Opera at SXSW 2008

PostSecret: The highlight of my conference so far

By Jim Brown. Monday, 10. March 2008, 20:38:05

After yesterday's keynote fiasco, everyone was ready for a pick me up. The guy introducing Frank Warren's talk was very much aware of this, and he said that yesterday's Zuckerberger interview was evidence that SXSW Interactive is "interactive in every sense of the word" (attendees fed up with the interviewers ridiculousness let her have it on twitter and through various heckles.) Frank Warren had a tall order after yesterday...and he pulled through in a big way.

Before this talk, I didn't know anything about PostSecret (check out the blog too.) The project started 3 years ago in Washington D.C. Warren distributed blank postcards and asked people to send him their secrets. As he received them, he posted them in an exhibit space. Warren had no artistic training or background, but the exibit was a huge success. In fact, even after he took down the art installation and stopped handing out cards he continued to receive secrets. Thus, PostSecret was born.

Warren has received thousands of secrets, some disturbing, some heart wrenching, some funny, some weird. He read some to the audience, and he even provided a couple of secrets sent to him by SXSW attendees. The most unsettling of these might have been:

“My company, a large one, sent me to SXSW to steal ideas from startups. I say I’m a freelancer.”

Apparently SXSW is a more cut-throat place than I thought. He also shared a bunch of other secrets (my favorite: "My boyfriend is deaf, and when we have sex I scream my Ex’s name.")

Warren's talk was interesting, and the Q&A didn't disappoint either (many times this is the worst part of a keynote.) The first "secret" shared by an audience member was a marriage proposal (she said yes!), and another woman shared her fears about her sister's terminal disease (Warren gave her a hug.) Warren and another questioner opined about sites like PostSecret tapping into an “intimacy revolution” or an “authenticity revolution.” Warrent believes that new technologies allowing so many people to join the online conversation is “allowing us to come up with new purposes that are not commerce related.” Some might call this utopian, but it was hard to leave this talk without feeling that online communities are more than just contests to see who can get the most attention. PostSecret is different than Facebook - it's not about "efficent communiciation" or networking. It's about emotion and affect.

In a cynical world (and at a conference that can be cynical), it was nice to be in a room that felt like one big therapy session. Sappy? Maybe. But definitely cool.