As most of you know the SXSW Music + Film + Interactive Festivals and Conferences are fast approaching. This week, I provided you with 5 different daily tips in various areas (lodging, driving, getting around Austin, etc.) that will hopefully help you maximize your trip based on my own personal experiences.
My focus was mainly on the Music and Media Conferences (March 17-21), but many of my tips and advice have been general enough that you can apply them towards any part of SXSW. I hope you’ve found some of them useful.
For Monday’s 5 Tips on Lodging click here
For Tuesday’s 5 Tips on Driving to Austin click here
For Wednesday’s 5 Tips on Getting Around Austin click here
For Thursday’s 5 Tips for Your Trip to SXSW click here
TGIF! You know what that means? Today we’ll bring you our final 5 Tips for your trip to SXSW.
1. Watch the Weather – I know there are many distractions that will prevent you from checking the weather prior to embarking on your trip, however as a rule of thumb plan on it raining at least one or two days/nights that you are in Austin. You’ll get some super hot days mixed with some humid rainy days that lead to cold nights. Really a day can run the gamut. You should plan on bringing a light jacket with you and some long sleeved shirts or sweaters as well as tank tops. If you have an umbrella, pack that too.
(photo originally published here)
2. Stay on a Budget – If you have to watch what you spend (which most of us do), definitely set a budget for yourself. Whether it’s a daily limit (pretend you’re in a signed band or an actor and set your own per diems). Aside from cab fare, despite the promise of all of the free food and booze, most of your money will go to food and booze. It’s unavoidable. Once you start partying you might be find it hard to keep track of how much money you’ve spent so consider bringing cash and bringing with you only what you’ve set as your daily budget and possibly an extra 10 bucks that you keep in your shoe or somewhere away from the rest of your cash for cab fare, etc. It’ll be easier to keep track of your spending this way than using a credit or bank card.
Bonus tip: Some of the parties at make-shift venues will often have cash only bars, so if you’re going to something that’s not in the downtown area you should probably take some cash with you.
3. Emergency Cash – Speaking of credit or bank cards, it can be so easy to forget those at a bar at end of the night, most of the time you won’t realize it until the next morning once they are closed or when you are trying to get back to your hotel. Carrying emergency cash with you ($15-$20 should suffice) will at least guarantee that you can get back to your hotel room.
4. Check Yourself – By saying this I mean check your belongings periodically. This includes your purse/wallet and its contents (ID, credit card, bank card, cell phone, medication if you take any, etc.). Losing stuff happens, but doing so somewhere like Austin during SXSW can be a nightmare. With each place you visit having such a high turnover of clientele it isn’t likely that your stuff would remain where it was left for very long. So do yourself a favor and check to make sure you have everything you left your hotel room with when you set out every couple of hours at the very least.
The worst scenario I encountered with this was during a showcase I helped put on, the person who was putting the venue charges on their credit card had accidentally left his card at a bar the night before and didn’t realize it until it was time for the showcase to start. The venue wanted half the deposit before the show could go on. The problem was resolved, but it was a big deal and not great way to start an event off.
5. RSVP to EVERYTHING – Even if you don’t make it to everything, you don’t lose anything by RSVPing to all of the parties (official or not), even the ones you think aren’t that cool. For the most part most people don’t end up where they thought they would. You never know you might meet up with some friends who wanted to go to a different party than you originally did, but you really want to go hang with them so you tag along only to realize you didn’t RSVP to this party. Upon arrival to Austin you’ll realize you didn’t really have to RSVP to some of the parties and showcases as they are open to the general public. However, there are instances when it is mandatory to have RSVPd to gain entry and other times when having RSVPd will help you avoid having to wait in a long line. Also pay attention to the RSVP replies you get, some parties have special instructions like you need a special laminate to get in that you have to pick up at a different location before.
Here are two additional tips when it comes to parties:
- Share!!!! – Communicate with friends pre-trip, who are going and combine your lists of parties. This may help you learn of other cool parties to go to. Maybe initiate this by sending them a few of the parties you are going to and ask them to return the favor. That’s what I and most of my friends do and it really is effective.
- Discuss!!!! – Communicate with friends while in Austin about parties you are going to, not just for the sake of sharing, but they might have inside information about a party you planned on attending (i.e. change of location, cancellation). If you don’t have email access (updates aren’t always sent this way anyway) or the number of the promoters (chances are they will be too busy to get back to you anyway). This is more for the big parties and out of the way parties (not necessarily the industry parties). I remember two particular parties one year where the info to changes traveled via word of mouth. One had it’s location changed last minute, and the other was cancelled/shut down altogether. This will save you from making a pointless trip.
Bonus Tip 1: Who Would You Pay to See? Set Your Music Goals –
I didn’t really provide any tips on music shows, as I figure that’s what the majority of you have been focusing your attention on and have done your research. However, here is one tip for you:
When it comes to the music shows during SXSW, the hardest thing is putting together a daily schedule of what you want to see. My personal rule was figuring out what bands I would actually pay to see and then ignoring those bands while out there. Yours might be the opposite, and that’s understandable. My goal however, was to see new music that I’d never seen live before and probably wouldn’t make much of an effort to see if they came to LA and also to catch bands and artists that don’t tour regularly. Shows run the gamut, you can catch some amazingly intimate shows from bands and artists that are getting major hype as well as discovering new great bands no one has really heard of.
So realistically, because the various musical options compare to a Vegas style buffet and can be overwhelming you should try to determine what your show watching goals are. Do you, like me, like seeing under the radar bands and artists yet still want to catch some of the more established acts performing intimate sets? Or do you prefer to only watch the bigger acts? After you’ve done this you can begin to plan your show going schedule. Also keep in mind though that the wait to get into the bigger acts’ shows can be long and you may have to invest some time (and may not even make it in). Those shows typically also usually have covers if you don’t have an official badge.
Something else to keep in mind is that most of these bands and artists usually play more than once while in Austin, just figure out where else they are playing and which seems like the place you’d most like to catch them. Keep an eye out for secret shows too, as those are commonplace (many a time if an artist is playing a showcase during SXSW, they aren’t allowed to play another show within a certain time frame before and after—however, many of them do it anyway they just don’t announce it until after the showcase date has passed—hence the “secret show” category)
Bonus Tip #2 – Picking Panels and Discussions
There are some great panels and discussions that you can gain a lot of knowledge from if you are an Official Badge-Holding SXSW attendee. Unfortunately a lot of them take place at the same time or overlap into each other. To help you decide which to attend you should first identify what stage you are at in your musical career and what information you would most like to receive. Have you ever wanted to know more about and get into the game of licensing/publishing or are you trying to become a better public persona? Are you interested in new recording techniques? Sure they are all tempting, but make sure that you attend the ones that would most benefit you at this stage in your music business. Early part of next week I will publish a list of the panels that I feel would probably benefit you most. In the meantime you can read a Q&A with the Presenter, Ali MacLean, of the SXSW Panel/Discussion “Working the Press: Intellectual Intercourse and Interviews,” here.
There is so much more I could share with you, but this is enough for one trip don’t you think? Mostly it comes down to personal preferences, trusting your own judgement, and common sense. If you have any specific questions you can always send me an email to siria@intraffik.com, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.
So go pick out your comfy shoes, pack your business cards right now, and if you haven’t started to ask your friends what parties they are going to and share some of your party RSVPs with them too. Oh and remember to stay safe!!!
Now, Go Mess with TEXAS!!!
