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SXSW Music is upon us, so step into the Southern sunshine and shake it. With all the crazy festivities in Austin, it’s sometimes a challenge to keep up with all the gigs, venues and artists to watch, so Spotify decided to help newbies and Music aficionados alike a la Musical Guide to SXSW. 

SXSW V2 takes on Vegas, just in time to go direct from the fest… to Burning Man. 

SXSW V2V is an extension and re-imagining of the 26-year-old Austin event with an emphasis on the creative spark that drives entrepreneurial innovation. SXSW V2V features four days of informative panels and workshops, inspirational speakers, intensive mentor and coaching programs, networking events and receptions, pitch competitions and startup showcases. This new event will offer an intimate environment for innovators and entrepreneurs across all creative industries learn the skills, make the connections and find the inspiration to take their ideas and talents to the next level. If you are involved in building an app, a service, a business, a brand or a community, then  set your sights on the strip… 

This sure-to-be-sloppy-South-By kicks off Sunday August 11, 2013 through Wednesday August 14, 2013 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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More often than not, a convention is not quite worth the aggravation - speakers ramble on about lofty ideas of expertise, happy hours cloud your judgement (I’m so not speaking from experience) and morning meetings turn into how-can-I-cancel-this-kindly calls? But this year, there was no doubt, that anyone livin’ online, was down to get off it at SXSW Interactive in Austin.

Last year, it was all about startups (GroupMe added location and photo sharing), iPads (pop-up shops sold out) and Groupon (no comment); but this year, it was about the mad-hat marketers like American Express, CNN and Nike. Maybe we’re just starting to feel it on the East Coast (why thank ya Bloomeberg). Maybe it’s because of the super cute NY Tech scene emerging from brands like Tech Meet Up, TechStars, Made in NY or L2. Or maybe, it’s because content creators are finally starting to catch up with their sistas’ in CSS.

Needless to say, SXSW is not for everyone, but at the same time, it is exactly for everyone. From engineers, to market-eers, from CMO’s to in-the-knows, SXSWi has one thing most festivals and events do not - inclusivity. Well, as long as you RSVP’ed on Event Brite… or Evite… or the SXSW App. You’d think someone would streamline this calendar chaos!

Chug wine at the Gary V Bash (he tweets out his location 10 minutes before) or bump elbows with Sean Parker at the Jay Z #AmexSync Show. Jam out to Third Eye Blind by Aetna (wait, huh, who would do that!?) and crash the Foursquare bash. All nerds (and I include myself with pride) are welcome… and that’s a really, really good thing. Because socializing leads to sharing, and sharing leads to great collaboration. And collaboration, well that’s what social media is all about.

I’m knee-deep in a generation of creative, innovative and integrated entrepreneurs. We think about valuation more than sales. We think about e-commerce more than bricks and mortar. We’re builders and dreamers, running, learning and understanding at ADHD speeds. There’s no slowing us down (have you met me? that will never happen); there’s only racing forward. 

In one day, Facebook changed everything we knew about how to market and share content on the platform (thanks, by the way). In one day, Pinterest became the fastest growing website of all time. In one single day… well, that’s all it takes these days.

So I (I’d like to speak for the “we” but I won’t generalize) learn, share and communicate. I educate myself and my team. And I listen, to what you - the tweeters, the pinners, the fans - have to say. 

SXSW is the best of both work-and-play. Hopefuls hunt for funding, VC’s hunt for talent, the talent hunts for projects, projects hope to get noticed. I can sit next to the head of an agency, and the digital director of another brand, and talk openly about strategy, partnerships and the people we love working with. So skip the speaks and head to… a bar. Because that’s where the bourbon, and brilliance are flowing. 

For my favorite apps and stats from SXSW, read on…

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SXSW left me with a whole lotta business cards and a broken knee. It also left me with a creepy new way to creep, a lot of boys on bikes and a bit to be desired. Although there was no new GroupMe or Foursquare (Pinterest announced iPad plans) here are some SouthX standouts…

Uber Pedicab.
The pick-me-up in-5 play pays off in NYC, so it’s no surprise that a hottie with a pedicab in Austin worked wonders. Uber offered $10 pedicab service around town. Oh, did I mention the Ironworks BBQ delivery too? Playa’ play on.

 

Highlight.
If someone standing near you also has Highlight, their profile will show up on your phone. You can see their name, photos of them, mutual friends, and anything else they have chosen to share. When you meet someone, Highlight helps you see what you have in common with them. And when you forget their name at a party a week later, Highlight helps you remember it. AKA, Highlight is the creepiest of social networking apps to happen to us yet. Don’t believe me? Ask the 10 dudes who yelled out Farryn during lunch, simply because they knew I was near. Highlight told them, dammit. 

JoliCloud.
Jolicloud was created in 2009 with the vision of combining the infinite power of the cloud with the most simple and elegant user interface. The journey started with Joli OS, a free operating system transforming the way people use low cost computers. Today, Jolicloud is a way to access your life online, from computers to mobile… It’s in beta, so you best request. 

 

If you’re headed to SXSW, sure to check out Loku’s visual guide to Austin via nylonguysmagazine. Schwing. 

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I love nothing more than dressing the part… especially when that part is a little bit Texas, and a little bit Tech at SXSW. I’m packin’ my bag (carry-on, but of course) for a five day fiesta. Sometimes it’s not just where you go, but what you wear when you get there…  

The Guardian has been doing some of the best, most innovative online journalism out there, and this is one of my favorite things they’ve produced: A page that pulls in all the great SXSW coverage by the Guardian’s reporters on Tumblr into a single, sortable space. Especially nice: Developer Dan Catt’s explanation of how he built this using the Tumblr and Guardian APIs. Definitely worth a look, and worth stealing ideas from - via markcoatney