I have been attending the Austin, Texas, South By Southwest (SXSW) Conference since 2012 and learned how to navigate it quite well. Last year, however, it came with a warning. Its headquarters and activities center – the Austin Convention Center – was about to be remodeled and would be unavailable the next three years.
Unlike other events, like Adobe Software’s annual conference, which went on the road for three years while the Los Angeles Convention Center was being redone, SXSW could not do that. The conference and the city are too tightly tied together. Its volunteers and community support keep the fest going.
So, here’s what will happen beginning March 12.
Everywhere…
Instead of one center in the construction that used to be the convention center, each subsection of the conference – Film & TV, Music, and Innovation – will have its own headquarters. These will be called “clubhouses,” each in a different part of downtown Austin. Each clubhouse will be the focus for that part of the festival, with related events happening nearby.
The Film & TV Clubhouse will be at 800 Congress, a short walk from the Paramount Theater where the featured-films screen and the hot red-carpets take place. Opening night will feature two must-see films. Margo’s Got Money Problems features an all-star cast including Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman, Nicole Kidman, and Greg Kinnear. Also, on opening night I Love Boosters brings Keke Palmer and Demi Moore to the Austin screen…