There are still many very good reasons to attend SXSW and there are even more unexplored ways to maximize your impact at the conference. The fact that the conference is so close to Houston makes it worth your while to attend even without a badge or wristband. Many industry professionals are in Austin during the week of music and the setting provides a good opportunity to contact and meet them to talk about your career. Label, booking and promotional companies also attend and fruitful research can be accomplished by sitting down with them for meetings. Additionally, with the rise of non-SXSW-sanctioned parties running virtually around the clock, the need to play a SXSW showcase is significantly less important than it was several years ago.

In personal communication with bands over the past couple years I’ve talked about how important it is to take control of your career and do game changing things to get noticed and build your audience. As a band working for itself, SXSW is the perfect staging grounds for this philosophy and the best way to accomplish this is to cut through the noise.

Don’ts:

• Don’t play 9 shows in 4 days; those last shows are going to be low on energy and probably not represent your band in the way you wish to portray yourselves.
• Don’t try and play the hottest party at SXSW; you probably don’t know what it is and if you did you’d already have representation working for you.
• Don’t expect to be discovered at SXSW and have everything handed to you from now on

Do’s:

• Look at what everyone else is doing and take a right turn from that
• Do play (at least) one show that will have the desired impact to get you noticed by any potential fans, not just that talent scout: a guerrilla show in the middle of the street, on the back of a flatbed truck while driving around, play your music blasting from a boombox while walking down the street, hang shirts of your band just out of reach on telephone poles near the convention
• Do your research beforehand to target the people you want to work with, write them beforehand, and get a committment to meet with them to talk
• Do attend Bandcampus: SXSW PREP at Caroline Collective on February 28th from 2-4pm to make plans to attack SXSW and get your digital and physical toolbox in order

That last part is key. This Sunday at Caroline Collective we will be holding the latest installment of Bandcampus, entitled SXSW PREP. Similar to last year, this will be a workshop pairing volunteers with musical artists working to get prepared for SXSW with the following goals:

1. Prepare press materials and basic online presence items for bands interested in attending SXSW.
Any band playing in Austin during SXSW needs to be prepared to promote themselves given the chance. Playing a show is just the start of that promotion. Artists need a press kit, songs hosted online, video posted online, booking and contact information somewhere as well as physical cds to sell to interested parties or to give to record labels or booking agents. Many bands are unprepared for this situation and are lacking many of these items. By providing musicians with creative experts bands can receive focused attention to generate or upload these items to a location on the internet that raises the artists’ visibility.

2. Announce the bands that will be playing at Houston@SXSW, a Houston focused party showcasing Houston musicians, filmmakers and technologists.
This year we will be holding the second Houston@SXSW party. Last year’s party, held at Gruv, sponsored by Kirtsy, Werkadoo, Schipul, AYNBrand, and Caroline Collective , was a locally focused party showcasing Houston talent in three areas: technology, film and music. The following artists showcased: Dave Wrangler, Western Civilization, Wayside Drive, Ben Wesley, Espantapajaros, Golden Cities, Liquid Kitchen, Tha Fucking Transmissions, American Sharks, Something Fierce, and Fat Tony / B L A C K I E.

This year’s party will again focus on the contributions of Houston’s creative professionals. Startups will present, films will be shown and musical artists will showcase. This year’s party will be held at Hudson’s (301 W. 5th), Monday, March 15th from 5pm-2am. Last year’s music was curated by myself selected from the bands who attended Bandcampus: SXSW PREP. This year’s showcasing bands will be selected by the community. That means you. And your community.

Pay attention because we are going to do this very quickly. Nominations are open as of now and will close on Thursday, February 25th at noon. If you are in a band, know a band or like a band, DO THIS NOW: nominate them in the comment section below.

Starting Thursday at noon, voting will open for all bands who were nominated. Voting details, site and rules will be given on Wednesday. Voting will close on Sunday, February 28th at noon. Bands who are selected to play the party will be announced at Sunday’s Bandcampus: SXSW PREP.

Sunday’s Bandcampus: SXSW PREP is for 1) Houston musicians attending SXSW as official selections, 2) Houston musicians interested in playing at the  Houston focused day party, 3) Bands looking to get their physical/online toolbox and online presence set up or checked by industry professionals, and 4) industry professionals looking to donate a couple hours to help bands generate/solidify these materials.

We need skilled graphic designers, web developers, copywriters, PR reps or any other creative professional which would be able to donate time and services for a couple hours to help bands prepare their online presence and press materials for SXSW.

WHAT: Bandcamp: SXSW PREP
WHEN: February 28th, 2-4pm
WHERE: Caroline Collective, 4820 Caroline Houston, TX
WHY: Prepare for SXSW, find out who’s playing Houston@SXSW; a free showcase of Houston creative professionals

Bandize, Artist Data and Band Metrics are three of the new online tools that bill themselves as time savers, organizing platforms and communicaiton systems  for bands. The first, Bandize, out of Austin, is like “Basecamp for Bands.” The system gives artists and managers the ability to plan a tour, add contacts, manage band products, do accounting and make task lists shared among band members. Artist Data, run out of Chicago, bills themselves as an automation tool that beats the monotonous updating of artist websites, social network profiles and anything else that can bog you down as an artist. Band Metrics, still in private beta, offers bands and managers the ability to measure the effect of their campaigns and releases through on demand statistics.

The benefits of organization cannot be overstated and that’s why this weekend at Bandcamp, we’ve invited the co-founder of Bandize, Ajit D’Sa into Caroline Collective to give us a test drive of the application and help bands get organized. As Ajit says, “This is your true first step in realizing that your band is a small business, and that you need to start thinking like a small business owner in order to give yourself a better chance to succeed. The goal of Bandize was to make it easy to use, even on the road, so that the drunkest member of the band should be able to update band info at 4am after a show.” Now if we could just find a way to get those scientists organized.

Join us this weekend, August 16th for Bandcamp: BANDIZE

WHAT: Bandcamp: BANDIZE – “It’s like Basecamp for bands!” (http://bandize.com)
WHO: Ajit D’Sa, Co-founder of Bandize WHEN: 8/16/09 2-4pm
WHERE: Caroline Collective, 4820 Caroline Houston TX
HOW MUCH: $5 a person / $8 per band

In the wake of this utterly disappointing situation the feelings running through my body were pain, discomfort and remorse. Kind of like getting an STD.

Other reasons why having your laptop stolen are like getting an STD:

• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD are both preventable
• People warn you all the time about having your laptop stolen or getting an STD
• They sell things that prevent your laptop from being stolen and you from getting an STD
• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD are both more likely to happen when you utter the words ‘it’ll be ok just this one time’
• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD can both be costly to remedy
• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD can have a lasting effect long after the symptoms go away
• You ponder what you’ve lost and how you’ll recover when your laptop is stolen or you get an STD
• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD both require you to call up people you never want to speak to again warning them they might want to go to the doctor or change their business’ passwords
• You think of all the foolish things you’ve done in the past when your laptop is stolen or you get an STD
• Having your laptop stolen or getting an STD makes you angry at the person that put you in this position
• Having your laptop stolen is like getting an STD except your stolen laptop doesn’t itch, burn or erupt
• Having your laptop stolen or getting an STD can be the result of a long night of drinking
• Having your laptop stolen and  getting an STD both can be discovered after it’s too late
• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD are similar except stolen laptops can affect gentiles too

From the Community:

• Having your laptop stolen and getting an STD both result in a huge loss of trust (hat tip @photine for coming up with this. Thanks!)

What are some other ways in which having your laptop stolen and getting an STD are similar?

This week is Stolen Laptop Week: come back tomorrow where you’ll learn how to prevent your laptop from being stolen in the first place and receive a list of some prophylactic services/programs that prepare you in the case of theft.

As a community based education model, Bandcamp has been a resounding success. Sessions are led by experts in the particular topic but the open discussion format results in information sharing about some of the best practices and experiences other artists have learned from. Bandcamp organizers have also recently begun to offer one-on-one consultation sessions with bands looking for extra guidance. Regular attendees have reported that Bandcamp has resulted in more gigs, better online presence and a new and richer relationships with members of the Houston Music Community.

Bandcamp’s success is a demonstration of the power of community based education models and what can result from open forums for discussion and idea sharing that ultimately create opportunities for individuals and groups to be more successful. The best part about these models is that they can work for any genre or specialization. For that reason we’ve decided to hold a similar event but this time focused on the Houston Arts Community.

Join us this Saturday, February 28th for ArtCamp. Artcamp is an informal, community-based event to discuss the state of the arts in Houston and develop an informed strategy on how we can collectively support our arts community. The format is open and decided upon by those in attendance but we have several goals that we will achieve through open discussion and peer-to-peer educational sessions:

• Inform participants of available resources online and offline
• Share best practices among organizations, including audience development, fundraising, board and volunteer recruitment, and online outreach
• Share best practices among artists, such as developing their careers, promoting themselves and their work, obtaining gallery representation, and building an online presence

The schedule for the day will include educational sessions and a townhall discussion section just like at Bandcamp. Through this discussion we hope to determine the difficulties that local artists and members of the art community experience, the common solutions to problems, and voice concerns, comments and suggestions for improvement. The final session of the day will be a focused townhall discussion proposing sustainable solutions to educate and deliver resources to members of the community to ensure the improved success and continued communication at all levels.

Check out this great quote about ArtCamp from co-organizer Grace Rodriguez of AYN Brand:

The trigger for this event was Wayne Dolcefino’s scathing editorial (disguised as an investigative report) that derided funding for the arts in Houston. Members and supporters of our arts community were appalled at the lack of factual context and objectivity in his broadcast; and were disappointed that private objection to Dolcefino’s “reports” were not reflected in a unified voice, publicly. Several of us recognized that we need to facilitate better communication and improve relationships among the various arts organizations, stakeholders, and supporters to strengthen our community, so that we could disseminate information and correct misunderstandings more quickly in the future.

We hope to bring the general public and arts supporters together with those directly involved in the arts community to discuss the state of the arts in Houston, share best practices, and develop strategies on how we can *collectively* support and contribute to our arts community. Basically, we want everyone who “hearts” art to get to know each other and figure out how we can best vitalize and support our cultural community.

The signup and event listing is here: http://barcamp.org/ArtCampHouston

For more information, please contact Matthew Wettergreen at mwettergreen@gmail.com or Grace Rodriguez at grace@aynbrand.com.