SXSW

How SXSW parties kick it VIP-style

Corporate sponsors transform local spaces into social hot spots worthy of star attention.

By Melanie Spencer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, March 13, 2008

When Kirsten Dunst was spotted last year during South by Southwest, the A-list star most certainly was not languishing in a long line or grooving with the festival masses. Rather, she was, as one American-Statesman staffer blogged, "at the Spin party, watching Kings of Leon and puffing cigarette after cigarette."

That's right, like any Hollywood heavy-hitter or hipster musician worth their salt, Dunst was chillin' at an invite-only VIP party.

The Spin party was at Stubb's (and will be again this year), but not all parties are at music venues. The organizers of these official and un-official SXSW-related events transform offices, warehouses and tents into pimped-out, sponsor-laden lounges and hot spaces, offering everything from music and munchies to goodie bags and booze.

It's all free, but only if you roll VIP.

"Spin and MySpace will have an 80-foot tent in the middle of Sixth and San Jacinto," says Elaine Garza, Austin-based principal of Giant Noise PR firm. "This is invite only, but there will be a stage, gifting area, lounge and bar. Talk about building from scratch." This tent is separate from the Stubb's Spin party; rather, it's a place for the movers and shakers to take a break (somewhat) from moving and shaking.

Garza describes the vibe of the tent as a relaxing place for musicians to have a beer or do an interview.

"It will be a reprieve," she says. "Because there is so much music, people just want some place to chill."

And according to every organizer interviewed, people also want a place to play Guitar Hero.

The Spin and MySpace tent will have the popular game, as will the Red Bull area at the 5 Gum Perez Hilton One Night in Austin party — ah, corporate sponsorship, those names just roll right off the tongue — (also invitation only) will offer a guitar gaming spot, as well as Austin's Music & Entertainment (ME) Television studios and offices on South Congress Avenue.

In fact, with the help of designer Joy Kling from Spazio (1214 W. Sixth St. 474-5768, www.spaziointeriors.com), ME has revamped its space just in time for the festivities.

"It's very office-y, but it's a VIP event, so we want to give our guests that VIP feel," says Corrine Perry Rotan, ME marketing director. "We wanted a fun atmosphere and to provide a way to showcase our sponsors a little more, as well as give (the offices) a little facelift, so we can carry it on to other events. Joy provided colors we could use with our existing ME TV colors and highlighted them in the office and on the walls."

The new color palette includes mango and red. Kling suggested chalkboard paint on the deck overlooking the ME soundstage and candles and a black light for a lounge feel.

The chalkboard wall is decorated with logos for ME and Dewar's, its sponsor during the festival. Musicians can draw on and sign the wall.

The third-floor meeting room has been converted into an artist and celebrity interview area. The walls are light gray with different-sized bands of color painted around the room. In the Guitar Hero room, there is a 42-inch plasma TV and the now-black walls sport vinyl records spray-painted gold.

This combination not only references music, but also — once again — the colors of the sponsor, Dewar's. Because, though it seems the three days of rockin' parties, free alcohol, food and swag are all about the VIPs, they are really about — you guessed it — advertising and branding for the sponsors.

BMF Media Group out of New York is taking over Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill at 303 Red River St. (236-9599, www.moonshinegrill.com), for its Eastsport Cafe, sponsored by the Eastsport backpack company.

"For us, the Eastsport Cafe is all about how we involve a backpack into a cafe," says Bruce Starr via telephone. Starr is BMF's "talent and branding maestro." He says for fun, they all have those cheeky titles. "We wanted to build upon how Moonshine looks without cheesing it out. We are all about really creating something that makes the brand and the campaign come to life in an unconventional way."

So, how do you create a hipsterati haven with a, um, backpack theme?

"We are going to do hummingbirds and butterflies — spring come to life — and the animals kind of hold the backpack around the corners and the sides."

The colors and graphic of the look are borrowed from Eastsport's advertising campaign, which plays on plasma TVs throughout the cafe. There also are two wall installations featuring about 1,500 backpacks and several ad posters in rustic frames and the all-important Wi-Fi, of course.

Starr is excited about having the restaurant as a base camp for several reasons.

"We often go out to eat with talent, and eating at the same place as the people that just watched you play can be awkward," says Starr, also noting that Austin eateries are often packed during the festival. "We need a quiet place to get away, and the only place we found before was the Four Seasons."

By creating the laid-back Eastsport Cafe, instead of spending what Starr says often amounts to hundreds and hundreds of dollars at the Four Seasons, the BMF crew is able to meet, greet and eat with its VIPs in a more controlled atmosphere, one that also allows the company to highlight its clients.

"The campaign is functional," says Starr. "A backpack is something you need during SXSW, so you can carry all of your stuff."

Correction, all your free VIP stuff.

The Perez Hilton One Night in Austin event is another of Starr's projects. This invite-only, multimedia extravaganza, presented by celebrity-gossip blogger Perez Hilton, kicks off Saturday night at the Palm Door on Sabine Street and goes until 4 a.m.

"That's a raw space being used by SXSW for showcases," says Starr. "But, we have it Saturday night. We are flooding the place with pink uplights, plasmas and banner installations that will go behind and (on) both sides of the stage."

Starr says the 4-foot-by-11-foot and 16-foot banners have funky character drawings of Hilton. One of them, for example, features 50 bobble heads of the gossip hound.

Once again, working with a multitude of sponsors, Starr's team will create several smaller areas within the larger space.

There will be a 5 Gum wall so that attendees can "experience" the product. The bars are being done by Moët Hennessy. One of them is a Navan vanilla liqueur bar, which will be macked-out with vanilla candles, and when you aren't watching the show you can get away from it all with a soothing massage.

Göt2b, the hair product company, will have a barbershop on site. Fake ads of Hilton will be throughout the space and stylists will give attendees that essential rock-'n'-roll look and a Polaroid snap of the new 'do.

Rockstar hairdo: Free.

Polaroid of hairdo: Free.

Immortalization of 3 a.m. drunken hook-up with (insert name of VIP celebrity here): Priceless.

And when fatigue sets in, no problem, because the java will flow all night long at the Cafe Bustelo Cuban coffee bar. And don't forget about the Red Bull Guitar Hero area. Because as we all know, a huge, loud room filled with boozed-up, highly caffeinated VIPs wielding overflowing swag bags and rockin' out on Guitar Hero equals — F.U.N.

"We've tried to make it a full experience for the guests," Starr says. "This is a raw space, not so much to work with, so we are trying to make it as cool and different as we can. We also didn't want to do too much."

(Really?)

"Between the banners and the plasmas, we didn't want to go over the top because Perez has such a brand already and the more stuff you put in the less people you can have, so we really wanted to keep it around the perimeter of the room."

When it comes to working with a raw space, such as the Palm Door, compared with a finished-out space with its own identity, he prefers the former.

"It gives you a blank slate for your vision," says Starr. "You never know who is going to come on board, whether it's Eastsport or AT&T. It really comes down to branding. Calvin Klein is a client and they have this specific aesthetic. Everything is black, white and gray, and they would never go with a space that didn't have that aesthetic. A space can be really cool, but if it doesn't match, it won't work."

Will the hipper-than-thou hordes of celebs and band members eat it all up with reckless abandon, or will some of them eschew the corporate overload? The allure of days filled with live music, freebies and rockstar treatment might prove to be too seductive to resist for even the most principled and conscientious VIP.

Perhaps the Jungle Brothers answered that question best when they sang, "You wanna get with us because we got it goin' on/We in the VIP/Yeah yeah/We in the VIP."

It's SXSW time, rock fans; see you in the VIP.