As for Zuckerberg, he struck me as a “geek out of water”, and doesn’t like interviews because he has the charm and wit and ability to think on his feet of . . . well . . . someone who has little of those things.

I totally agree that the myth overshadowed the actual event — and I’l own up to my own part in adding hyperbole to the keynote — but when I think of all the interviews, keynotes, presentations or speeches that I have seen in my life, I cannot ever recall feeling so incensed while watching (because I felt it was disrespectful on many levels – mostly because it was so patronizing to a crowd that really didn’t need the patronization), nor can I remember a crowd ever turning against both parties, as it was happening, like they/we did on Sunday.

The media firestorm after the fact was to be expected and Lacy hurt her own case by making statements like, “They (SXSW attendees) just weren’t ready for someone like Mark” and “People like Mark will never show up at SXSW again because of this” — bullshit and more bullshit. Zuckerberg did the same thing with that mulligan attempt at a Q&A during the Facebook Garage thing offsite. We left after about 15 minutes, once it became clear he was not going to address things or actually be correct in his responses (he actually said Facebook doesn’t track how long users are online. *silence*).

I don’t necessarily think she “got what she deserved” or anything like that, but I can’t say I wasn’t a little sympathetic with the audience reaction, especially given her own responses to the crisis.

I think that because the SXSW crowd (who probably are not familiar with SF and the personalities) probably had an elevated expectation of the content.

That being said, I think the whole thing was disappointing for a lot of different reasons. I think the interview/QA balance could’ve been better, I think the crowd was amazingly rude, and I think (like you) that Sarah could’ve handled the post-mortem a little better (but I don’t entirely blame her because it’s really tough).

Ultimately though, I think the experience has turned for the better. I think Sarah’s gotten something out of it, I know Facebook and Zuckerberg took advantage and turned it around with their party/QA and I think Sarah is probably going to come out of the whole thing better off than going in.

As for the women in tech thing, there are more than most people think. The great thing is that more often than not they’re very exceptional at what they do, which is awesome.

But again, I’m not at all saying it was a good interview or a great use of time, just that executive interviews on the lame end of the spectrum happen ALL the time (watch any network TV show) and you rarely see anyone get crucified for it as in here. Given the level of attention you’d think she’d punched Zuck in the face or something, it was just way over the top!

I do not paid to listen to industry leaders make chit chat and flirt with their friends who conduct the interview.

I have read all the interviews you have conducted with industry leaders Ryan, you don’t pull any punches, you get right to the meat of things and ask the hard questions as a service to your readers.

I acknowledge some of the Tweets I saw go by were flippant and exaggerated, but after watching the video, and playing the part of a paying conference attendee, would you be satisfied with the information that came out of that interview?