Today was the second day of South by Southwest. I was happy with my mix of Interactive sessions today: comedy, journalism, space travel, and self-driving vehicles. In the evening, I visited some pop-up venues: Casa Mexico (colorful), Philly Pour House (loud) and The Copernicus Project: Presented by Land O’Lakes (no butter in sight). I also toured the Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library, created by The Daily Show team.
Today was the first day of South by Southwest 2019. Each year I’m surprised by the crowds on the first day of SXSW. There’s so many people on the downtown streets and in the Austin Convention Center!
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South by Southwest 2019 begins tomorrow. Bill and I picked up our badges at the Austin Convention Center yesterday. We each received a bag with a colorful logo and a slim Interactive guide inside. That was all—the Film and Music guides weren’t ready yet. In past years, SXSW bags (one each for Film, Interactive AND Music) contained lots of conference information and freebies. Now all SXSW information is online, and freebies can be collected at the Trade Show and various venues.
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Adiós, SXSW 2018. Overall, it was a good conference. The weather was nearly perfect. Free food was a little scarce, but food trucks were abundant. My Interactive highlight was seeing Bernie Sanders from the third row. I went to ten movies. My favorite was The Dawn Wall. Bill, the serious film fanatic, counted up 28 movies. Here’s what else I discovered this year…
The final day of SXSW 2018 fell on St. Patrick’s Day. I wandered around the Austin Convention Center, joined friends for lunch at Gus’s Fried Chicken, and then walked across town to the stages at Whole Foods and Waterloo Records. Throughout the afternoon, downtown became more and more crowded as holiday revelers arrived. Bill and I had hoped to see the evening’s world premiere of Isle of Dogs, but we were unable to snag express passes, and around 4:30 PM, we heard that the line was already impossibly long for the 8 PM screening. So Bill headed off to see a different movie and I decided to head home.
My SXSW Day 8 began with Keith Urban and ended with Keith Urban. No complaints there. In-between, I visited the Gaming Expo, saw a movie premiere at the Paramount Theater, and heard lots of good music.
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Today was a SXSW Music day. This morning Bill and I went to the Four Seasons Hotel and tried to get into the KUTX morning concerts. Alas, we arrived too late and the room was already at capacity. After a quick breakfast, Bill went off to see some movies, and I mostly hung out at the Austin Convention Center. I especially like the Radio Day Stage there. That huge room is never crowded, the sound system is clear, and the lineups are stellar.
SXSW Interactive has now switched over to Music. Bill and I started out the day with a highly-recommended documentary at the Alamo Lamar. Bill continued with SXSW Films while I hung out at the Austin Convention Center in the afternoon. We the met back up for music in the evening. The weather was perfect. It was a delightful day.
This was the last full day of SXSW Interactive. People were starting to leave, so most sessions weren’t crowded. I tried a variety of non-tech subjects today: faith, space, food, and comedy. Oh, and I finally found some free snacks. Note to 2019 self: Hang out more near the Food sessions.
During the first half of SXSW, I typically just see movies in the evenings and focus on Interactive sessions during the daytime. However, I couldn’t resist seeing The Director and the Jedi on Monday morning, even though it messed up the rest of the day.