SXSW: Reflection

I saw and learned a lot of things.

In career focus, perhaps the most valuable things that happened were my mentor sessions. Of particular note was my discussion with Jay Skinner, the head of a music library called Sound Arsenal Music. We talked about my desire to work in the scoring business, and I took a bunch of notes.
Most of the panels I went to also centered around my focus of writing music. I learned that sync licensing is one of the most lucrative things in the entire music business. I learned that indie video game developers are trying to get good music for their games. I learned the importance of audio in immersion of games and movies.
I decided that my primary focus after getting back, which was cemented when I talked with Jay, was to make my "reel," the body of work to represent a composer. Basically a listenable portfolio.
Despite all the talk about following up on contacts, and I suppose I made a few, without this reel, trying to make something of those contacts seems pointless to me.

Speaking of contacts, I often found it difficult to talk to people. Maybe it was subconscious; I knew that everyone I talked to had far more experience than me. But maybe it was a lack of communication skills. I fancy myself a good talker, I could manage during the mentor sessions and could hold the occasional conversation, but during this trip, it was getting the conversations started that I found the most difficult. 
The most salient example would be when I was at the grammy association party. I managed to talk to a whole 3 people, 2 of which I relied on Sarah and Dwight to talk with. I was referencing what I could remember from that networking article that Eric posted a while ago, but nothing seemed to be helping. My presence at the party felt similar to stage fright.

Thankfully though, I still have one more SXSW trip left, and I have 2 main goals to achieve for myself before then. I need to develop a reel, and I need to polish my networking skills. 

SXSW: Bands

The following is a list of the bands that I discovered through SXSW

HAELOS - A wicked sounding band that was playing on the Pandora stage that caught my attention from the street. The Pandora stage, which was also the "Discovery Den" was one of the most prominent venues there.
Astronauts, Etc. - a family band, the two vocalists/keyboardists looked like identical twins. I followed Jared to this venue, and even though the sound kinda sucked (one of the center speakers was constantly cutting out), the band was clearly made up of very good musicians.
Neon Bunny - A korean singer that I never got to check out live, but felt the need to check out onine anyway.
Rei - A skilled 22 year old blues guitarist/singer from Japan. 
Dude York - A cool, energetic trio I accidentally saw because I was at the wrong venue.
Ruby the Rabbitfoot - synth-pop singer from Georgia. Wasn't all that impressed with her and her musicians' performances, hoping her recorded stuff will be better.
Waxahatchee -  Singer-songwriter from Alabama
Chirkutt - Band from Bangladesh, a mash of of western and eastern music.
X Japan/Yoshiki - The act that made my week. X Japan is among the most influential bands in Japan. I watched a very good documentary that was followed up by a live performance by Yoshiki, one of the founding members.
[Alexandros] - A Japanese band that sounds the most like many bands that I currently listen to. Certainly the most dynamic and rhythmic band I saw.
Pretty City - A trio from Australia
Parker Millsap - Another act I've never got to see, but heard good things from people about it.

So yeah, I got a lot of music to listen to.
 

SXSW: Prep

SXSW in Austin, Texas for 5 days with GrooveU.

We were off school the day before our very early morning departure. Unfortunately, days off school just means more work shifts at my hotel job, so the prep work to go to SXSW was in a word, rushed. I in fact packed my luggage mere hours before I left to meet my carpool. Fortunately, there were no actual issue that resulted from the rushed prep, just got stopped by TSA for accidentally packing a pocket knife. Meh.
The hard part was mental prep. SXSW was huge, and I had to do a lot of research to get the most out of it. I had a schedule to make and mentor sessions to cancel, as I had reserved 19 of them. Never really got around to either until the day before each, procrastination at its best.

With only one exception, I followed our SXSW one-sheet to the letter. 
After my first panel, I immediately wished I had business cards. I don't necessarily regret not bringing them, I wasn't sure of their design or even my exact career focus that I would present myself for. Don't even have an elevator pitch down. Any card that I would have had would have had many misleading and logistical issues. Even so, not having them was an evident issue. 

I suppose I could have prepared better, but sometimes there are things that nothing can prepare you for.