I was originally not going to publish this blog post, but since Amanda Nelson did hers, so I might as well too!

Let me preface this by saying that I was not a badge holder at SXSW this year, and have never attended before, so if I’m a little nieve about SXSW, please understand.

Saturday, March 9:

I drove into downtown Austin after spending the day with my sister. I went to The University of Texas, so I’d made the trip plenty of times before.

This SXSW-skinned CNN bus still caught me completely off guard.

When I saw custom-skinned pedi-cabs, I knew that this was something different about SXSW.

I found my way to #CloudLounge which was amazingly decorated. You could not tell what the place used to be. It was packed, and I couldn’t get in!
So I went looking for some friends instead.

And found these folks, @JasonBoies and @AmandaLNelson, who I’ve tweeted with for years. They’re two of the most amazing community managers turned brand journalist and content manager (respectively), that you’ll ever meet, and it was great to meet up and chat with them F2F! (Amanda claims we met at Social2011, but meeting so many people there, I’m not completely sure).

With Jason’s Cloud Lounge badge, I was able to get in.

I met up with @CoryHartlen, Product Marketing Manager at Radian6, and who walks in but Michael @Lazerow, founder of Buddy Media.
I tell him it’s great to meet him and tell him a little about me. He says, “oh, I know who you are!” Awesome.

Sunday, March 10

 I head back toward town to meet up with some of the folks I missed the previous night. I find Cory from the night before and chat when I spot @MacLeanHeather, Engagement and Influencer Manager at Radian6. Here’s us and Jason for added coolness.

Later on, was able to meet the North Carolina crew, Social Strategist and Author, @JeffreyLCohen and Senior Content and Community Director, @DavidBThomas.

Broke away from the party for a second to meet up with (Forbes proclaimed) Twitter Phenomenon, Calvin Lee of @MayhemStudios.

Cory, @RobMacCormick, me and @TomHasselman apparently doing the former Radian6’er Rob Begg point.

A couple of the handlebars of Handle Bar. The bartenders there were great.

And check out the detail! But I didn’t have a quarter. I bet they even tasted like Clouds.

So, it was great to finally put so many faces to names, but next year, I’ll have to attend and check out the real experience!