My day one sessions consisted of “How To Rawk SXSW” & “How To Scam Anyone”.

The first session was a panel consisting of veterans of SXSW, one of whom had been attending for 10 years and the newest who had been attending for three years. I was hopeful that they would impart wisdom that would prove useful for a noob who hadn’t been before.

The session started with a great presentation accompanied by rock music, it boded well for what I envisioned as a high energy session.  Unfortunately the energy lasted about the same time as a 2 year old laptop battery (ten minutes maybe).  It quickly deteriorated into just a bunch of people who knew each other reminiscing about past SXSW’s that they had been too. About how “back in the day..” it was this or it was that and how it isn’t that anymore.

They quickly lost the crowd and people started to leave after about 20 mins into the session. It was a shame, it was definitely a wasted opportunity for the organizers to actually provide some useful hints and tips for new attendees.

The second session was run by Brian Brushwood, he was awesome! A complete counterpoint to the first session, his presentation was interactive (it is SXSW INTERACTIVE after all), fast paced funny and actually very informative. Shrouded in the entertainment of slight of hand magic, he covered the topic of Social Engineering and manipulation. Talking about Forced Action Paths, expected responses and how to get out of speeding tickets or get free drinks.  The applicability of this to the online world is extremely relevant and he helped pull the covers off how spammers work.

You can see Brian’s Scam School videos here.

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