My 2018 SXSW Survival Guide: 7 Key Strategies to Up Your Festival Game
Whether it’s your first time going to Austin’s annual South by Southwest or your 10th, these 7 key Strategies will help you discover insightful panels, find the best food, and make valuable business connections.
- Time Management:
Without question, you’re going to miss lots of stuff, last year there were 1,377 interactive panels, so don’t stress to fill your day with them. Try to pick out 2–4 panels that you really want to see (like this one), and more importantly, panelists you want to meet. If you could have 3 in person conversations with amazing panelists that you wouldn’t otherwise have a connection to, consider that the bar for getting the most out of panels. Remember — not all panels are in the same building, if you’re not mapping them out you might be hoofing it to the end of the line and missing the panel anyway.
KEY STRATEGY: Be realistic, and carve out time to decompress. Brand takeovers of restaurants, if you can get on the list, are by far and away the best place to do that.
2. Scheduling Panels:
If you log into social.sxsw.com and favorite all your panels, it’s not obvious but you can export everything to an external calendar. Click on the “ical feed” button on the “my schedule” page and you will download the file. To import to google calendar just click on the gear icon, then:
- Open Google Calendar on a computer. …
- In the top right, click Settings > Settings.
- Open the Calendars tab.
- Click Import calendar between the “My calendars” and “Other Calendars” sections.
- Click Choose File and select the file you exported.
3. Social Media & Parties:
Twitter’s one-line one-to-many messaging service was set aflame during SXSW back in 2007. While it actually launched nine months prior, SXSW put the service on the map — and it’s still the go-to medium for navigating the festival. From party lists, to connecting to your industry, to finding the best parties, keep Twitter close at hand at all times.
KEY STRATEGY: Join My Twitter List for the 411 on the best FREE PARTIES.
4. Networking:
Aim for a handful of deep connections rather than a boatload of business cards you don’t recall getting. Connect on a personal level, find a topic outside of your industry and file it away mentally. It makes all the difference long term to be able to relate to your contacts in a meaningful way. Some of my closest friends in tech come from relationships I solidified while I was down at SXSW.
5. Building Connections:
Game your personal profile on SXSW Social as hard if not harder than you game LinkedIn. Think SEO with the tags you can associate to your profile. Connect your networks so you become findable. This site is a gift — use it! Take your lunch hours the week before and scour the site for as much intel as you can find. Star people, email contacts, and get your profile looking as sharp as possible.
6. Food:
Its completely understandable that everyone wants a taste of Texan BBQ. Last year 37,660 interactive badge holders (from 82 foreign countries) jammed local hot spots like Franklin BBQ. My best advice? Forget the food. Just forget it. The lines, the wait, the insanity. It’s not worth it. Grab whatever is easy.
But I know you’re going to ignore this rule so I’ll give you an insider secret: The Salt Lick is where it’s at.
One big reason? It’s not in Austin. If you’ve got a rental car, you’re in business for the 40 minute drive with only the die-hards on the short line for the many tables. They’re BYOB, so you can bring your favorite brews along with you, they even have you covered with a Beer/winery next door to buy some booze for your meal. Miss Salt Lick while at SXSW? Grab it from the concession at the Airport on your way home. It’s the same thing, trust me.
Beyond BBQ, my second KEY STRATEGY: Make a reservation locally ahead of time for 8 and invite your friends and new contacts.
Be the one with the plan. You’ll solidify relationships and solve a critical issue for many festival goers. Be a hero — get your reservations now!!!
7. Scale Up Your Hustle:
Run a strong post game via Twitter. When you’re back home and at work, check out the threads on #SXSW as well as any industry related hashtag like #VR and #AR — you’ll find a wealth of tweets from panels that will be an education on its own. Remember Tip #1? You’re only going to make it to a handful of panels anyway. Scale your knowledge up by a factor of 10 by perusing the big ideas people tweeted from all the panels you didn’t make it to.
Bonus: Take it easy on the booze. Leave the late night partying to the amateurs and get to bed at a reasonable hour so you can get an early start. TREAT IT LIKE A WORK DAY. The early panels are easier to get into and you’ll hit the afternoon with the day already feeling productive. This will give you more time to network, a clear brain to carry a conversation, and fresh topics to bring up. Remember, SXSW is a career game changer if you play it right. Leave the hangovers for the celebration when you get back home and realize you just took your industry by storm. Still need advice? Hit me up on Twitter.
