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Austin = hashtag epic, hashtag awesome

Posted by msdesign21 | Posted in You trippin! | Posted on 15-03-2011

Tags: , , ,

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As I type this I sit on a beautiful outside patio on S Congress at a coffee bar called Jo’s. I am surrounded by Mac Book Pros and I can almost see all the tweets swarming around my head. I am sure this is a common occurrence in Austin, but the sight is even more so now, as we are here the week of SXSW. South By Southwest, or “South By” as the attendees call it, is a three pronged festival for Music, Film and Interactive geeks. Hipsters from all over the world migrate south this time of year to attend top notch keynote speaker sessions, rock their socks off to the next new indie band you probably won’t ever hear on the radio, and be the first to debut new independent films. The city has over 40,000 visitors this time of year and everyone’s buzzing around with their heads buried in their iPhone or iPad, tweeting to find the next meetup.

Photo courtesy of miguelandia.com

We have absolutely enjoyed our time in Austin and are enjoying some really great beers. There are so many breweries in the area we’ve mainly frequented The Ginger Man which has over 80 beers on draft and 2 on cask. From there we have sampled the 512 and Independence local breweries as well as a couple different Real Ales and many different types of Shiner (close in the area). We also made it over to LoveJoys based on a friend’s recommendation, they had great beer! Beer here is very good and the conversations have been fantastic. We’ve had the privilege to meet up with a couple of our KU buddies, Taylor, Courtney and Jonny, as well as other NuRVers and travelers, most notably @ZenNomads @Technomadia and @Technosyncratic and @OverYonderLust. If you are interested in RVing or traveling definitely check out these blogs, great resources for newbie and even the experts.

While in Austin I’ve learned a few facts that I think are incredible. There are over 1400 food licenses for the city of Austin, 900 of which are mobile food trucks. They are everywhere! And the cool thing is they setup say 4-6 in an area and surround them with picnic tables, you can get a cheap, delicious meal and enjoy it outside. Torchy’s Tacos seem to be among the locals favorite, we sampled some our self and can not disagree! The other cool fact: There are over 750 tattoo parlors in this city! That is 7.5 shops for every 1,000 people! The Texans sure like their tats I guess. I’ve seen more sleeves here than I did in Cali. It almost makes me feel obligated to get one, but Brian is next! He just needs to figure out what the hell he wants to get.

The idea to “unattend” sxsw was a great one. I recommend it for anyone close to the industry or anyone who just likes to be in the middle of a lot of action. The conference passes are around $800, so not cheap, unless you can get your company to fork out the change. Unattending has all the great perks of networking, there are plenty of free events that don’t require badges, and more importantly free food trucks sponsored by the big guys handing out treats. This week I had a brown butter and candied bacon ice cream sandwich on chocolate chip cookies from Cool Haus with thanks to Mozilla, and it was delectable!

We have been lying low the past two days, trying to get some work done so we can let loose tomorrow on our favorite holiday of the year. No, we will not be drinking green beer, but it will be black and it will be plentiful. Although, I will leave the rest for another post. Slainte friends!! And thanks for following…