MeFites attending or presenting at SXSWi?

February 21, 2012 12:03 PM

Time for the annual SXSWi meetup/presentations/networking/etc thread!

I'm attending SXSWi, and last year's Metafilter meetup and seeing Mathowie & Jessamyn's sessions were the highlight of my time in Austin. I'd love to MeFi-ize my SXSW again this year.

Please share if you're presenting or attending at SXSWi, and let's try to schedule another meetup. Looking to Austinites to pretty please help with location and meetup-planning if you can. I realize we should propose a meetup in IRL and I'm happy to do that separately if/once the crowd decides on something.

I'm just attending 3/8 - 3/13, not presenting, so I have nothing to offer. Other than my charm, enthusiasm, and love for Metafilter...

posted by misskaz to MetaFilter-Related at 12:03 PM (40 comments total)

As far as locations, some friends of mine recently opened Dive bar, across from Dog & Duck, and I could probably reserve the whole place for a few hours. It's not right downtown, but neither were some past meetup locations (Hoovers). That said, I'm open to whatever; just suggesting it.
posted by mattbucher at 12:34 PM on February 21, 2012

That would be selfishly awesome for me, since I'm staying at the Doubletree which is right nearby. But I too am open to whatever.
posted by misskaz at 1:09 PM on February 21, 2012

I'm on a panel Saturday morning but not actually organizing anything this year which will be great. Staying with restless_nomad. Not sure of my other plans. We should definitely have a meetup at some point.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:15 PM on February 21, 2012

I'll be around but have no idea how to be useful. Contact me via memail if you need something - I have the town generally wired.
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:39 PM on February 21, 2012

I will be around SxSW that weekend and otherwise being Jessamyn's ride, so I'm pretty much ok with whatever and yes, we should totally have a meetup.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:11 PM on February 21, 2012

being Jessamyn's ride
O_o
Juvenile maybe, but this turn of phrase is a no no in some places.
posted by unliteral at 2:22 PM on February 21, 2012

I'm doing a talk on Saturday morning about a project we did for a BBC maths series called The Code; also hoping to be distributing swag for our latest thing, Zombies, Run!

Would be nice to meet up - I'll be staying at the Radisson Town Lake by the convention center.
posted by adrianhon at 2:25 PM on February 21, 2012

Oops wait, I'm arriving the 9th not the 8th. Last year I think we had the meetup one of the early nights, and that seemed to work well for people. I'm intrigued by the TechSet karaoke party Friday night but could be easily persuaded to skip that in favor of MeFites. Any other night works fine for me as well, as none of the parties seem all that exciting.
posted by misskaz at 2:46 PM on February 21, 2012

I'll be there, arriving the 9th, not presenting, up for a meetup, and also happy to go to Fray Cafe with anyone on Sunday night.
posted by donnagirl at 5:44 PM on February 21, 2012

Can someone please go to the Armadillo, Liberty Lunch, Club Foot, or Soap Creek Saloon and post some pics?

What?
posted by jabo at 8:44 PM on February 21, 2012

Shouldn't this be under IRL?
posted by joost de vries at 10:52 PM on February 21, 2012

I'll be there doing a talk.
posted by chasing at 11:57 PM on February 21, 2012

Teleport me over please, Scotties
posted by infini at 3:52 AM on February 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Shouldn't this be under IRL?

The Meetups go in IRL rule is occasionally relaxed for things like SXSW, MaxFunCon, and trivia contests with Reddit.
posted by zamboni at 6:27 AM on February 22, 2012

Shouldn't this be under IRL?

I specifically asked cortex before posting and he said it was ok for MeTa.

This isn't just about the meetup, I'm also interested in knowing if fellow MeFites are presenting at the conference so we can support each other.
posted by misskaz at 7:18 AM on February 22, 2012

I've always wanted to attend this, and excitingly, it looks like one of my teams at work will have something to present for next year. Anyone know where I can find the call for presentations or what next year's proposal deadline might be?
posted by Miko at 7:53 AM on February 22, 2012

They have a pretty unique strategy for getting the roster set up. There's a call for proposals that then get commented and voted on and then decisions are made with this data plus other information like trying to get a diverse selection of stuff etc. Here's the FAQ for this past year and it will give you an idea of what the time line is like. Short answer, start thinking of ideas but be ready to type them into a form around June and assemble a posse who can support you and/or be on panels in the meantime.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:09 AM on February 22, 2012

Thanks Jessamyn - helpful!
posted by Miko at 8:55 AM on February 22, 2012

I live in Austin, and I have a badge this year. I haven't had two minutes to rub together the past few months, and I'm afraid that SX is going to sneak up on me and catch me totally unprepared, so I'll be watching this thread with great interest.

And I'd be into a meetup.
posted by dirtdirt at 1:43 PM on February 22, 2012

I live in Austin and I'll be at SXSW this year. I'd definitely come to a meetup.
posted by lewistate at 2:24 PM on February 22, 2012

I'm presenting on Monday but will be around all weekend! Definitely up for a meetup. (my session, if anyone wants to drop by...)
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:34 PM on February 22, 2012

I'll be there from 8th to the 20th, and I'm showcasing at the Hilton Garden at 8pm on the 14th.
posted by armoured-ant at 7:11 AM on February 23, 2012

How about the night of 3/9 (Friday) or 3/10 (Saturday)?
posted by mattbucher at 7:55 AM on February 23, 2012

Local poking her head in to keep a hand in for the meetup. I have a wristband for Music and may hit a couple of films but am not doing Interactive.
posted by immlass at 7:58 AM on February 23, 2012

I'd love Saturday evening instead of Friday since my damned panel is 9:30 Saturday morning. Or an earlyish meetup on Friday would be likewise fine. Maybe something a bit outside of the downtown craziness?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:41 AM on February 23, 2012

Maybe something a bit outside of the downtown craziness?

Seconded, and I will help shuttle 2-3 people if moving out of 6th st / Warehouse district causes transpo issues. The crush & noise made last year's meetup a little tough to navigate.

We should take mattbucher up on his offer, if that's actually a possibility.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:02 AM on February 23, 2012

I like that idea and it's not THAT far outside of downtown. 7 pm Friday? 7 pm Saturday? What's a good time so that SXSW diehards can get to the "real" parties but old people like me can have a beer and dinner and then go to bed?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:19 AM on February 23, 2012

OK, I'll contact the bar today and see what times are available for Saturday evening.
posted by mattbucher at 10:11 AM on February 23, 2012

I have a book reading early Saturday afternoon. I won't even get in until pretty late Friday, so here's a plea for Saturday night?

This would be my first MeFi meetup. Exciting!
posted by Andrhia at 10:56 AM on February 23, 2012

I'm on a panel and down for general boozery and fun.
posted by thedaniel at 12:14 PM on February 23, 2012

Is there any way to get an approximate head count in this thread (like in an IRL thread)?
posted by mattbucher at 12:20 PM on February 23, 2012

Might be worth starting a real IRL thread to see how can make it and that way the Austinites would all know about it if they've signed up for that sort of thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:22 PM on February 23, 2012

OK, I started an IRL thread.
posted by mattbucher at 12:45 PM on February 23, 2012

Hooray! I'm going for the first time. Totally excited for a meetup.

Transit-related threadjack for the locals and experienced SXSWers: I'm staying at Hotel Allandale which is off W Anderson Lane, apparently near Northcross Shopping Center according to Google. It looks like this is about half an hour by city bus to downtown, on the #3. Should I do the Metro bus, or should I spring for the official shuttle? I'm an experienced public transit patron in Seattle and various European cities.
posted by librarina at 9:50 PM on February 23, 2012

That's a long way to be on the #3, and traffic is going to be appalling for the entirety of SxSW. If I were you I'd go for the shuttle. I can consult with my friend who rides the #3 about two thirds of that distance regularly, but I strongly suspect that you may be looking at closer to 90 minutes than 30 that week.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:25 PM on February 23, 2012

librarina, your biggest problem is going to be traffic, whether you take public transit or the shuttle. I did the official shuttle thing last year and there were times it was speedy and other times it was not. It all depended on traffic and the driver and whether or not the shuttle was at the beginning or end of its route (the shuttles stop at LOTS of different hotels, so you might get stuck stopping at like 7 other hotels on your way downtown or your way home.)
posted by misskaz at 8:41 AM on February 24, 2012

My bus-riding friend says:

"All the downtown buses will be more packed than usual that week... but if she's getting on as far north as Northcross, she'll definitely get a seat, so she can just sit tight until her stop and then just elbow through the mobs when she wants to get off. The #3 is better than the #1 anyways - the 1 is a nightmare under the best of circumstances. I'd say go for it."

So there you go - misskaz is probably right that traffic will tie up the shuttle too.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 10:09 AM on February 24, 2012

BTW, if you haven't already, you can RSVP now in this thread: http://irl.metafilter.com/994/SXSW-2012-Austin
posted by mattbucher at 7:33 AM on February 27, 2012

Thanks for transit advice, all. I'll try the bus but it looks like I can buy a shuttle pass even after the event has started, if it's too much hassle to do the bus.
posted by librarina at 3:39 PM on February 29, 2012

Cross-posting here - I'm taking calls for meet-up pizza orders. Se IRL thread for details.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:44 AM on March 1, 2012