5 Pro-Tips For Dominating the SXSW Party Scene

SXSW Interactive expert Alex Blagg shares his secrets to successful partying in Stratlandia.

South By Southwest insiders all know the letters “SXSW” are actually code for “I convinced my employer to let me go to Austin for a few days to embark upon a relentless assault of open bar parties under the guise of doing actual ‘work’.” But as awesome as that sounds, anyone who has been to South By can tell you the party scene can also be a total a nightmare: Ridiculous lines, pushy “bloggers”, low supplies of branded booze (you know, the stuff nightmares are made of). In order to avoid those kinds of hassles, here are 5 pro tips for SXSWinning the party scene in Stratlandia.

1. Stay jacked in to the latest party data. Helpful resources include the SXSW 2011 Unofficial Master Sched, Plancast’s SXSW Events Guide, and the Do512 lists. Also, be sure to follow the SXSW Party List on Twitter for all your breaking party developments and situations.

2. There are literally like 957 apps for that. Foursquare was all the rage last year, so expect to download whichever wackily-named new location/sharing/meetup apps Austin collectively decides to use this year in order to find out about all the latest underground top-secret after-after pool parties where Ashton and I will be hanging out.

3. RSVP For Everything. As I said in my South By South Best guide, “ABRSVP”: Always Be RSVP’ing. You’ll probably only make it to about one in ten parties you RSVP for, but you want to make sure your bases are covered and you’re on the list at as many events as possible.

4. Demand to be on the VIP list. If they don’t have a VIP list, demand they make one just for you.

5. If you’re having a party and you want it to matter, make sure you tell me about it. Let’s face facts, if a party happens in the SXSW forest, and I’m not there to personally attend, cover and crush it, did it really even happen? No. So reach out at BajillionHits at gmail dot com, and let me know what’s up.

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