SXSW: Another Great Year!

SXSWedu and Interactive are over and I am exhausted. I got to meet Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in person (thanks, Drew and the Chamber!) and had a nice crowd attend my speech on simulation-based learning. For slides, click here. I have to say that some of the conference had a distinct 1999 feel to it, which I hope is a good sign. It seems that far too many companies and start-ups are vying for user attention these days, some with fairly dubious business models. And the accelerator business model, so prevalent in the late 90s, has made a full-scale comeback, too. I hope that as SXSW evolves it finds new ways to separate great new innovations from the inevitable hype that exists when new industries are born. Overall, though, two great conferences and I look forward to next year – congratulations, Ron and Hugh on pulling off another banner year!