This document provides tips for attending SXSW for the first time. It outlines expectations for sharing experiences from the event, accommodation details, advice for attending sessions and events, and tips for navigating the city. Attendees are encouraged to schedule sessions in advance, travel light, use group messaging to stay connected, charge devices frequently, and eat food from food trucks to experience local cuisine. Common mistakes from past years like poor scheduling and location hopping are noted to avoid.

1. tips on losing your SXSW virginity

2. the expectation
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3. why us?
+ 5 days of presentations from the brightest minds in
emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events
hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of
special programs showcasing the best new websites, video
games and startup ideas the community has to offer.
+ for these reasons 172 has decided to invest in sending 10
people to this event
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4. what you are expected to
bring back to the agency
+ SXSW pecha kucha. Each of us will give a 15 minute
presentation to the agency on the thing we took back from
the week that affected us most
+ additionally, each person will be required to write a blog
post for the blog of john, forming an opinion on a topic that
was covered during the event
+ job-related self-improvement. PIck a minimum of one
session that is directly related to your current role. Ideally a
workshop and have this approved by your boss.
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5. getting there
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6. Austin
+ live music capital of the world (and Texas)
+ avg temperature in March: 62°F (17°C) with an average of
300 sunny days a year!
+ home to North America’s largest urban bat population (you
will hear them under Congress bridge)
+ rated the #1 drunkest city in the US
+ 14th safest city in America
+ Brad Womack owns 4 bars: The Chuggin' Monkey, Molotov
Lounge, The Dogwood, and the Dizzy Rooster. (Season 14
of The Bachelor)
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7. what to pack
+ carry on only!
+ passport, American $$, phone charger
+ plan for layers. You will wear the same clothes for about
14hrs a day if you’re Mavis, 20hrs if you’re Ryan.
+ sunglasses, sandals, comfortable walking shoes, light
jacket or sweater, biggest purse or bag you own, dresses,
shorts, jeans. Think nerd-chic (American Apparel, Urban
Outfitters).
+ toiletries less than 100ml, Advil, Protein bars for snacking
+ what not to bring: running shoes, high heels, branded t-
shirts
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8. departure from Toronto
+ depart 172 offices via cabs on Thursday March 8 at 12:30pm
+ bring your luggage and passport to the office that day
+ block your schedules as out of the office from March 8-14.
+ you will likely have little time to work from Austin. Work with
your boss and teams to arrange coverage while you are
gone.
+ we return late Wednesday night, so you may want to book
the morning of Thurs Mar 15 off.
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9. our accommodations
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10. jessie’s place
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11. Parkside Cabin
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12. attending sessions
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13. the campus
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14. travelling to the venue
+ getting cabs in the morning and at night is tough, you may
end of sharing with others in order to make it work
+ shuttle buses travel between hotels & the convention centre
+ pedicabs are everywhere, all of them are based on a flat
rate, so make sure you ask the price before you start rolling
+ you will walk more than you think you will
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15. packing for the day
+ when you leave in the morning (between 8am-9am) you say
you will come back after the sessions. You won’t. You’ll be
home between 11am-3am.
+ a 6-8km round trip is a long, long way when you’ve already
got the taste of Shiner Bock in you.
+ dress in layers; it’s cool in the conference rooms, warm in
the late afternoon/early evening and cools off later in the
night.
+ after the first day I brought only comfortable shoes, jeans, a
t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a wallet, a phone and a phone charger
+ bring toothbrush/toothpaste, a snack, take notes on your
phone. An ipad was too heavy by the end of the night.
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16. your phone
+ Group Messaging is key. We will start a john st. group so
that we can all stay in touch with each other. There will
likely be a Canada group as well.
+ SXSW sucks the life out of your battery, and you need to
keep your phone alive for a long time. Bring a charger and
charge it at every opportunity.
+ Handy apps: Twitter (duh), foursquare, Hurricane Party, Find
my iPhone
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17. general session tips
1. go through the schedule and pick your “can’t miss”
sessions. plan your day around those.
2. get there early. the sessions fill up.
3. do some research into the speakers, typically speaking,
the better the speaker, the larger the room.
4. if a talk is bad, leave and find something better to do.
5. don’t waste your time with the printed schedule. The app
is your best bet for finding talks.
6. longer doesn’t mean better. some of the best talks are
only 15min long. The “FUTURE15’s” rarely disappointed.
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18. scheduling
+ sessions run at 9:30, 11:00, 12:30, 2:00, 3:30 and 5:00
+ if you’re going out all night, the 9:30 sessions are friggin
early
+ you can try and hit 6 talks a day, but save yourself and
shoot for a quality 3 or 4.
+ work with a buddy to try and hit more talks. For example, it
makes little sense for Mavis and I to attend all of the same
sessions.
+ don’t forget about travel time and eating, bring snacks.
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19. eating
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20. + foodtrucks are your friend. They are everywhere and the
easiest, cheapest bet for food
+ sponsored (free) food trucks have long line ups
+ eat authentic; bbq, tacos
+ You are allowed to spend $80/day on food/drinks
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21. gospel brunch
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22. partying
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23. some mistakes we made
last year
+ not being willing to arrive early and line up for the bigger
parties
+ chasing other groups of people. Because there were few of
us, there was a lot of time spent trying to track other people
down.
+ too much location hopping. After a certain point in the night
everywhere is going to be lined up.
+ not signing up for any parties beforehand
+ we are looking at hosting a 172 party during the week
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24. departure from Austin
+ Depart houses via pre-arranged cabs on Wed March 14 at
12:00pm
+ You will be exhausted, so use the flight as an opportunity to
catch up on much needed rest.
+ Don’t forget duty free. We’re allowed $350 worth! 1.14L of
booze.
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