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PostSecret’s Frank Warren makes all of SXSW cry
If there were blog categories here for “emotional” and “profound,” I’d be using them.
Frank Warren’s Monday keynote about his Web site, PostSecret.com (which was written about by Lilly Rockwell Sunday), was one of the most well-received and humanistic South by Southwest Interactive panels I’ve ever seen.
It was everything the Mark Zuckerberg kerfuffle wasn’t.
In fact, stunned audience members left the packed convention center ballroom wiping away tears. One person said, “This just turned the whole festival around for me.” In the hallways, attendees couldn’t get over how moved they’d been by Warren’s lovely, generous and heartbreaking presentation (which is bring me close to tears now just writing about it).
PostSecret.com features cards sent in by readers sharing their deepest secrets.
Warren began with a video presentation of some of those cards set to a song by Tori Amos. He read some examples of confessions from his site: from a barista, “I serve decaf to customers who are rude to me.” From an expectant father: “I know she’s not mine, but I love her anyway.”
Some of the funnier South by Southwest confessions: “All these Web celebs have never worked for clients.” “I have a SXSW crush, but I’m married.” “My company, a large one, sent me to SXSW to steal ideas from start-ups. I’m pretending to be a freelancer.”
Whoah!
Warren said some people just want to share a funny story. Others, he says, “are mailing in secrets to search for grace or to be able to apologize to someone or search for a greater sense of authenticity.”
Things got even more emotional during the Q&A after Warren’s fine and warm presentation: A guy from the audience proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes. An Austin woman confessed that her sister is sick and that she fears she may die.
Warren encouraged attendees to “Free your secrets and become who you are.”
Clearly taken aback by the appreciation of the very large audience, he said, “What a special place. I’m coming back to South by Southwest.”
Before the keynote, which may go down in SXSW history as one of the best (and worth finding online when the video is posted by the fest), director Hugh Forrest addressed yesterday’s Mark Zuckerberg/Sarah Lacy keynote.
“When we say ‘South by Southwest Interactive,’ we do mean interactive,” Forrest said.
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