What the? Weather

If there's one thing you should expect about Austin weather, it's that it's always changing. While the last few days of the festival have been GORGEOUS, and sunny, it's now down pouring this morning with tomorrow's forecast to be chilly with strong winds.

Don't let this ruin your festival experience. As long as there's not a tornado about to blow through, it's not worth giving up your SXSW festivities.

Although many of the events are still being held in the connection hot spot at the Austin Convention Center, there are still other venues that you will probably want to go to. In the event of this unfortunate weather, take advantage of the shuttling and transportation going on downtown such as the Catch A Chevy program, film shuttle bus, or the hotel shuttles.

Moral of the story BE PREPARED. Don't end up wasting your day when it could be filled with unforgettable speakers, panels, film screenings, showcases, and trade shows.

Relaxation...

Need some 'Me' time to chill out? Perhaps rid the toxins that you acquired from a night of after parties during the festival? SXSW is adding Yoga into the mix.

Yoga is being offered during the festival for all registrants. "Come as You Are" yoga sessions will be going on at 9:30 am during interactive conference and 5:00pm during the music conference. Locations vary day to day. All levels are welcome to attend.

Registrants are now able to select a yoga session and enter it into their my.sxsw.com personalized schedule. Start (or finish) your day with a peaceful yoga session. Although, not new to South By, yoga is now being offered at a later time during the music portion of the festival.

With all the crazy, chaotic things going on during the festival it might be nice to have a moment to relax and break away from it all.

Go to my.sxsw.com and type 'yoga' into the search box to enter it into your schedule.

SXS WHAT?

For those of you who have been living under a rock and don't know what SXSW is, here's a look at what it entails...



As summarized from the SXSW "first timers" Web page, Here are some pointers that you should know:

-Register early and online; it's easy , saves paper, and the earlier you register, the earlier you get a hotel, which leads to the next point

-Book a hotel with SXSW; again, the earlier the better. I'm talking a few months in advance.

-Upload your BADGE photo; there are two different photos that you can upload, your profile picture on my.sxsw.com and the badge photo, which can also be found there. Make sure its the right one and do it no later than a week before the festival just in case. Once the festival starts you have to take your photo onsite which slows down the badge-pickup process and takes a not-so-groovy web-cam photo of you with your eyes closed and a double chin.

-Wear comfy shoes; There's a lot of walking around so be prepared. Please don't be that girl in high heels. Not only will you be uncomfortable, but you will look ridiculous when everyone else is dressed so casually. If dress up is necessary for business or whatever reason, bring an extra pair of comfortable shoes to change into when your done.

-Slow and steady wins the race, pace yourself; Don't try to cram as much into your day as possible. If you do you'll end up with little energy and you may miss out on something you really wanted to do all because you were too tired. Be smart about it, you may have to decide between show here and there, but it's going to be worth it in the end.

Also my personal note of advice, since many of you are traveling in from afar and it might be your first time in Austin, take advantage of the local downtown bars and restaurants. There are so many delicious places to eat here in Austin and downtown is the prim elocation for many of those places. The notorious "6th Street" is only a block and a half from the convention center. Moonshine has good brunch and Iron Works has great barbecue and they're both across the street from the convention center.

For more official information and pointers from SXSW visit the SXSW Web site.

Surviving SXSW

"You should only drink hard liquor like whiskey—Powers or Jameson. You should not drink water at all. Don’t get any sleep. Stay up every day, all day, all night. Take off all your clothes, cover yourself in pig’s blood, and talk to yourself like a raving lunatic. Do this and you will go far," ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead's Jason Reece in an 2009 interview published by Black Book Magazine.

While Reece's remark sounds tempting, we all know this is NOT the most effective way to go about SXSW. That is, if you want to prevent waking up in jail or live to see another SXSW.

But seriously, how does one "do" SXSW? What's the best way?

Well the answer is different for each person depending on their interests, but that's what is so intriguing about SXSW; there's something for everyone.

The SXSW Web site has a list of tools they suggest to use before and during the festival. The list includes widgets, networks and software to help you get connected to other SXSW attendees and learn more about what SXSW has to offer.

The official social networking and scheduling tool for SXSW is my.sxsw.com. Here, festival-goers can build their own customized schedules, which may may ease your anxiety when picking the countless showcases, film screenings, trade shows, etc.

Consult these tools in order to stay in the loop with SXSW happenings and get the most out of your experience.