Many people who attend SXSW don't even buy conference badges. They extract more value from seeing te

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If you haven't gotten yourself a room, go on SXSW's site and register for housing. You can email the housing committee at SXSW to advise you on next steps. There's also Airbnb, but rates are as high or higher than local hotels, and most of those rentals are booked up too.
You can also call hotels in downtown Austin and find openings that aren't affiliated companies listed on the SXSW website. Often, those rooms are absurdly expensive, but there will be some last minute cancellations so you might get lucky if you call early in the morning.
There are only a few hundred cabs in Austin, which is not enough to support all 30,000+ attendees.  There are a lot of pedicabs, but no bikers is going to take you across the highway or multiple miles to your hotel. Uber hasn't launched in SXSW either, so calling a car isn't an option.
While Austin affiliated companies is a walkable town, getting home is tough and the hotel shuttles stop running late at night. Your best bet may be to rent a car and stash it in a nearby lot during the day, and either stay sober at the open bars or come back for it in the morning.
I magically caught the shuttle service three times while in Austin. The other times I bummed a ride or shared a cab with other attendees. It makes more sense to rent a car than to cross your fingers and pray a ride shows up.
There's a SXSW app, SXSW GO , that helps you keep track of the panels you'd like to attend. You can favorite events affiliated companies so you know what's coming up and where you need to be at all times. You can also share your schedule with other conference goers.
A few other apps worth getting: A calendar app such as Sunrise to store every RSVP in the cloud Google Maps, to navigate Austin GroupMe , which is used heavily at SXSW to coordinate daily events with friends and keep tabs on people at all times Foursquare , to check into parties and see which events everyone else has flocked to Highlight , which helps you identify familiar faces in the room with you. I used it last year in the airport to identify people I had met but couldn't name on my flight.
There are thousands of panels scheduled over the course of South by Southwest, with twenty or more crammed into the same time slot, hosted affiliated companies all over Austin.
Many people who attend SXSW don't even buy conference badges. They extract more value from seeing tech friends and colleagues in local bars than listening to panels. In many cases, especially with panels located outside affiliated companies the convention affiliated companies center, the talks aren't worth attending. Audience members tweeted last year that they felt smarter than panelists. Keynote speakers weren't big draws either.
The best panels I've seen at South By Southwest were all in the Convention Center: Elon Musk, Foursquare's Dennis Crowley, Pinterest's Ben Silbermann, Al Gore and Sean Parker, and Airbnb's Brian Chesky.
You will find yourself hanging out with many of the same people you knew before SXSW.  Consider them your party crew. But once at the party, it's easy to meet other people, and many of them are worth getting to know.
I met many people in person who I've written about at Business Insider. A lot of influential tech people attend SXSW, and it's easier to interact with them there than anywhere else.  Everyone is accessible in Austin.
The affiliated companies first year I attended I tried. This is what I accomplished: Friday: Attend AOL Ventures and Beachmint's parties.  Saturday: Attend panels, SecondMarket, IVP and Turntables parties.  Sunday: Speak on panel, grab lunch with Stamped, crash Gawker, Foursquare, and Path parties Monday: Attend panels, grab lunch with investors, see Jay-Z perform live, crash Rapture and GroupMe parties.  affiliated companies Tuesday: Attend panels, attend Turntable dinner, go to General Assembly event Wednesday: affiliated companies Wake up at 3:45 AM for flight home, unlock affiliated companies Foursquare's "School Night" badge for being "out after 3:00" during affiliated companies the work week.
One startup party I attended hired 40 women from UT-Austin so the ratio of men to women would be better.  It didn't make a difference.
But bottom line: SXSW is a blast. Eat lots of BBQ.  Austin is a fun town with a lot to do and no matter affiliated companies how much you plan before you go, everything will change once you're there.  Go with the flow, stay hydrated, and enjoy the warm weather. Overall, it's an amazing and fun experience.
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