Tim Washer. Keynote Speaker + Event Emcee

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Tagged ‘austin‘

Vampire Bats at SXSW

Technically, they’re not vampire bats, which might be behind the inferiority complex.  But the 1.5 million bats living under the Congress Bridge in Austin can brag about being the largest urban bat colony in the world, as Reuters reports.  Be sure to add this to your list of  destinations while you’re in ATX.    Last year I had a fun visit with Scott Laningham and Turbo Todd Watson about some of our humor projects at IBM, including Art of the SaleMad Science with John Cohn and the smarter planet animation series.



The year before, David Meerman Scott and I watched the bats along the way of our aimless tour of ATX.



I hope to see you if you’re heading down this year. Ann Handley and I will record an ATX version of our new series , and I’ll tweet out when we have the session planned.   If you need help picking which events to attend, check out the Golin Harris marketer’s guide, SX Scout.

Comedy at SXSW

I presented at SXSW Interactive about the role of comedy in corporate social media, and was amazed at how productive the conference was.  I had the chance to meet with quite a few social media leaders — when possible, over BBQ — including Jeff Pulver, C.C. Chapman, Guy Kawasaki, Pam Slim, John Jantsch, Erik Qualman and David Meerman Scott. I managed to squeeze in some comedy, kicking things off with Conan O’Brien’s  documentary premier.

ConanChristopherOBrien.com

ConanChristopherOBrien.com

Rainn Wilson and director James Gunn dialed in the flight-delayed Ellen Page and put her on speaker to talk about their new dark comedy feature Super.

Super team.  Photo: Austin360
Photo: Austin360

Director Todd Phillips shared the backstory of some of his comedies like Old School and talked a bit about The Hangover Part II.

Todd Phillips.  Photo: Austin Chronicle
Photo: Austin Chronicle

Dined with Vince Thompson, comedian Matt Kirsch and the LA crew at the Salt Lick BBQ.

SaltLick

I wrapped up the visit with some classic Austin trailer food at Trey’s Cuisine for an amazing New York Strip burger stuffed with mac and cheeses served on a croquette.

Trey's Cuisine

Trey’s Cuisine chef Cowden Ward.

Trey's Cowden Ward

Finally, dessert at Amy’s Ice Cream with my favorite NEW YORKER cartoonist, Matt Diffee.

mattdiffee