by Brian Solis
I spent time Sarah Lacy and we talked about Mark Zuckerberg and the SXSW keynote…
I’m sure you heard about the infamous Mark Zuckerberg SXSW keynote hosted by well known author, Business Week columnist and Yahoo TechTicker host Sarah Lacy. Just in case you haven’t, let’s just say that some of the audience wasn’t supportive of the casual, conversational format or her style of engaging Zuckerberg in public.
From the get go, many believe that this interview was destined to fail. The angst and rebellion percolated to a boiling point and halfway through keynote, the mob revolted. Several attendees were more vocal than others, heckling her by shouting disruptively, “ask something interesting” and “let us ask the questions.”
She was suddenly hurt and upset, finding herself alone on stage in front of hundreds of Facebook enthusiasts and zealots. They thought that they were defending him and did so by viciously tearing down his host.
Lacy was now the story and Twitter lit up like a million dollar slot machine paying out its winnings in quarters.
“At the end of the day if Mark looked good then that’s all that matters to me,” – Sarah Lacy.
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sarah+lacy mark+zuckerberg facebook sxsw interactive sxswi sxsw08 keynote brian+solis jeff+jarvis michael+arrington marshall+kirkpatrick
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Sarah doesn’t know what REAL abuse is like.
I used to be a stand up comic and she got to perform in front of a SOBER audience. Try pulling that off in front of a bunch of drunks.
I’ve had hecklers, music turned up on me, I guy rushing the stage, and beer thrown at me. Luckily, back then there was no blogosphere to spread the news. 
Sadly I always say the blame goes to the moderator. If you have a poor panel, or poor interviewee, you have to blame the moderator to the greatest degree. The guest is to blame as well, but the moderator HAS TO BE PREPARED for guest and audience.
I actually got so frustrated going to so many bad panel sessions that I wrote an article entitled “More Schmooze, Less Snooze: How to Deliver ‘The Most Talked About’ Conference Session.” It’s got advice for moderators, panelists, and even attendees. Read it before you become the next Sarah Lacy story.
Online: http://sparkmediasolutions.com/conference.html
PDF: http://tinyurl.com/2nkfn4
Brain, we need to get you a video camera. This conversation would have made a great video interview.
this is why zuck has got to go:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/business&id=6005406
Must have been a tough crowd. If I were the interviewer and the crowd acted like that, the interview would have been over immediately. Just stop, say that’s it, and continue in private and publish it later. Most web/interaction conferences I go to, the attendees help make it what it is, good or bad. If you are a true professional in this trade, why mix with people that act like that, disrupting an interview that possibly other attendees were finding useful?
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