Late for SXSW Interactive
2001
(...like you give a rat's
ass)
I was standing on the corner of Congress and 8th, yelling
at the South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Interactive registrants who
were waiting in line for the Frog Design party.
"There are no lines at the Loomis party," I yelled.
"There's beer and Mexican food. It's on Fifth Street. Just
walk three blocks south and turn left."
My age, beard, black trench coat and DeLoach Vineyards baseball
cap worked against me. The people waiting to get into the Frog
party stared at me as if I were a homeless person. I walked back
to the party at Loomis, hoping some of them might think, "Screw
this line. I'm going to follow the homeless guy to the other
party."
It seemed to be my job that night, checking out the parties
and reporting on the pulse of SXSW Interactive 2001. Unfortunately,
I was late for the Frog Design party, since I was trying desperately
to get some info on a statue I saw at the Web Awards. I had also
been late for registration, but just managed to squeak in and
get my press pass, thanks to some extreme patience by a blond
woman working the booth.
Unwilling to wait in line (come on, there wasn't even a velvet
rope) I left Frog Design's queue and headed over to Ruta Maya's
on Fourth Street to check out the Fray Cafe party. The theme:
talk about your personal experiences on the Web. At Ruta Maya's,
I squeezed in through the crowded room. It was hot and muggy,
and worst of all, no beer. Instead, they drank coffee, smoked,
listened to a speaker, then waited for their turn to share. It
was pretty much like every AA meeting I'd ever seen, so I decided
to skip out and take my chances with the party hosted by the
Loomis Group. Called "SXSW of the Border," the Loomis
bash featured Tex Mex food and Tecate beer. I was home.
Better yet, I ran into a registrant from Southwest Austin
there, so I finally got my angle for the Oak Hill Gazette, the
newspaper I was working for that night. Having nailed down my
story, I decided to leave the party while it was still in full
swing. But before I left, I made sure to thank someone from Loomis
for the beer.
"You're April, right?" I asked a blond woman who
seemed to be in charge. "I just want to say that even though
I got here late, I had a great time."
"I'm glad you did," she said. "And I'm not
surprised you were late. You were late when I registered you."
I tell you, I can't get away with anything.
The Web Awards
At the SXSW Music Festival, you listen to music and drink
beer. At the SXSW Film Festival, you watch films and drink beer.
At the SXSW Interactive Festival, I'm not sure what you do. But
you still drink beer.
This was the second year I covered the Web Awards, and I can
honestly say the show was much better this time. First, the awards
now have a catchy name -- the Earls, as in URL, which stands
for... well, I don't really know what URL stands for, but it's
synonymous for Web address. Clever, huh?
Second, the Stephen F. Austin Hotel proved to be a much better
venue than last year's digs at the Raddison, largely because
a balcony off the main room allowed people to smoke without having
to walk down two flights of stairs. Since the hotel is centrally
located, registrants could stroll to the after parties rather
than hail a cab, and the room where the actual awards ceremony
took place was much more intimate than last year's cavernous
hall.
Finally, the Earls were held on Sunday rather than Saturday
night. Parking was a breeze.
Halcyon's Encore
Wisely, the SXSW powers-that-be decided to reenlist John Halcyon
Styn to emcee the awards ceremony. Although he did a good job
in 2000, this time Halcyon, as he likes to be called, was much
better prepared, and the SXSW staff allowed him some rehearsal
time before the show. Halcyon came armed with interactive skits
(he started the show with a song about the state-of-the-Web that
lamented the loss of stock options) as well as his usual panoply
of bizarre hair styles and costumes.
Unfortunately, Halcyon was one of the few people easily recognizable
from the World Wide Web attending the awards show. The only nominated
Web site I had ever seen on the Internet was the San Jose Hotel,
which won for best redesigned Web site. All the other sites were
brand new to me.
And there's a good reason for that. The Web Awards are only
open to sites that have been created the during year. If you
started a site before 2000, you were ineligible to enter the
contest.
That's just plain stupid.
How would you like to see a SXSW Music Festival featuring only
bands formed in the current year? I'll answer that for you -
you wouldn't. It's like watching an Olympics where the runners
only train for one year.
I can hear the objections. "But isn't it really like
the Academy Awards, where you only vote on what was released
the preceding year?" I'll answer that question as well --
no, it's not. For one, there aren't millions of movies floating
out there, even if you have cable. Second, Web sites are more
like bands than movies. They evolve. Movies are set in stone
(spare me the director's cut analogies) whereas Web sites are
dynamic and change with the times.
The only category where older Web sites were allowed to enter
was in the Best Redesign category. So if you do have an older
Web site and want to enter the awards next year, just make sure
the site you have right now is poorly designed. Then later this
year, have Loomis Group redesign it for you.
Does SXSW Interactive need to limit entries? Probably. Here's
how: Don't allow those who have entered previously to enter again.
There. That's fixed.
And While I'm Complaining...
Besides the inane entry requirements for the Web Awards, SXSW
needs to work on its press relations. Right now, I'm sitting
on deadline waiting for someone to return my call so the Oak
Hill Gazette can run a photo of a statue.
The statue is silver. The statue shows a person with a monitor
head at a keyboard. Who made the statue? Don't know. Is the statue
a real person doing performance art or a convincing plaster job?
Don't know. (The statue turned out to be a real person, Austin
performance artist Jennifer Ayres. But I didn't learn that in
time for the Oak Hill Gazette's deadline.)
Although technically the interactive festival ended two days
ago, SXSW officials should realize that coverage of the event
isn't over until the end of the week. Why not post some underemployed
news hound in the publicity room to answer festival questions?
Finally, here's another suggestion to improve SXSW press relations.
If a reporter's covered the festival in the past, and the SXSW
Web site has a link to the reporter's article... you might think
about giving the reporter an automatic press pass the next year.
At least don't make reporters go through fiery hoops. How about
a simple email submission for press passes? Trust me. Reporters
seeking press passes for the Interactive festival are likely
sincere.
Of course, my press pass problems were partly my fault. I
was late with my submission. Again.
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STANDARD DISCLAIMER:
This column aims to be funny. If you can read anything else into
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