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The sights of SXSW 2012

The festival for geeks in Austin, Tx proved to be a great place to socialize and see the next generation of tech gear and new concepts for the Internet.
By Violet Blue, Contributor
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South by SouthWest 2012 - a welcoming projection inside the Austin Hilton, the main hotel adjacent to the Austin Convention Center.

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The first two days were a torrential downpour, causing a shift in attendee behavior: people trapped indoors socialized and networked more in person.

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The Samsung Blogger Lounge was free and its perimeters showcased new products such as the DualView with its popular front-facing LCD screen.

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The Samsung Blogger Lounge had exciting interviews and authors doing onstage Q and A (like Baratunde of "How To Be Black") yet was an excellent place to meet and cowork - with free food, coffee and beer along with plenty of charging stations.

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SXSW 2012 was at capacity, yet surprisingly enjoyable despite the crowds.

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SXSW Film reflected the interests of certain Interactive attendees.

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The typical costumed mascots hawked products to attendees at the convention center entries.

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SXSW volunteer staff wore red shirts, unintentionally similar to Star Trek's "Away Team" - first to be sacrificed.

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Working in hallway solitude, Peter Vesterbacka, CMO and Mighty Eagle of Rovio Entertainment and Angry Birds.

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FedEx had human charging stations roaming the blocks around the Austin Convention Center.

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SXSW Social had its own separate location.

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The amazingly fun SXSW 2012 Expo was packed with characters

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Virtual wallets were strong in top trends.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: The Cinetics Cinesquid portable tripods were extremely popular.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Robert Scoble represented Rackspace sporting a fake tattoo sleeve.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Twonky had an interesting gimmick - a mechanical claw grabber for beer (prizes).

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Twonky had an interesting gimmick - a mechanical claw grabber for beer (prizes).

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Getty Images had fun wares.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Tokyo (and wider Japan) had a huge and playfully engaging presence.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Kayac - Tokyo (and wider Japan) had a huge and playfully engaging presence.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Japan's PicoTube was a reminder of the mini-cosplay fest that happened around ScreenBurn.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: All the usual big open source heavy-hitters were in attendance to meet users, like WordPress.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Brian from Evernote was on hand to chat with folks - what a great guy.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: NewTek had an impressive stage and technical setup.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Much-loved mobile battery outfit Mophie had a great piece of real estate.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: Much-loved mobile battery outfit Mophie had a great piece of real estate.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: DasKeyboard had fun stuff in their booth, like this IBM Selectric.

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SXSW 2012 Expo: DasKeyboard's black matte no-chars keyboard was a sigh to behold.

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Many brands we consider utilitarian had unusual presences, such as Skype's Tpwn Crier who stood on a corner between the Hilton and convention center reading out tweets sent to the company in real time.

Photo credit: Violet Blue

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