Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > March > 12 > Entry
SXSW 3: Convention Center Fun
By now, you’ve heard about the Great SXSW False Alarm of 2010. A few hours ago, when I sat down on the fourth floor of the Austin Convention Center to post this entry, sirens blared and lights flashed. The center was evacuated. (Follow the tweets; follow the tweets: @outandabout.)
Thousands of conventioneers exited calmly down the wide sets of stairs and poured onto Trinity Street. Nobody panicked. I talked to some volunteers, Austinites, and they couldn’t tell what to do right away, because of the horn sounds and their assignments. Eventually people figured it out. It appears that not the whole convention center was emptied. Hard to tell on the ground, but everybody on their electronic devices checking with the rest of the building.
I ran into several Austinites — including marketer Jason Stoddard and Austin Woman magazine executive editor Mary Anne Connolly — plus a playwright, Gavin Dahl, I somehow dissed back in the 1990s. He’s in community radio now. Doesn’t hold a grudge. Also met Cynthia McGrail, community outreach manager for Emmis Marketing, a friend of Connolly and a good sport, given our little fire-alarm trauma.
Cynthia McGrail and Mary Anne Connolly
The scene at the center is totally transformed this year. More like a carnival. Cafes and shops everywhere. Background rhythms and splashes of color. Registration is in a exhibition room, so more convenient, if still a bit confusing.
Now that the Hilton is being used for SXSW events, crowds amble back and forth from the center. Guests are soaking up the glorious weather, too, at outside seating areas. Then they head out, mostly west toward Congress, but some north to Sixth. I headed to the Tocquigny party in the Frost Tower.
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