Our take on SXSW

Texas’ interactive conference SXSW stormed into Austin last week, and Team Blippar nabbed front-row seats.

Hey, cowboy: Blippar's Sam conducts some very important business on top of the bucking bronco

Flying in from London, New York and San Francisco, we brought suitcases stuffed with orange coasters (seemingly mundane bits of cardboard which become interactive, futuristic mobiles upon blipping) and temporary tattoos (dragons that breathe fire when blipped). Photos of the blipps proved wonderfully tweetable.

A view from space: the blippable coaster offered several stunning interactions

It was our CEO Rish’s birthday so we hosted Blippar’s very first SXSW Happy Hour at Rattle Inn Rooftop. And, from what we can remember, it was terrific fun... We also treated the birthday boy to a gut-busting Texan buffet at the notorious Salt Lick barbeque. Adam Richman would have been proud, our doctors less so.

Last preparations at the Rattle Inn Rooftop before the Happy Hour

All-you-can-meat: Team Blippar will be sending an invoice for new arteries to Salt Lick HQ

Meeting international entrepreneurs, marketers and techies was phenomenal; we made fabulous contacts, shared exciting ideas and did great business with current and potential clients.

It's business time: the boys talk blippable cereal boxes in the Mass Relevance suite

But, voting with our stomachs, Blippar’s festival highlights were the 3D Oreo-printing machine and a similar Deloitte contraption dispensing colourful candies. Willy Wonka has got competition.

Watch out, Willy Wonka: Deloitte's 3D printer dispensed delicious multi-coloured candies

Cookie, anyone? We couldn't take our eyes off this amazing 3D printer that dispensed Oreos

People with Samsung phones also adored the super-helpful team who dashed around replacing spent batteries with fresh ones whenever you tweeted #poweron. Clever.

And those needing down-time snuck off to the Mass Relevance suite where our generous partners provided delicious snacks, refreshing massages and – just for fun – pretty manicures.