you" emails to those who gave advice and my "great to meet you" emails to those who were just friendly, and many responded quickly and positively. It was five days of pure craziness; waking up in the morning and going to educational panels, spending happy hour at networking events then going to the industry parties at night. It was such a great experience and I hope to do it again next year. If I do, I made up some tips to remember:

1. Don't try to do everything. As someone said, it is a battle between yourself and the festival, and the festival always wins.

2. Wear comfortable shoes. A lot of standing and a lot of walking downtown to the different events.

3. Bring mints AND lozenges. A lot of talking, too much sometimes. Much need for good breathe. I lost my voice by day 5.

4. Bring hand sanitizer. Lots of hand shaking and finger foods.

5. Drink lots of water. The free beer and open bars everywhere are enticing. Don't give in.