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SXSW '99
Report From the Interactive Conference
5/5/1999
by Shauna Wright

Austin, Texas is a college town with lots of eclectic shops and the usual Texan restaurant fare of spicy food and killer margaritas. What many people don't know about Austin, though, is that it's fast becoming a hot-bed of Internet activity -- in fact, Yahoo! Internet Life magazine recently ranked it second in their 1999 survey of America's Most Wired Cities.

It should come as no surprise then that the annual Austin-based South by Southwest, originally just a music festival, has in recent years added an interactive conference to its line-up. This year's events, during which web luminaries offered their views on everything from web design to web publishing, took place March 13-16 and boasted over 30 panels and roundtables as well as an estimated 2000 attendees.

Designers' Tips on Designing

Drue Miller, Creative Director for San Francisco's Vivid Studios, gave her "Designing Effective Web Navigation" presentation to a standing-room-only crowd whose members still approached her with questions even after the information-packed 90 minutes were over. Her session covered basic tips (avoid using the all-too-common "click here" for your hyperlinks) and advice for the more advanced (javascript pull-down menus provide "elegant, compact navigation"). She also discussed less-obvious elements of navigation: "We've all seen the typical 404 File Not Found error message. And then it tells you to contact the server's administrator if the problem persists ... but, how? There needs to be more information, at least an email address."

Many of the conference's participants were professional or aspiring web designers, so the "Design Techniques" panel was equally well-received. For an hour and a half, four panelists exchanged views and opinions on what constitutes good - and bad - web design. Award-winning designer Lance Arthur of Glassdog.com and digital art-gallery Soulflare was one of the panelists. "Too many people seem unaware that a website is a living organism," Arthur commented after the panel. "Design isn't just about pretty pictures. The goal should be to appeal to your chosen audience - and different audiences require different goals."

Another panelist, Jeff Veen (from HotWired's how-to site WebMonkey) added, "A big problem on many pages is the use of inappropriate technology. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Spend some time figuring out who your target audience is and tailor your site for them."

Content and Controversy and Life Online

Design issues aside, the "content junkies" were also well represented. Joey Anuff, famed co-founder of Suck.com, moderated a lively panel titled "The Secrets of Successful Webzines." The panelists all agreed on at least one thing: a good controversy can bring your site an inordinate amount of recognition. Last year, Prehensile.com's "Meat of the Loom" parody of Fruit of the Loom resulted in a cease-and-desist order from the underwear giant. "I was actually praising [them] for convincing us to cradle our manhood with the word 'fruit,'" quipped John Styn, Prehensile's creator. The dispute received substantial press coverage and hundreds of sites began displaying banners in a show of support for Styn. Prehensile's hits skyrocketed and a short time later, Fruit of the Loom backed down.

Another zine, Salon, is no stranger to the power of controversy. Technology correspondent Janelle Brown credits the now-famous "Henry Hyde incident" (in which Salon published an article detailing the conservative Hyde's past infidelities) for putting the publication on the map. "We're not mentioned as 'Salon, an online magazine' in the press anymore," she commented. "Now we're just called Salon, and people already know who we are."

SXSW featured several "roundtables" during which one or more speakers led the crowd in a focused discussion on a chosen topic. Carl Steadman and Justin Hall (both featured in Doug Block's documentary film Homepage, which also screened during the conference) instigated intriguing exchanges during their "Life Online" roundtable. The 25 or so participants raised issues ranging from establishing boundaries with one's visitors to the perils of making much of one's life so public.

The "Life Online" roundtable was one of the more non-business oriented sessions at the conference. A number of other sessions - on e-commerce, pornography, and the music industry - focused more on making money.

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