I just got off a couple big speaking engagements, I have a few more coming up fast, and I have client work that will fall by the wayside if I take this upcoming weekend to go ‘network’ with thousands of my social media colleagues.

Will I miss the barbecue? Will I miss the booze? Will I miss the conversations?

Most certainly.

If you talk to anyone, this event is worthy of your attendance if you do anything in marketing, technology, social media or content. It’s got a target audience that any brand would be thrilled to reach. And it’s one non-stop, energy-packed party.

But, if you chill your heart for a moment and take a look at the event with a green eyeshade on, you might see it differently. As I said in my post earlier this year, I wasn’t going to go if I wasn’t being paid to be there. It didn’t make financial sense then and it still doesn’t. Here’s the nuts and bolts for those of you that still scream, “but the booze is mostly free, the parties are all open and you can get food on the cheap! How can it be expensive?”

Let’s start with the hotel.

$2121.75 for a room at the Hilton Austin from 3/11 to 3/16

$489 for a roundtrip flight on JetBlue – the #nerdbird – if you booked by January 1. The flight no longer has space and similar flights are now upwards of $1400 for that same trip.

$500 for entertaining, meals, incidentals and so forth. This includes the meals you’re going to have to eat. The after-party drinking that takes place. The parties that don’t really give free booze. And the Starbucks you’re going to need each morning.

$2000 for the work I would leave on the table by being absent for six days – my clients often require me to work onsite, so if I’m not around I don’t get paid.

$1250 for the speaking gig I would have to abandon because I’d be out of town. My rate averages between $500 and $2500 for a training session, so it’s fair to price that as possible lost revenue.

So, if you take a pencil to these numbers, you can easily see – even if I estimate low – that I would be spending around $6000 to go south this weekend and party like it’s 2011. That validates my earlier post about not going if I’m not getting paid to be there. And it mirrors to some degree what some other folks have said about not attending this year either.

I still wish I were going. I’m gonna miss it horribly. But for me, there really are 6000 reasons not to go this year.

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: #sxsw, Austin, BBQ, convention, Jeff Cutler, mike langford, networking, nomx3, revenue, robert scoble, strout, training

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I decided to take a day – a day where I had a bunch of deadlines – and slip away from Twitter for a while. I still created tweet-length missives, but I saved them all in a text file (they’re pasted below) instead of putting them out in the ether.

The two folks that come to mind when I think of Twitter hater, unfollowers (who then follow Twitter again) are Ari Herzog and Robert Scoble.

Robert went over to FriendFeed for a bit and then came back – albeit a little less loquacious than before.

Ari went away and then came back and then went away and then came back. In the midst of all this he unfollowed everyone and then refollowed some folks. He has reasons and rhymes for all his moves. See those at his blog.

Enough blathering. here’s what I would have said had I been on Twitter today. I’ll be back on tonight in case you missed me.

Today’s the experiment day. Gonna collect my tweets in a .pages document and then post them all as a blog entry. Feel free to comment.

Why do so many shampoo manufacturers make paper labels to go on their product? Heads-up, these bottles are in a wet, paper-destroying environment.

Wearing my Breckenridge t-shirt today. Maybe people will think I’m from Colorado and ask me questions about the wild west.

Already got one comment on my announcement (of this experiment) @chucktanowitz wanted to know why. I say it’s good blog fodder and will keep me focused on work today.

@gradontripp This is amazing. I have had to remain vigilant not to open up Tweetdeck, Seismic, Tweetie or Twitter.

Worried about the #meatcats. @clownface3 hurt her back and can’t save them from danger, and I’m headed to Panera to do some work – might even chance Barnes & Noble cc: @chrisbrogan

Cooking waffles for breakfast. Not sure if I can Tumble my food today as I’m off of Twitter. Guess I’ll take photos and post them tomorrow. #wwjce

Cats are back in. I’m off to the satellite office. NOT THE Satellite Office, but Panera in Hingham.

@jetblue – we have a team of people from Boston going to SXSW in March. We’re all on the same flight on 3/12. We’d LOVE some drink tickets if you have any around. Thx!

Nearly freaked out when I realized March is MADNESS for me. 4th I’m in Wichita. 9th I’m in Chicago. 12-16 I’m in Austin. 26-27 I’m in Saratoga. Yikers. How do people like @peterkim @adamcohen and @schneidermike do it?

One project wrapped up. Now on to a couple others. Trying to breathe. Glad it’s not scooter weather yet. Would be major-league distracted.

My favorite blog right now is Tyson Goodridge’s – http://enterdialogue.com – it’s awesome when it comes to distilling intelligence. Good work!

Just cooked some Pot Stickers and was reprimanded by one of the people who lives in the house. She pointed out that the Pot Stickers were going to be part of dinner. It’s now 3:24 and we’re Pot Sticker destitute.

Now gobbling pretzels and waking up @clownface3 – She’s asked me to be quieter in my consumption. I told her that I was getting a fist for punching.* (see The Office)

Projects 62% done. VERY happy so far. Now on to some audio editing for a client. The fun doesn’t stop.

Seems like airlines are getting slammed on Twitter. First Southwest and now United. Sounds like some companies need to listen.

Just looked at @bostonmarketer and realized she’s about 1000 followers ahead of me. She deserves more. Great content and winning smile all the time.

Got any experiments you’re doing with Social Media? Share them in the comments!

Keep reading!

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ari herzog, Boston, deadlines, procrastination, robert scoble, scoble, twitter

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