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The SXSW folks are posting podcasts of the plentiful presentations including one featuring our fellow Canadians discussing the pros and cons of rolling a new media company in this culturally diverse, and geographically huge country.

Raincity Studios' Kris Krug moderates and is joined by:

• Steve Bocska Sr Dir of Gaming, Cambrian House
• Keith Clarkson Production Exec, Xenophile Media Inc
• Jennifer Ouano Pres, Elastic Entertainment
• Ron Thiele Pres, Xpan Interactive Ltd

(note, i seem to recall another panelist) ...

You are encouraged to subscribe to the SXSW podcast feed for all the presentations (but honestly the distribution scheme could use some help in general). In the interest of posterity, i am posting the unedited Blame Canada audio here so it doesn't get lost in the tubes or some forgotten silo - plus Kris' mom will want to hear his witty stand-up to kick off the spiel.

Blame Canada: 7 Ways We're Ahead in New Media

Cross-border markets, geographical challenges, and a highly ambitious and mobile workforce have forced Canadian interactive companies into thinking differently about how to conduct their business. The result is a nation of highly competitive companies with a keen awareness of global market potential, superior strategies for attracting and keeping talent, flexible and versatile outsourcing production arrangements, and a keen ability to harness the potential of broadband technologies.

SXSW podcast archives

SXSW podcast feed

DaveO, tired from the long haul at SXSW 2008, sits down for a chat with Kristina Grossmann from Rockforhealth.org. An organization dedicated to putting the health of the artists in the spotlight and making sure they get the attention they deserve.

Photo is courtesy of Rock for Health Flickr feed.

DaveO Speaks with Erich Weiss about the new movie he is presenting titled Horismoku Sailor Jerry. It is a documentary about Sailor Jerry who is the icon of American tattooing credited with fusing American aesthetics and Japanese techniques in the Hawaiian Islands.

Photo of DaveO and Erich Weiss at SXSW by Robert Scales on flickr

Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry is a feature length documentary exploring the roots of American tattooing

The team made it back in one piece, no snow storm can stop the likes of our Raincity expedition. After days of music and booth hopping we need a quick recap on the event and how others enjoyed themselves.

One of Raincity's biggest footprints left was the sheer epicness of the swag we handed out. When comments like "Where I can buy the Vancouver's Raincity Studios t-shirt??? It's fantastic..." are being thrown around you know someone did something right. tcritic.com agrees in Drupal Vader and RoboGames.

I discovered that it’s actually based on the Drupal logo and was just some schwag that the Raincity Studios team (a drupal based developer/community builder) put together for SXSW. I wish they would sell the damn thing, it’s awesome.

Along with the swag was the party! South by North West hosted by raincity has been hailed as THE party during the event. South by South West was much larger and more prepare for the hordes this year.

The venues have been struggling to keep up with the growth but they came through this year. Also, the local businesses were on top of their game with more free wifi hotspots.

The big problem with events this large is that you can't attend everything! It's times like this when you wish you had a time machine to go back and catch that special panel you missed.

Another point of interest was the so called diasterous interview of Mark Zuckerberg and Sara Lacey. Also the guys at Strutta got to hang out with Freddie Wong (I'm so jealous).

Canadians really showed up in force this year - many of them from our home town Vancouver. The Strutta guys stormed the place and enjoyed themselves while plotting strategies for next year and making social media - see One Day at SXSW.

Miss604 (Rebecca Bollwit) didn't attend but she did get some great coverage - check out Miss 604's SXSW video post if you want a fresh perspective as well as her guest posts by John Beihler and Colleen Coplick about conference swag and podium foibles respectively.

John also recapped his experience at Back from Austin - SXSWi 2008 Wrapup and Colleen delved more into the Zuckerberg fray with Shot Heard Round the Web.

These weren't the only Vancouverites that flew down to Austin so chime in with any other wrap-ups of note. Finally, with my crystal ball in hand, I'm sure there will be more Vancouverites heading down next year too.

Bonus:

SXSW08 tagged photos on Flickr

KK's SXSW08 Set

Raincity/Robert Scales SXSW08 tag on Flickr

Birdfeed blog writes: Lost Weekend: SXSWi 2008

Then we were off to the Iron Cactus for a party thrown by a Drupal design company, Raincity Studios, along with some other Vancouver companies. This was where the geeks lost all control. Spring Break was almost over, most of us were heading out the next day, and it was the last chance to do some damage to your body and reputation. Folks were booty and break dancing in the pool of spilled alcohol.

Raincity Studios CEO Robert Scales chats with The Beangrowers at Studio SX at SXSW in Austin. They discuss their band, inspirations, fave tracks, island home of Malta, meeting Kim Deal and Lou Reed, as well as the lack of barriers between fans and bands and the business part of the event.

More Beangrowers:
SXSW Profile
Myspace
Flickr tag