Recording - June 2015 - 12

Ah, South By Southwest, how I've missed you! I couldn't make the 2014 SXSW due
to work in the studio and on the road, but this year I finally made it back to Austin, and
I only really realized how much I missed SXSW once I was back in the midst of it all!
Growth and spread
For starters, I am here to report that it grew some and then some more... As with every
year, SXSW is growing in number of attendants and spreading all over town. What
used to all happen in an area of ten blocks around 6th Street is now also happening
on the other side of Highway I-35 (the once sketchy and increasingly gentrifying east
side of town) and on the other side of the river (the south side, always cool and hip but
a bit more inconvenient and less connected).

As Dale Carnegie should have taught
you, don't forget that you can't expect
and ask for help all the time-you have
to be ready to offer help and follow
through. When you are ready to offer
help, you might get help later from that
person or from somebody else. It's not
just about karma; it's about understanding that everyone has a skill, and that if
we pool these skills together we can
achieve much more. The key to networking is letting people know what you can
do for them and then staying in touch
with them. Don't take things for granted-you are not the only one at SXSW
trying to advance their career! I always
appreciate it when the less shy people
make eye contact with me, approach
me, engage me or just ask me what my
name is. They are trying, and I appreciate that and will be more inclined to
help as best I can. Engagement is key.

South By Southwest 2015

Report by
Marc Urselli

A year away from Austin only makes our intrepid reporter's heart grow fonder
With all that, the number of artists and parties has also grown exponentially. A few
years ago I had reported that the Interactive and Film crowd of the first week was
increasingly overlapping with the Music crowd of the later show, and I think at this point
we aren't far away from an all-in-one experience. SXSW labeled these events happening during the overlap period with the word "convergence"; #convergence was the
hashtag of choice for the SXSW social networking team to describe and embody a
trend of interaction and cross-pollination that is changing our industry. I arrived in Austin
on Sunday afternoon, at the end of the Film/Interactive week, and the number of concerts and music-themed events during that time did certainly not pale in comparison to
what would be going on during the ensuing Music festival's final weekend.
People-the key resource
Everyone is at South By Southwest. Indie-rock-embodying fully-bearded Williamsburg
hipsters in tight shorts and holey T-shirts. All-American drunken clean-shaven frat boy
music fans on their spring break holiday. Dressed-all-in-black metalheads and rockers in
leather wrist cuffs. Corporate suits with briefcases, ties and cufflinks. The unassuming
anonymous and camouflaged venture capitalist investors. Egocentric hippies and
posers dressed in nothing more than an American flag as a cape, plus cowboy boots
and Speedos (yep, I saw that too!). And everyone in between, of course. Real #convergence, of everything and everyone!
And all these people (or at least all the ones with a badge) are listed one by one on
the guide that is distributed to all registrants and they all-all!- can be found, seen,
met, read about, and even contacted via the SXSW website and the new and vastly
improved mobile app and SXsocial networking portal. That is the strength of this festival that everyone should be harnessing!
Think about the endless possibilities: people that are usually hard to reach, who live
in other countries, who don't ever pick up the phone because they are too busy or get
too many submissions... they are all right there at your fingertips, ready to engage, possibly available to meet you in person. You can search for them by name, title, company, business type, city, state, country, or even tags! It's a bottomless well of resources.
You have the opportunity to make an impression, to leave a mark, to be remembered.
You can go there to play a showcase and end up meeting the people that will change
the course of your career with ideas, partnerships, sponsorships or collaborations.
On my way over to Austin, the Southwest Airlines flight attendant was encouraging
people in the aisles to not hide and look down, but instead to make friendly eye contact with the person coming down the aisle, as that person might end up sitting in the
dreaded middle seat next to you. Well, the same is true here. Make eye contact,
because the person right next to you could be a great connection for you, or even more
importantly you might be a great connection for them!
12

RECORDING June 2015

Recording - June 2015

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