I hope that everyone I’ve met at SXSW either stays put in Austin or moves here.
Jolyn Janis, Jay Galvan and Leslie Langee
That’s heretical thinking in the land of “Enjoy your stay, but don’t even think about moving here.”
The folks who come to SXSW, in general, make Austin more Austin. They are open, smart, kind, fun and fit, from the inside out. Every party, every panel, every premiere puts me in the vicinity of people who would enrich Austin’s already engorged culture.
At the bright, smart and packed SXSW Trade Show, there were far more booths dedicated to technical and social innovations than the old-fashioned “make your movie cheap here” regional pitches.
Among the legacy media, the best booth nod went to The New York Times, sleek, informative and interactive. The worst belonged to hometown heroes Austin Chronicle. In need of a major makeover!
At the show, I ran into Tommy and Lynn Meredith, the indefatigable philanthropists who insisted the design folks behind the new Waller Creek project come down for SXSW as well as ACL Music Festival and Formula One.
Exactly! How can you understand Austin without witnessing those three events? SXSW, I’ve written often, practically invented modern Austin. At the very least, it predicted where the culture would go.
SXSW attendees were pioneers of South Congress, West Sixth and East Austin tourism. They are doing the same, on a smaller scale, for South First and South Lamar, which are harder to navigate for walkers.
After the Dewey Awards last night, I headed down to East Sixth. Someone recently noticed that it was dirty. Hey, it always was dirty. At a certain age, we like that, especially in contrast with the antiseptic suburbs.
I plugged into all the energy on “Electric Street,” as the Sterling Price-McKinney musical dubbed it. (I miss his constant presence in Austin! I want cabaret!)
Anyway, I approached the door at The Stage and asked which party was in progress. “Does it matter?” one guard said. “There’s an open bar.”
Turns out the digital ticket service Fandango footed the bill (not mine). I ran into filmmakers Jolyn Janis, Jay Galvan and Leslie Langee. What a delight!
They filled me on all their projects, including “Far Marfa,” which I’ve intended to watch online for a while. Soon.
I’m writing this short wrap-up at South Bites, the incredible grouping of food trailers just southeast of the Convention Center. So far this week, I’ve sampled East Side Kings, Chi’Lantro Korean BBQ, the Butcher’s Son and the Slab BBQ. All delicious.
Again, anyone who complains that Austin has lost its funky flavor needs to spend more time among our 1,200 food trailers. Street food defines funkiness.