SXSW.
Where to begin? Writers block one word in? A SXSW recap, especially from a first timer, could be ten pages long; how am I going to condense it to just ten things?
Made up of five days of Interactive, six days of Music, with a day of overlap and a proven borderline-crazy idea, I attended the full eleven days of SXSW. It’s safe to say I got about thirty hours of sleep those eleven days, which encompassed two weekends, and is therefore about one-quarter of the sleep I would’ve normally zonked out… It’s also safe to say some days I consumed 4,000 calories of BBQ, and other days I drank all my calories and only had a free slice of pizza or two to keep said drinks down! I also managed to work from 10am-6pm everyday—thank God for the two-hour time difference, I could not have woken up at 8am daily, and lived to write this post.
Work. Play, play, play. Play while working. Work, work. Play, play. Work while playing.
I hope I’ve set the stage. Now, here are ten specific things I appreciate and hope to never forget, post-SXSW.
1. iPhone charging stations
Don’t carry a handbag, do carry an iPhone charger—it only took me nine days to figure this one out. The days pre-realization, I turned off my Wi-Fi, dimmed my brightness, deleted the Path app, tweeted sparsely, didn’t even think about playing Draw Something, and only texted people “where u @?” But even after I started packin’, I flocked to iPhone charging stations like Krispy Kreme locations with the red light on. A Portland-based startup and app that launched this year at SXSW, Gliph, had an iPhone charging station / information booth that saved the day, many times per day, many days in a row. Marlboro (I’m not a smoker), Samsung, and a few others (that obviously did a poor job branding and got used for their juice), also had cellphone charging stations. SXSW 2013 will see more. Bet. (A word I picked up in Texas!)
2. Places with free anything
“Free” rarely stands by its definition anymore. Even at SXSW, you only ate free tacos after signing up for a 30-day trial of XYZ, which I’d to forget to cancel, would then end up paying for, and which then are not free. Or, free headphones after supplying my name, address, email, five of my friends’ emails, etc., which are not free either. Or, free beer if I could patiently wait in line for twenty minutes, then guess the correct answer to a Jeopardy question, again, NOT free. Clearly, some brands attended SXSW to promote; but shout out to the brands that came to give back. Chevy gave back with FREE taxi-like rides. Reese’s gave back with FREE peanut butter cups. Monster Energy Drink gave back with FREE 16 ounce’rs. #outhere
3. Company parties
Most work parties suck. But SXSW work parties? They’re better than most frat parties. Especially when you’re VIP. Wow. The Interactive crowd at SXSW redefined “work hard, play hard” for me. These guys live for SXSW; it’s probably the only thing they think about while they’re diligently filing their taxes six weeks early. They stay square 354 days of the year, so they can go without sleep for eleven days straight mid-March. Seriously, the SAY Media party was three-levels of bar, with a different band playing on each floor, Wallpaper on one. The Mashable party was also three levels, but at least 5x the square footage of SAY Media’s, had a duo of female deejays that played only mashups, and got nerds dancing until the floor shook. And the Cameo app party? I hardly have words for it. A New York deejay, catered cake pops, and one, two, three, four, five open bars—everyone drank ‘til they felt like they were on drugs (the Alice in Wonderland decor helped). I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that at SXSW, nerds party harder than rappers.
4. The NW love
ME: iLLA and Cory and The Kid Espi all say hi! I introduced all my friends and they all get along so well!!! MOM: That’s so cool when you can bring friends together like that. Say hi to all, especially Kid Espinoza. – Self-explanatory, and I know I’m not the first person to say this, the Northwest had a heavy presence at SXSW 2012. #APMGang
5. DJ Fatboy
Simple presence aside, many of the Northwest homies also rocked stages, most notably DJ Fatboy. DJ Fatboy had numerous shows, as Oakland-rapper Kreayshawn’s tour deejay, two of which I was able to attend: one on the Thrasher stage and another at Perez Hilton’s “One Night in Austin” party to benefit VHI Save The Music Foundation. Thrasher was exactly what you’d expect, but Perez Hilton impressed us all. At the Perez Hilton party, DJ Fatboy shared the Austin Music Hall stage with Dev, Dragonette, Kimbra, B.o.B., Timbaland, Miguel, and Ed Sheeran. And a big thank you to Cool Nutz for including the NW fam on backstage and VIP lists.
6. The lack of rain
The first week of SXSW it rained, in fact, it poured. I even tweeted I hadn’t seen raindrops that big since being in Oregon! Just in time for the Music crowd to fly in, the clouds parted. Austin served up 70˚F weather, so I could wear open-toed shoes and tank-tops-without-a-cardigan into the wee hours of the morning…
7. Panels
Although the panels were technically work for most people, they were also a lot of raunchy fun. (Remember, nerds come to SXSW to party.) My favorite only panel was Sex in the Digital Age, which included panelists from Ashley Madison, Gawker, and a few other trashy gossip sites, to talk about SEX, baby. The purpose of each SXSW panel differs, from educating to branding to thought provoking. Sex in the Digital Age was mostly thought provoking; here’s my favorite takeaway: They teach safer sex in schools. In 2013, should they teach safer sexting?
8. Free concerts
Concerts were another 100% free aspect of SXSW. Granted some of them had long lines and poorly ventilated venues that were hardly suitable for concerts (alleys, on top of busses, street corners, hallways, unfinished rooftops), but FREE? I’ll stop complaining. Here’s a list of everyone (I can remember) that I saw perform at SXSW: Starship Connection; Mike Snow; at XXL Freshman Live: Hopsin, A.Dd+, Don Trip; 50 Cent; Eminem; The Dream; Lionel Richie (with special guest Kenny Rogers); at the Blast Live by Digiwaxx: Hopsin (again); at the Coast2Coast Music Industry Mixer: local Texas artists, Short Dawg from Young Money; on the Thrasher stage: Kreayshawn; at Perez Hilton’s “One Night in Austin” party to benefit VHI Save The Music Foundation: Kreayshawn (again), Dev, Dragonette, Kimbra, B.o.B., Timbaland, Miguel, Ed Sheeran; at the MTV Woodie Awards: The Cool Kids; G-Eazy; Wallpaper; and of course all the friends and family at the NW showcases.
9. Sixth Street being closed
Austin does bars right. A few local friends of mine told me that Sixth Street (the strip the bars are on) is blocked-off by the City every weekend, not just during SXSW. So, the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World constantly has nearly one hundred bars, all within walking distance of each other, full of live music, street performers, masses of people, no cover, and stiff mixed drinks for under $5—a sense of “practice makes perfect” as the locals prep for the mobs next March. Austin is a college town (University of Texas), so it makes sense. It almost reminded me of Eugene…
10. The similarity to the NW
The similarity to Eugene, and even more so to Portland, is something I appreciated about Austin; it forced reflection and appreciation on the NW as well. The slow-paced service, friendly strangers, food trucks, bridges, pot, weirdos, artists and musicians in the streets…it felt like home. And I don’t know who did it first, but Austin even uses the slogan “Keep Austin weird.” They also have a “PBR” of Texas, Lone Star.
The Kid Espi said “I had the time of my life at SXSW,” and I’m not ashamed to say I agree with him; but being in “hot Portland” for eleven days heightened my longing and grew my appreciation for the NW, post-SXSW…
#outhere
BONUS: 10 THINGS aside, here are a few memories for the books… Hitchhiking, with strangers who were selling homemade pot energy bars. 4am private karaoke (belligerent and delirious with clients). Underground rap cypher / producer showcase. Dancing on the bar at Coyote Ugly (also with clients). Late night food and convos at Magnolia Cafe. Riding in pedicabs. Working poolside. Raving. VIP or backstage everywhere. Nomsayin? (Another word I picked up in Texas!)