So SXSW is over and it was awesome. I am sure everyone who came feels the same way, and like me I am sure everyone who came has things they would do differently. So here is a little advice to myself, my friends and anyone planning on attending SXSW in the future.

Attend Speeches By the Speaker not the Content

Noone at SXSW is going to tell you anything you probably didn’t know. We are in the age of RSS when someone blogs their thoughts before the thought is even done. For me SXSW is being inspired. Seeing people who are inspiring speakers is a way better experience then worrying if the content directly applies to you. For example, I am not really interested in Wine or Video Blogging, but Gary Vaynerchuck’s speeach on the topic was the most inspiring speech there and was the topic of conversation for many of my discussions with others.

People Will Not Bite

We are geeks, we all have a little social anxiety… but your here. SXSW is a social convention. Don’t expect a library of quiet geeks tapping away at their computers. If you come to the convention you are basically putting yourself out there as someone who wants to be social. If you see someone who you admire, follow their work, is talking about something cool or is just a random person that doesn’t smell, say “Hi”. A simple “I really like what you are doing with X” will totally make their day and you don’t have to go all fanboy on them. These people are not movie stars, they aren’t celebs. They REALLY DO their own shopping at Target and Walmart just like you. The fact that you recognize them enough and appreciate them enough to say hi will give them a really big kick and they will most likely be really nice… and if they aren’t, at least you know who to unsubscribe to when you get home.

Bring Money

SXSW is expensive. The conference is expensive, the cabs are expensive, the drinks are expensive, the food is expensive, hell at 4 bucks a bottle the water is expensive. There are a couple of things you can do like buying your own water and Whole Foods that can help. Hopping party to party for free drinks will also keep your bar tab a little lower, but do keep in mind that free drinks = line to get in. This isn’t a conference to attend if you are on super tight purse strings.

Get a Hotel Withing Walking Distance of the Convention Center

Due to bad planning, we ended up at a hotel near the airport. I would say our cab bills are probably near 500 bucks. That is almost the same amount as our hotel. If we took the 500 bucks and put it back into our “hotel” fund we would have been staying at a pimp suite right next to the convention center where we wouldn’t have had to coordinate cabs, waking up, going to bed… everyone could have just don’t their own thing. Just do it, thank me later.

Plan Downtime

You will constantly hear “it is a marathon, not a sprint” and it is so true. You are not going to be able to keep up the pace of conferences, partying, lack of sleep and honestly just people. It isn’t even a matter of getting tired, people constantly buzzing in your ear all the time will drive you insane. Take a look at your schedule, figure out what you absolutely can’t miss and plan a early evening in the mix and then some more chill activies. We went to the Alamo Drafthouse twice, a movie theater that serves food and liquor at your seats. Still social, but everyone STFUing for a couple hours was of great help. I also found myself after day 2 missing music, and not just music but a chance to zone. I found myself waking up at 7 am (like now) to have a couple of minutes to myself without having to talk. I love my friends, but the lack of “centering” time can make you insane.

Room With Someone Who Is Like You

If you can’t afford rooming alone, make sure whomever you room with has similar habbits. I love Mikey, but his need for all the lights out, freezing cold temeratures (which I like while asleep, just not when I am awake) and complete lack of noise, completely conflict with my lifestyle. I think this sort of thing wears on you as well and makes you  a bit snappy. I think this also goes for just hanging out with your friends, especially people you don’t actually live with. People all have crazy habbits, and everyone is out of their element. It is hard to go with the flow for 5 days, especially when hung over, give your friends some space. Cut people a break, take a break from them and just mix it up a bit.

You Don’t Have to Be Everywhere Your Friends Are

This is actually mostly my fault. I spent a good deal of the beginning of the conference trying to coordinate fun for my group. You are not joined at the hip, you don’t need to see the same speeches as your friends, infact I would encourage that you first look at the schedule and see what you want to see and plan what you want to do, before looking at social schedule tools like Sched and surfing your friends plans… if stuff overlaps that is cool as you will have stuff to talk about, but I think some of my programmer friends missed some good speeches cause I wasn’t interested in going and I didn’t go to a couple of things I probably would have because I was going with them to stuff. At the same point, don’t stress about it as it will all be on podcast.

Follow Up With Your Connections

All those cool people you met the night before will remember you for a couple of days… and you them. Send the emails, facebook connects and twitter followings quickly! Unless completely smashed (and in that case maybe it is better off you don’t reconnect), we all remember who we partied with for a couple of days, after that people just become ‘that guy who did/said that thing at that party at some convention’. Connections don’t cost anything and usually are pretty passive… connect with your new friends immediately and then involve yourself in the conversation when appropriate. Yes maybe in 6 months that awesome flash guy you spoke to for 20 minutes at a bar might not recognize you, but knowing that you are his facebook friend gives you way more credit then random stranger when involving yourself in a conversation.

That all being said, SXSW was a great conference and I am off to plan my next one already!