I went to SXSW last year and had a great time experiencing all that SXSW has to offer. When it came around to "what conferences would you like to go to?" time at work I said, "I would like to go back to SXSW!" From the twitter sphere sxsw might be old hat for some, but for me it is a chance to learn new things, talk to new people, and get out of my comfort zone of building financial applications.

Leaving From Home

This turned out to be quite the ordeal. I know leaving from our local airport you need about 5 minutes of time to get from the ticket counter to your gate, but being myself I always like to give myself a few extra minutes (cough, 1 ½ hours). About ½ hour until my I leave to my connecting flight I get the following:

United flight UA from Chicago, IL (ORD - O'Hare) to Austin, TX (AUS) on March 6 is canceled.
To see available options, go to united.com/flightupdates, access an airport kiosk or see a United representative at the airport.

Great! To the Phone!

My only option at this point was to call customer service since the reservation system online would just give me an error, plus I am ½ until I have to board my flight to Chicago! Do I get on? Do I wait? It felt like forever, but as the door closed to my flight the representative said, "You have a seat, get on your flight" awesome!

On the Plane

It was interesting to see the Susquehanna river during the winter time partially frozen.

Arriving In Chicago

On the arrival to Chicago I was able to witness the frozen lake of Michigan from the aircraft. According to various news outlets it is around 90% frozen

In Chicago Airport

Nothing really exciting to report at the airport. I arrived, found some lunch, made sure I had a seat (and I did), and waiting for my flight

On the Plane

Finally, I am on the plane to Austin! I sit down in my seat and prepare to relax for the trip to Austin. About 5 minutes a lady goes over the intercom and says "This plane is inoperable, we have another plane at gate B7"

Off the Plane

I get off the plane and run over to gate B7, and wait. I also wait some more.

Back On the Plane

After some more waiting, I am back on the plane! Finally, time to get to austin!

The Flight

During the flight we had a light snack of roasted vegetables and some fruit.

Also during this time I realized it would be a good time to work on my up and coming blog post regarding AngularJs, "AngularJs with User Js"

<span ng-show="contactForm.contactName.$dirty">
            <span ng-show="contactForm.contactName.$error.required">Contact name is required</span>
            <span ng-show="contactForm.contactName.$error.maxlength">Max of 40</span>
        </span>
                    <label for="contactName">Contact Name</label>
                    <input type="text" id="contactName" name="contactName" ng-model="name" required=""
                           ng-maxlength="40"/>

                    <br/>

                    <label>Contact Method</label>
                    <select ng-model="contactMethod" required="">
                        <option>Email</option>
                        <option>Telephone</option>
                    </select>

                    <div ng-switch on="contactMethod">

                        <div ng-switch-when="Email">
                            <label for="email">Email</label>
                        <span ng-show="contactForm.email.$dirty">
            <span ng-show="contactForm.email.$error.required">Contact name is required</span>
        </span>
                            <input type="email" id="email" name="email" ng-model="email" required=""/>
                        </div>
                        <div ng-switch-when="Telephone">
                            <label for="email">Telephone</label>
                        <span ng-show="contactForm.telephone.$dirty">
            <span ng-show="contactForm.telephone.$error.required">Contact telephone is required</span>
        </span>
                            <input type="tel" id="telephone" name="telephone" ng-model="telephone" required=""/>
                        </div>
                    </div>

It is starting to come quite nicely, It is amazing what can be done with the build in directives.

At the Hotel

The plane lands, I wait in the taxi line, and get to my hotel. There really is nothing exciting to talk regarding that leg of my travel.

Getting the Badge

Now that I am at the hotel, my next task is to make the trek to the convention center so I can pick up my badge.

Badge Obtained

The registration process was just like last year. I went into Expo Room 1, gave my badge quick pick up code and Id and walked out the door with my badge.

Time To Find Food

Now that I got my badge and my bags of stuff, I need food. Last year I went to Banger's and decided to make a return visit. I got a few select local brews and an awesome fried chicken meal (battered and fried chicken sausage, mash, biscuit, and gravy). The food and beer was amazing! I highly recommend this place if you find yourself in Austin.

Back To The Hotel

I know from last year, I need to take it easy at least a few nights. Being in SXSW leaves you with a lot of good memories and a lack of sleep. So tonight I end the night a bit early.

Until Tomorrow