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SXSW 13: Tech Cocktail at the Palm Door
SXSW head honcho Roland Swenson said something wise to me during the Microsoft BizSpark and Volusion Tech Cocktail at the Palm Door. Speaking about social events during SXSW Interactive, Swenson pointed out that guests really talked to each other, in contrast to SXSW Music, when it’s “party, party, party.”
Matt Curtin and Chris Valentine
Indeed, besides the distractions of conversation-killing music and hipster posing, the 700 or so sideparties during SXSW Music are partly about getting trashed. (“Rebel, rebel, your face is a mess.) In contrast, over the past six days of the SXSW Interactive and Film portions, I’ve noticed maybe one or two folks had overdone, and then only pleasantly enhanced.
Roland Swenson and David Fox
This Cocktail Tech also did not attract those annoying sidewalk queues, meaning the venue was properly sized to the event. Just walk right in — and start conversing. Many of the folks I encountered here, I had already met at the convention center or attendant events. So no big revelations. (Other than how mellow Swenson could be mid-fest, and that Chris Valentine had turned from dance to tech — ran into him with SocialSmack co-founder and CEO Matt Curtin).
Gosh, I wish there were more events like this during the rest of the year.
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By Jules Pieri
March 19, 2010 9:00 PM | Link to this
I concur. I was one of the presenting finalists in the BizSpark event, and this party was my favorite of the bigger ones. That's saying a lot considering I was glued to my cocktail table "station," telling people about Daily Grommet. Actually that was pretty fun....just stand there and have interesting people come up and talk to you. I'd do it again.
Only issue...I did some "defensive eating" just before the event on nearby 6th Street and got food poisoning from a bad burrito. I was up all night, sick, and barely made it on stage to present my company the next day! It's been six days and I have yet to eat a real meal. But my bad for looking for food in all the wrong places.