I spent a lot of time at this year’s South By Southwest Interactive conference reminiscing about how far marketing and technology has come and how far we have yet to go. This was my fifth year attending the ultimate in-person gathering of the Internet, and I couldn’t help but thinking how drastically the conference experience has changed since 2007.

Real-time micromedia and location-based networking had not been adopted. Affordable smart phones did not exist. Affordable tablet computers did not exist. Facebook’s omnipresence existed only in its founder’s head. Social media – and thus social marketing — at least as we know it today, did not exist.

In 2007, cell service and wireless connectivity were each in ample supply and readily available. Many attendees brought laptops, although tablets were the most popular form of note taking device five years ago. Paper tablets that required an innovative device called a “pen” for operation.

I attended panels on blogs, corporate blogs, the future of journalism and geocaching that year. I listened and took paper notes. I don’t recall us attendees spending the entire day and evening staring down at our phones reading email and social streaming updates from those back home.

Dan Rather (yes, Dan Rather) gave a meandering keynote that frustrated an audience who didn’t yet know the joy of live-tweeting criticisms while a speaker pours their heart out on stage. Instead, we listened diligently and kvetched in the hallways post-speech (the digital backchannel debuted at SXSW in 2008). Face to face. And without a permanent record of our snark logged in the time machine known as the Internet.

Corporate sponsors were numerous, but most confined their event activation to flyers in the swag bag and a 12′x20′ booth on the tradeshow floor. Of the marketing community, I was one of only a few asking questions at the end of tech-related panels about marketing strategies.

The highlights of this year’s conference included forward thinking on privacy, augmented reality and consumer empowerment. Can you imagine what we’ll be discussing in five years and the technology we’ll be critiquing?

And can you fathom the cultural and social implications of today’s Wikileaks, Japan’s earthquakes and personal data legislation? It’s quite thrilling to think about.

Beyond the thrill, this year I noticed a few new trends I’m not sure how I feel about.

First, there were a lot of strollers around the convention hall, plus kids and crying babies in panels. As a parent of three who left the babies at home, it was a bit surreal to me to see four month-olds wearing “Keep Austin Weird” onesies in a panel about APIs.

Second, there was hand-holding in the hallways! It’s a big enough deal that women attend this conference, not to mention couples who are both passionate about interactive. Although, judging by men’s lines at the restroom, the gender disparity is still significant. Only in Austin do the men wait longer than the women for the restroom. Will we see a marriage proposal after the Bruce Sterling closing address in 2012? I can only hope.

Lastly, the brands have taken over. I’m sure the folks who’ve come to SXSW for all 25 years have their own opinions, but I noticed the branding scale from 2007 to 2011 jump in exponential investment each year. While there is no question SXSW attendees are the creators, investors and influencers companies want to connect with, the sponsored noise and guerilla marketing at this show is now deafening. It’s becoming “CES-South.”

With that said, this conference is a must-attend event for key brands, and our clients will be up for the challenge next year. I’m just leaving my kids at home.