How To Pretend You’re At SXSW: A Brief Field Guide

Is your Twitter feed feeling a little extra insufferable today? Do you hear the sort of “I’m at a really cool event and you’re not” echo running through the Internet? Are you suddenly craving Tex Mex and you’re not sure why? That’s because the South by Southwest Conference has begun! And you’re not there! (We’re certainly not.) So, we’ve come up with a couple of ways to pretend you’re at the annual pilgrimage of media, tech, music and entertainment types to Texas, or at least some ways to mitigate the pain of not being there.

1. Take a gander at this New York Times Tumblr.
Want your vicarious SXSW filtered through an intellectual, discerning eye? The Times has you covered, having created a Tumblr for their staff’s exploits. Read all about iPhone charging sagas.

2. Watch some Whedon.
Joss Whedon’s film The Cabin in the Woods premiered last night at the festival. Whedon was participating in a “conversation” this morning. You can read tweets about the talk or you can console yourself by watching Buffy on Netflix.

3. Wherever you currently are: go find free food and drinks.
That’s really what the conference is about, right? Anyway, you’re hungry.

4. Join NXNE.
As we were sifting through the tweets embellished with “#sxsw” we happened across “#NXNE.”

In the northeast and wishing you had your own conference? Take part as protest and joke. We emailed Times editor and evident NXNE participant Patrick LaForge to discover the hashtag’s origins. He wrote:

I don’t know if I started it, but I used the hashtag as a joke last year. It seemed like hundreds of people I followed were tweeting about cutting-edge #SXSW topics like getting their luggage at the Austin airport.

When we Googled the term we discovered there actually is a NXNE in Canada. This fact didn’t slip by a tweeter who informed @slarkpope — already doing hilarious things with the hashtag:

We asked LaForge about the Canadian confusion: “No offense intended to Canada. Great music up there! Except Nickelback.”

So there you have it. And for New Yorkers who are in Austin, don’t forget, Mayor Bloomberg wants you back: