The One With the Speech
The last four days have been a life changing experience; I firmly believe that. So many emotions run through my mind when I think of what took place in Austin. From the panels to the bowling and the parties to the podcasts, there are no moments that I'd like to take back. Except one.
Oh wow, um... this is great... um... wow. Hey look! I can see myself on screen! [...] For those of you who couldn't make it to the web awards, you didn't have to see that debacle that I called an acceptance speech. So that leads me to say that Avalonstar did have a very special moment on Sunday night, and I ruined it.
Thinking back on that moment, this is what I would have wanted to say.
Wow, this is an honor. It truly is. If you told me 5 years ago that I would have won an award for being a great blog, I would have looked at you funny. There are so many things I could say, but I'll say this.
I'd like to call the rest of the nominees to the stage please.
I competed against some awesome blogs, the fact that I'm standing up here flabbergasted is a testament to how hard this contest must have been to judge. Shaun Inman in particular has been a great influence in the way I work and I've admired him ever since. Hell, he has mint and I have eggrolls — which by the way took precedent over my shield logo according to the South By Southwest committee. Now it seems I'm stuck to that.
Now before I'm kicked off the stage, this has only encouraged me to push our young medium to it's fullest. I'd like to thank my wonderful fiancé and moral support, Jenni and everybody that has supported me through this process. It's because of all of you that I keep writing.
And it's not gonna stop there, this is only the beginning. Thank you! Whooo!
So much more eloquent, but I probably wouldn't have had enough time to say it. This is what was in my heart when I was up there. For some reason that link to my brain crapped out.
I don't believe that I beat Shaun or Kelsey, the people at SXSW saw something Avalonstar that they preferred over theirs (what that is I have no idea). We're all in this together and no I'm not trying to be cheesy. We play off each other and inspire each other. If anything what I hope I gained out of this was not a glass statue, but a chance to meet and become friends with two people I idolized before that day.
I can't even stop thinking about how great an experience this was, and I really hope that more people go next year. There's no excuse not to go, and that's a fact. Concluding thoughts about the Austin festivals in a bit. cue music