It’s finally here… THE South by Southwest (SXSW) road trip.

Shawn McEntyre (@tehshawn) is joining me for the trip to Austin, TX for 5 days of Film and Interactive Media goodness. We’ll be throwing updates on Twitter and hoping they stick like cooked spaghetti on a refrigerator. Twitter was featured at SXSW a couple of years ago. Last year it had trouble keeping up with SXSW attendees. According to all the reports I’ve seen, SXSW is expecting a larger crowd than last year. Combine that with Twitter’s ever increasing userbase and it spells mondo trouble for getting updates out in a timely manner. If I can’t get Tweets up, I’ll be blogging from Wordpress mobile and updating with pics and video later.

A few interesting events taking place:

Saturday, March 14th:    Diggnation Live Show at Stubbs. Part of the Bigg Digg Shindigg. Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) and Alex Albrecht (@alexalbrecht) are taking the thunder to Austin for a night of loud, rauccous entertainment.

Tuesday, March 17th:   Total Rad Show (TRS) Live Show. I don’t have the exact location and time just yet. It’s more of Alex Albrecht (@alexalbrecht), with Dan Trachtenberg (@DannyTRS) and Jeff Cannatta (@JeffCannata).

With the live shows, multiple screenings and film and Interactive Media panels I have on the intinerary, I will be exhausted when I get back Wednesday morning.

If you’re going to be there, hit me up. I’d love to meet you.

See you in Austin

Going to drop some nuggets of wisdom on the Internet courtesy of the amazing Dave Ramsey who just spoke at Catalyst.

First his leadership message:

• Few churches or organizations experience real unity.

There are 5 main enemies of unity:

1. Poor communication
2. Gossip
3. Unresolved disagreements
4. Lack of shared purpose
5. Sanctioned incompetence

• Poor communication can take many forms, but when the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, strife sets in.
• Gossip is degrading and will destroy a church or organization.
• a successful leader develop-s and maintains a culture in which negatives are handed up and positives are handed down.
• by definition, gossip is when a negative is discussed with anyone who can’t help solve the problem.
• Unresolved disagreements happen when a leader doesn’t know they exist or when that leader avoids confrontation.
• A little confrontation cleanses the wound and allows the parities to go forward in a spirit of unity.
• When you are aware there are hurt feelings and/or disagreements, act quickly and decisively.
• Lack of shared purpose is caused when a a leader doesn’t restate the goal, the vision and mission early and often.
• It has been said that sanctioned incompetence demoralizes.
• Team members will eventually become demotivated when someone else on the team can’t or won’t do their job and a leader will not take action.
• For the sake of unity in the entire group, the leader must go to battles early and often with any of these enemies of unity.
• When unity is valued in the culture, the team will also at to keep these enemies from the gate.
• The only way to penetrate the market place for Christ is extreme excellence

As for his financial advice in these turbulent times:

• Knowledge and perception removes fear.
• Gold hasn’t been used as an on-the-street currency since Roman times.
• Over the history of the last ten 10 year stock market cycles, the market has delivered a 33% increase over pre-crash value.

Today ….I don’t have a word that adequately expresses today. Unfortunately, if you weren’t there, it will be impossible for me to fully represent the awesomeness of the day.

Today’s speakers included Andy Stanley, William P. Young (author of the New York Times Bestseller “The Shack”), Jim Collins (author of “Good to Great” and “Built to Last”), Steven Furtick (Lead Pastor of Elevation Church), Rev. Dr. Brenda Saltier McNeil (author of “A Credible Witness”), marketing guru and best-selling author Seth Godin and Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, Craig Groeschel.

A few highlights from the day:

Andy Stanley:

• Moral authority is the alignment between creed and deed.
• Are you doing what you say you’re going to do? If not, you have no moral authority.

Jim Collins:

• Greatness is not a function of the cards we’re dealt. It is a function of choices and discipline.
• The great fall by over reach and exercising an undisciplined pursuit of more.
• The signature characteristic of GREAT leaders is humility.
• Every generation needs to develop its own practices to passionately deliver the values shared across all generations
• Greatness is a function of choices nobody sees.
• For every “to do” there must be a “stop doing”.

Steven Furtick:

• Between promise and payoff is the process.
• God is preparing you for what He’s preparing for you.

Seth Godin:

• Tribes are crowds of people that have a common interest, passion or purpose.
• Tribes are difficult to make both large and tight knit.

Craig Groeschel:

• Most people have lost “it” and need to get “it” back.
• God makes “it” happen.
• We cannot create “it”.
• “It” is not a model.
• “It” has an upside – healing, changed lives
• “It” has a downside – critical response
• Ministry can quench “it” if allowed. Very similar to a tire with a slow air leak.
• You MUST do something drastic to get “it” back.
• God must stretch you, heal you and ruin you.
• You must allow the things that break God’s heart to break your heart.

It is going to be very difficult to top today’s content. I feel so drained from trying to keep up all day and ingest every nugget of wisdom and knowledge that seem so to be common sense and absolute genius at the same time.