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