SXSWhirlwind

South By Southwest has ended and now I, and many other people, am thrown back into reality.

But what a time it was! Walking down the streets of Austin you couldn't help to notice the chaos that decended upon the city; it basically transforms for a week and a half. People come in from around the world and the Austin Convention Center becomes a hot-spot for new ideas and collaboration, as the best and brightest share their passions and visions for the future.

Everyone comes to the festival for different reasons: Some come for the music, some for the film and some for the technology innovations. And many times there is not a singular reason to attend, but to come and experience all that SXSW has to offer. It's pretty safe to say that no two people have the same SXSW experience.

My experience is the same: Uniquely different.

This year I was a part of the staff and worked for a department called Studio SX. It was our job to bring in the interesting people for an interview which was filmed infront of a small audience for 10-12 minutes. We brought in everyone from film directors, producers and actors, to musicians, to the interactive keynote speakers. My specific job was Assistant Manager and I filled in where ever needed and made sure things were running smooth. I would help with the talent, ran the camera or edited (if needed) and at one point I even gave one of the interviews. We had a great crew and it was a fun job. In the grand scheme of the festival, Studio SX is pretty small potatoes, but the potential is really big and hopefully next year I can come back and make it better.

On a day-to-day during the festival, I would get off at about 5:30, and go explore. It was usually a mission to try and find the free food and drinks, and most of the time I usually came across something. When the night time rolled in, duing the first half of the week, I would go to a movie or try and find a film party to hit up. It was during these partys that I went to work trying to meet people and network. I did a pretty good job and met a lot of people who are producers and filmmakers that are out in LA, and may be able to help me in my career...

And During the second half of the week when the music got started I got off at 5:30 and would try to find free stuff, then figure out which bands I wanted to see. Every night I saw at least five different bands play and most of them I had never heard of, but were amazing I am now a big fan of. It's really a great thing to be apart of.

So, the crazyness of SXSW ended, but that doesn't mean that it is something that I am going to just forget it and move on. I will take everthing I learned and experienced and apply it to life beyond the festival. I think its OK to have a little SXSW crazyness throughout the entire year.


-Things I've learned: Too many things to list here. In future posts I will go more into detail of specific things I learned/experienced that will benefit my career. Just know that a lot was taken in and must be processed.

-Plans for the future: Contact all the people I met through networking and see what that leads to.