When I first moved here a lot of people asked if I was excited about SXSW. I had no idea what it was. I went online to read about it, but reading about something like South by Southwest and expecting to understand it is like thinking you know what it is like to step on the moon because you read about in the history books. You just have to be there.
As the days approached, the people that I work with downtown started getting anxious and the people that I have been meeting in the entrepreneur, tech, and art worlds were getting excited. I felt like a lamb at solstice party, happy to be there with my eyes all bugged with a complete lack of understanding, not realizing that I was there as a sacrifice.
Before it all launched though, I discovered a techie event going on the Thursday before through a friend of mine’s website, BridgeATX. Kim specializes in tech hiring, consulting those that are looking for jobs on how to get hired and those looking to hire on how to do so wisely. She is also very well-connected in the community and has many great connections that she loves to share, because she is the queen of networking in Austin.
I went downtown for what was being billed the “Start-up Crawl” which was a number of tech companies that all benefited from local investment to get their doors open. It was also a marketing opportunity for them. There were several stops where you would meet the young’uns and their peeps, feast on their chips, salsa, chili, or whatever hors d’oeuvres they might have, imbibe their beer, water or liquor and listen to them extol their success, their potential, and their passion for whatever it was they were involved in. It was great to be around so many happy, motivated people. Some actually pretended to listen with interest when I asked questions or tried to understand their offerings, others were very excited to engage in a conversation. Just how it is.
The only thing really frustrating about the Crawl was the abysmal bus system they had. I eventually gave up and rode my motorcycle to the last spot I could get to before they closed. I got to go to four out of the eleven because I spent an inordinate amount of time waiting for a bus or walking to the next office park. But I wasn’t upset; I was having a good time seeing the festivities start off.
After I enjoyed the food of Gowalla, never really talking to any of their people because I couldn’t really tell who they were, I went on to what was billed as “Cohabitat”. This was a party where people with different technologies showed their accomplishments and their new activities. There were a number I recognized and there I had a good time talking to fellow entrepreneurs. I almost immediately ran into Kim and she took me around to introduce me to a number of folks. I met Bijoy Goswami of Bootstrap Austin, Rose Holston of Aviso Communication and Brian Massey, the Conversion Scientist. We had a lot of fun that night. Rose and Brian adopted me immediately and took me around with them for the night to several other activities, which I have found is not an entirely unusual experience in Austin.
But Bijoy, I think, gave me the best welcome. When he asked what I do, I sheepishly told him that I do several things, which has been a difficult admission to make for years. However, he replied “Of course you do, welcome to Austin! We all do!” That was the point where I knew I was in the right place and I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we headed off to take pictures wearing lab coats in the bar, I thought to myself, “I finally found a place where there are people like me.” People that don’t sit still well either.
South by Southwest was awesome. I saw all sorts of stuff, but even more I met a lot of people and have developed a lot of new perspectives. There are a number of things I intend on writing about, I think the one that calls for immediate attention, though, was something I found rather surprising.
We worked a lot at the Light bar on 408 Congress that week. Wednesday was 9 hours, Thursday and Friday 14 hours and Saturday about 16 hours. it was exhausting, I hurt a lot and had a blast. I got to meet people and see things I probably wouldn’t have been able to had I not been working there.
On the whole, everyone I met was really cool and pleasant. People were festive, techies were fun to meet and hang out with and musicians were very polite, modest and cool. I met a couple of the band members from Wildstreet, a metal band out of New York that came in to chill to techno, and hear the Chicago music scene that was playing on our upstairs.
On the whole, the masses were pretty laid back, but I did have one recurring problem: people smoking pot in the club. I found it absolutely amazing that people would think it is OK to roll and light up in the club. First, smoking in a club is illegal in Austin anyway, second of all, especially THAT! I spent pretty much the whole week as a K9 sniffing down the culprits.
While I was a deputy, I was very good at smelling out pot. I can smell it before it is smoked. I can smell small amounts, I can tell if it is an old smell or new. With that skill I found myself walking around the club smelling constantly. Not a real pleasant thing: it was hot and there were a lot of people. Anytime I found it, though, I would have to address them with “You can’t smoke that here.” or “You can’t roll that here.”
On the most part, people were cool about it. I only had two problems the whole time. Two people that got crappy with me. Our predominant demographic was black, and the majority of pot smokers I caught were black, but they were ALL very cool and respectful when I stopped them or asked them to do it somewhere off premises. The problem children were two white guys that kept trying to sneak around and get shitty with me when I asked them to do the same thing as everyone else. Were they putting on a performance for the people around them? I don’t know, but it was really uncool. And it pissed me off. Anyone that says that pot should be legalized because it is non-addictive and promotes non-violence is speaking out of their ass. Just like alcohol, it reduces inhibition and the true nature of a person comes out. And apparently makes them pigs by all the shake I was sweeping up that week.
I know I have moved to a liberal place and, having been a cop managing large crowds, you pick your battles. Calling the police for every smoker would have pissed the police off, its called triage. Austin PD did a fabulous job with the inundation of humanity they received, and I think people took advantage of it, which is human nature. I don’t care if people smoke dope in their homes and don’t go anywhere afterward. I have the same disdain for people who drink too much and drive. Wanna get blitzed? Do it where you won’t hurt people.
Other than my 4 days as a K9, I really enjoyed SXSW. People were largely respectful and I made a lot of new friends. It seems that Austin is the perfect place for this event. people in Austin are very warm, inviting and eager to find the friend they haven’t met yet. The majority of SXSW attendees were the same. Looking forward to next year, maybe as an attendee!