The Super Meet-Up at Maggie Mae’s was smaller than expected, diffidently staffed and not quite “super.” Those small complaint out of the way, I enjoyed the talk more than the music video creations on the stage of MM’s upper lounge.
Jason DeLaPorte and Jose B. Sena and Tim Hayden
My longest conversation engaged Tim Hayden of Blue Clover, an on- and off-line branding company, joined by Jose B. Sena, also of Blue Clover, and Jason DeLaPorte of the Social Styles app for the iPhone and iTouch. Our main question: How are social and smart phones affecting cultural behavior? What ...
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“If another 34-year-old man gives me his best elevator pitch …” So complained a knowing SXSW watcher on the first day. Everybody you meet, especially at Interactive and Film, keeps an elevator pitch — otherwise known as a Hollywood pitch — in their back pockets, the better to sell their visions to strangers. I’m perfecting the “party pitch,” which obeys the 15-to-30-second time stricture, but adds the excitement of sharing gossip with friends at a social event: “You wouldn’t believe …”
Andre Nader and Jared Golden
On Saturday, the Entrepreneur’s Lounge, aka Chill 3.0, wasn’t like that at all. The weather ... Flag post 
How apt that my first significant SXSW encounter on Saturday was with a capybara. A nonchalant gentleman walked the giant South American rodent near the Austin Convention Center with a halter leash. According to Wikipedia, “capybaras are social animals, usually found in groups between 10 and 30, though larger groups of up to 100 sometimes can be formed.”
Capybara-like, SXSW Film and Interactive registrants, along with the general public, socialized in groups large and small, often along lines that wound around almost every downtown block. Long queues have always been the norm for movie premieres and music showcases. They have ... Flag post
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Well, this is fresh: A small music event welcoming the SXSW film and interactive folks with an overseas twist. Not an entirely new concept, but this one links the worldwide web of nonprofit pioneers Dart Music International and local entertainment shape-shifter Voodoo Cowboy.
Just making it to Mi Casa for the event was a trip. Sixth Street was at its best. Happy. Energetic. Diverse. And some of those tribes — including a local prosecutor and a Houston visitor who kindly chatted me up — filtered into Mi Casa for the Dart/Voodoo welcome party.
Lisa Wood and Dave Dart
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If you followed my tweets last night (@outandabout), you know that the 10th anniversary Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards ceremony has lost none of its mojo. While the Pre-Party on Thursday was more muted than usual — the better to savor deep conversations, Shannon Moody — the big party at Austin Studios was as glamorous as ever, even without A-List Hollywood star power.
The outer tent and the inner studios looked classier, the outside decked in black and white, the inside shades of Technicolor. (Did anyone else perceive the color progression?) I counted more than 35 photographers and videographers ... Flag post
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Back in the 1980s, South By Southwest occupied a long weekend. By 1994, with film and interactive added to music, it grew into a split week, always spring break, then 10 linked days. During the 21st Century, the whole month of March is usually saturated with SXSW socializing, first online, then in person, then online again.
Tim Matheson and Richard Linklater
Since I must cover two solid weeks of charity galas before the advent of SXSW, the Texas Film Hall of Fame Pre-Party is my first festival-oriented live event. Many of the celebrities who grace this annual affair double up walking ... Flag post
