What I learned by not going to South by Southwest

4 ways to advance your professional goals by not attending the interactive festival

I’ll admit it. I wish I had made trip to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest (SXSW). A number of my friends were there, but it wasn’t in the financial cards this year. And you know what, that was fine because I actually ended up learning a few things by not going.

How could that be? I missed the biggest interactive and social media event of the year. Anyone who’s anyone was there, right? It was full of learning opportunities.Those all may be true, but there’s more than one way to learn. And there’s definitely other ways to advance my professional goals. The following are a few things I learned by not going to SXSW this year:

• Create your own SXSW. I’m not suggesting you create your own mega event. What I am saying is you don’t have to always play by the rules. Frustrated you can’t make a huge industry event 1,000 miles away? Think about starting your own event in your community that focuses on meeting a previously unmet local need.