Yes, folks, the eagle has finally landed, and later than expected. Following flight delays due to weather issues in Austin, we made it last night to the annual craziness that is SXSW. Due to said delays, we missed out on most of the panel sessions, but did manage to catch JWT’s “Messin’ with Texas” party at the Kung Fu Saloon on Rio Grande last night, and ran into folks you’d expect including the new North American CCO Jeff Benjamin and chief integration officer Mike Geiger. Here are a couple of images including one of the band Howler, which brought some brash punkiness to the party in the patio space outside.
After a pretty decent night’s rest (hey, we’d been up since 6am), our morning today was toplined by a panel discussion moderated by Jimmy Fallon, who joined forces with execs and athletes including Nike VP, digital sport Stefan Olander, VEVO GM Fred Santarpia, EVP and head of EA Sports Andrew Wilson, as well as track & field gold medalist Allyson Felix. The main topic of discussion was the new Nike+ FuelBand and how data and statistics play an important role in our sports and gaming activities. The highlight, though, occurred during the Q+A period, where an attendee challenged the late-night host to a foot race down the aisle to the exit and he readily obliged (and lost). Sorry for the grainy image (Fallon is on your far left), but the place was just about as packed as the Seth Macfarlane Film panel across the street at the Austin Convention Center. We’ll have more for you as the day progresses.