We are usually confined to a handful of experiences in our entire lifetime. These experiences are usually inspiring and life changing. This year I shared an experience with a group from New Orleans that did just this. A group that headed to Austin, TX for a tech conference called South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) with the city on their shoulders and something to prove. I’m humbled to give you an inside look at what we shared on our trip.

A Band Of Local Tech Geeks Determined To Take Over Austin

The SXSWi NOLA trip kicked off on March 11, 2010 but the spirit of the trip is deeply rooted in last year’s experience in 2009 when locals from within the tech group Net2NO went to Austin, TX to support Matthew Tritico & Chris Schultz who were presenting on a panel. Last year’s trip was the catalyst that set off reactions which caused the New Orleans technology community to blossom into what it is today: strong, vibrant, and rapidly growing. This year was about continuing the tradition of taking a road trip style journey from New Orleans to Austin to become ambassadors for the city.

The #Whodata Bus

With a bus driver named Mr. Pickles and the anticipation of not knowing what SXSWi would be like, we piled onto our 2010 Prevost limo without even realizing how much closer we would be at the end. The bus

ride was our first bonding experience. The drive from New Orleans to Austin was quite long. People talked about their personal lives, their careers, and the reasons why they came on the trip. It’s strange how you know people but you really don’t know them. The nine hour ride was filled with jokes that only a geek would laugh at, those awkward moments of just meeting each other, and a sense that you were a part of something bigger than yourself; a family of sorts. Nel Sus, the fast talking businessman of the family even took his new iPhone app maker and created an unofficial NOLA SXSWi iPhone app that contained pertinent info for people on the trip.  We even taped LaunchPad TV from a gas station in Texas and got odd looks from people filling up their tanks.

You Couldn’t Help But Notice New Orleans

We traveled at least 25 deep. As soon as we got to Austin, we got our 15 seconds of fame by standing as the back drop for a local news station. With our hashtag #whodata, our three black t-shirts printed with New Orleans graphics, and our sense of pride, you couldn’t help but notice the geeks from New Orleans. It wasn’t just the geeks that made an impression but with people like Kurt Weigle, CEO of the Downtown Development District and Austin Marks, Chief of Staff for Greater New Orleans, Inc. spreading the good news, people got an earful of the progress we were making back at home. Our second bonding moment took place when we stepped into our Real World style condo. Thankfully, there were enough bathrooms, food, and sleeping space to go around. Nice and cozy, we all camped out, ready to rock SXSWi.

Not Only Did We Represent But We Took Over

The New Orleans Panel

To say that we “represented our city” would truly be an understatement. We took over. Starting on Saturday, our panel (which included Matthew Tritico, Damien LaManna, Tiffany Starnes, Chris Schultz and myself) was as precise as a ninja and entertaining as Jerry Seinfeld. The mock panel session that we did at the last Net2NO meetup helped us tremendously and we were all near flawless. But the true test of a panel is whether or not the audience got something from it. As a panel member, I can say that happened because on more than one occasion, I was told that our panel inspired someone to take action in their own city. But the panel was only the start of a snowball that spiraled down a deep slope. Robert X. Fogarty brought his hashtag photo concept to the Louisiana booth and photographed over 250 people promoting his Dear New Orleans brand.  Kurt Weigle and his crew from the DDD manned the Louisiana booth along with Austin Marks to talk about digital tax credits and why New Orleans was a great place to start a

Robert Shows Kurt His Hashtag Photo

business. Townsend Jordan interviewed for an entrepreneurial program that only took the crème de la crème once a year. Liz Money interview Chris Prillo, a famous figure in the technology community.  Taylor Davidson’s panel “Everyone Can Be A Professional Photographer” was packed to the brim and he said it was one of the best talks he’d given in years. Adele Tiblier, Sloane Berrent, & Lyell Petersen hosted Southeast at Southwest (SE@SX) which brought together southeastern cities in a networking cocktail hour.   Chris Schultz had the honor of bringing a presenter at 2x20, which is similar to the Ignite Series but on steroids.  Andrew Larimer put on the best party at SXSWi (and this comes from people that went to Digg’s and Mashable’s party) with Big Sam Funky Nation showing Austin how we really get down. Even after the main entertainment left, the NOLA crew formed a big dance circle and just like family reunion we all got our chance to dance down the Soul Train line. I even had the pleasure of winning the SXSWi Iron Geek contest and interviewed by Zadi Diaz with Pepsico.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Our party was the best way to cap off a trip that inspired and re-energized our group. We knew the trip had to come to an end and that we’d be leaving for New Orleans the next day but that didn’t stop us. That night after the party, we all crowed in the kitchen and got a chance to say what the trip really meant to us. Some fought back tears while others just smiled. We had gone from being strangers and meeting each other a month ago to becoming a family. We ate together, we slept together, we got pissed together, and we smiled together. Each one of us felt the pride that all New Orleanians feel. Whether we realized it or not, we were all brothers and sisters. I know this because after the trip, we didn’t say good bye to each other, we said I love you and I’ll catch you later. So to my new family, this is why I didn’t want to say anything that night in the kitchen. My heart was full and I just didn’t know how to express it. For me it was a dream come true and I rode the karma train until the very last stop. So while the writing on our arms and hands will wash away, the experience that we shared will last forever.