Winter ends for me tomorrow. Every year for the past six years I get extremely fed up with the constant dampness and chill of winter in Oregon and about the only thing that makes it bearable is knowing that I’ll be going to SXSW.

SXSW for me is my spring break, but more appropriately, it’s my geek spring break. For five days straight I get to go on a manic geek-speak bender where every direction I turn there’s someone who’s just as passionate about what they do as I am. Every year my list of non-social network friends grows, my passions are stoked, and my voice stops working for days after getting back.

The only difference I expect for this year is a more robust set of pipes as I’ve been training intensely with the help of my fellow Grockiteers pair programmers/designers, talking quite literally all day long, five days a week.

This year I have two particular reasons to be totally amped about going. I’ve typically attended as an independent “web guy” and felt like I was trying to find inspiration for my next thing. This year I’m going as part of the Grockit team, which puts a different spin on the trip. I can’t wait to talk about Grockit with friends and to hear what they think about it. I’m excited about the new people I’ll meet who will share the same kinds of passions I’ve gained for what we’re doing at Grockit, and of course I expect I’ll be infused with new ways of thinking after attending some of the panels I’ve selected.

The second most awesome thing is that for my third year I’ll be attending as a speaker. I’ll be participating in Andy Baio’s “Worst Website Ever. That’s so crazy it just might work.” session where along with total rock stars Lane Becker, Merlin Mann, Katie Spence, Jeffery Bennett, Ben Brown, Lia Bulaong, David Friedman, I’ll be “competing” for “funding” from David Hornik of August Capital.

I also have a new goal this year – once a day I want to meet someone new who’s there for their first or second time and show them why I love SXSW. If you’re one of those people, jump out of your comfort zone just long enough to meet me and I’ll do my best to show you why I love SXSW. Track me down by looking at my schedule, my Upcoming events, or through through Twitter.