SXSW recap, likes and dislikes

When it comes to SXSW, survival is of the essence.

For those of you who have never experienced this 9 day festival, South By Southwest brings a blend of interactive, film, and music conferences, which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world to Texas' capital city. Oh, and there's advertising -- lots and lots of it in the form of signs, stickers, booths, sponsorship, swag and more swag.

It's so hard not to participate when the signs are PURPLE.

Yes, that is a giant wrecking ball.

Numerous  parties -- official and unofficial -- offer free flowing booze and plenty of opportunities to network and to be entertained. Needless to say, attempts to attend the entire festival can become daunting and exhausting -- but riding out the SXSW wave can be worth the recovery period.

Game of Thrones exhibit, check!

Delicious beer at the Game of Thrones exhibit, double check!

This year wasn't my finest in terms of attendance, and I certainly had my reasons. All of my DISLIKES about SXSW week have little to do with the actual event and more to do with terrible circumstances:


Losing my wallet
One minute I'm showing my I.D. to get into a show, the next minute my entire wallet is gone. Poof. Just like that, it disappeared between those 10 feet I walked from the security guard to the stage. Luckily, I had no cash and I was able to cancel my credit cards with St. Paul & the Broken Bones playing in the background.

Being on antibiotics
Nausea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, dizziness --  those open bars weren't so attractive with these potential side effects looming.

The Red River Massacre
This year's event was interrupted by what can only be called an absolute tragedy when a police evasion turned into a vicious vehicular attack of innocent festival bystanders. 

On the other hand, the few escapades I did have were a total success, hence these LIKES:

This is a legit office.

ATX Start Up Crawl 
Sponsored by Google, the ATX Start Up Crawl is not an official SXSW event. It is, however, one of my favorite things to do during SX. A few dozen start up companies open their doors and kegs to the public, and we get to see firsthand what it's like to work for some of Austin's hippest companies. Trendkite, for the win!

Start Up Oasis
My friend who happens to also be my co-worker and I stumbled into a talk led by Craig Wortmann of "the other" Sales Engine (I work for a company called Sales Engine International). He gave great advice about optimizing selling potential at conferences and other meet ups. 

St. Paul & the Broken Bones
My cousin, Andrew Lee, drums for this band. They played nine shows at SX and are embarking on a Euro tour very soon. It's absolutely amazing to watch the crowd react to their soulful sound, and I can't help but be super proud of Andrew's performance -- especially when he's wearing a big ass grin on his face. Way to go, 'cuz -- you're living the dream!

Andrew is hiding behind a drum set.

When March 2015 rolls around, I plan to be out in full force again!