How I Got Into SxSW Parties

The advice here goes beyond plain ol’ networking skills and a winning smile.

1) Talk to promoters. I learned this one from Jakob Heuser who talked to a promoter that got us into the Facebook party which was invite only. Jakob also knew how many people he wanted to get into the party in addition to himself, and so he asked for additional invites. SxSW wins notoriety for having way too many female promoters leading to parties with way too many dudes in an already way too many dude market. Well, it helps having my winning smile to sort me out from the rest.

2) Get on the VIP list of every club that you think will be hosting a cool party. You do this by visiting their website, and asking to be put on their VIP list. You also do this by calling the venue.

3) Once you’ve done step two, you need to show up the evening before. Talk to the folks who work the door. Ask who is working the door tomorrow. I did steps 2 and 3 the day before South by Southwest started. The result: Fun, fun, fun and a stack of business cards that I’ve been entering into my address book for the past 2 hours. Next time I’m at Fry’s, I’m getting a card scanner

Now go out there and get to some parties.