Bruce Sterling wrapped up the conference. He was philosophical, emotional, political and future thinking. There were no visual aids, nothing fancy — just an author, a chair & a microphone.
Apparently in the not too distant past, Bruce Sterling used to invite everyone who attended his panel to his house for a party after the convention. He started off by telling everyone that that wasn’t going to be happening tonight, as South by Southwest has just gotten far too big.
His talk was at times a bit rambling, other times witty and still other times he discussed concepts of the future that seem fantastical (not unexpected, as his is a science fiction author).
He spoke quite a bit about his time living in Serbia. While it didn’t seem to connect to the conference at first, Sterling brought some of his experiences around to a philosophy shared by the Serbians, and hopefully most of the world: Make no decision out of fear.
That’s easy, in theory. Of course, there is fear all around us, but Sterling ended with a Carl Sandberg poem that brought out probably the worst fear of all. The fear that makes us not do anything. The fear that says “I’ll do that when I’ve got time” while we’re watching TV.
It’s hard to convey in this format, but I was in a ballroom, watching a man try not to cry while reading this poem, and I noticed it was one of the few times I didn’t hear the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. Sterling had said before he began the poem that if you can comprehend poetry, your heart is not broken.
Why read poetry at a tech conference? Well, here’s a writer whose job is to create future worlds and alternate ways of thinking. He’s addressing a group of people who are capable of making some of the changes that are already working their way through his mind. Sandberg’s poem spoke of work, of saying no to that voice that tells you that you have no time.
It seemed to me that that was a perfect way to say goodbye to South by Southwest. It reminded me to keep going, even after I go home.
