Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2009 > March > 15 > Entry
I am not Michael Barnes (Party Fail)
I don’t know how he does it. Michael Barnes, on a normal week, goes to so many parties and does such a fine job documenting the vibe and who’s there (photos, even!) that at the end of an exhausting South by Southwest Interactive Saturday, I realized that I had failed in my mission.
This is the document of that failure.
Things started promising enough. After a late Comedy On the Web and TV panel, I hit an upstairs party at Fogo De Chao. The weather had cleared up a bit and there was no rain. I gobbled on pork meats and talked to Michael Cote, one of our Texas Social Media Awards winners for the first time. Then things went south. I drank an open-bar sugary margarita-like confection (I’m blanking on the name). It made my hands sticky and had a layer of sweet at the bottom. I went back for a second after the open bar and it was $9. That … sort of … balances out, right?
By the time I left, I was unexpectedly sloshed. The meat did not absorb the drinks and I ended up sweaty and stomach-achey, sitting on the floor of the Convention Center trying to catch my breath.
Great start, right?
Next, I went to the big Digg Shindig at Stubb’s, but got there late and couldn’t seem to find anyone from the company. I stood in the back and watched part of an on-stage presentation from Scam School, but found myself distracted by a dinner appointment I had with some Google employees. I didn’t take pictures and left within minutes.
No cabs in sight, I walked the hills from Stubb’s all the way to Gumbo’s on Colorado St. I’ll write about the Google dinner in another entry — it was long and much was learned — but I’ll just say that my hike was not helped by the idea that people from the Bay Area came to Austin to dine on seafood/Cajun. That is exactly the kind of outside-the-box thinking that has made them a success, I have to assume.
After the dinner, I made a pitstop at the Piryx party at Speakeasy. I arrived so late that they didn’t want to let me in at the door without a cover charge. I sneaky-sneaky went to “Look for my friend” and never came back. Upstairs, Piryx CEO Tom Serres was holding court at what looked to be a very wild party. So wild that Obama Girl Amber Ettinger was standing next to him. Serres introduced me to her.
Perhaps she is a much better actress than I would have given her credit for, but she absolutely did not remember me. Or, she was so polite she didn’t mention it. She seemed very happy to meet me for the first time and, in my weakened state, I did not make an effort to dredge up old conflict.
Next, it was time to go to the big Frog Design party at the Mexican-American Cultural Center. It was only 10:30 p.m.! Not too late! Come on, Frog Design! Don’t let me down. I’ve been looking forward to this party all year!
It was too late. When I arrived, droves of people were streaming out. The music was over, the burlesque was long done, and cabs were circling like vultures. I had struck out again.
Hoping to save my night, I made one last-ditch effort to party. I went to a karaoke party at Scoot Inn. It was crowded and I couldn’t find anyone I knew until I wandered all the way to the back and found a person to chat with for about a half hour about what’s going at the Statesman, what the festival’s been like and how things have changed in Austin.
It wasn’t hard-core partying, but by this point, my head was pounding, my legs were tired and I felt like I’d missed so much. It was good to just talk with a friendly person and save my energy for the rest of the fest.
I think Michael would have had much better timing and taken photos. Sorry, everybody. I’ll try to party better tonight.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, SXSW 2009
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.