Now that I have a few SXSW festivals under my belt, I have a pretty good idea of what makes the fest easiest to navigate, schedule, and enjoy to the fullest. Chances are you're looking for an easy way to keep your schedule straight and get to and from the festival. Here are a few apps that will make enjoying the festival even better.
Now that I have a few SXSW festivals under my belt, I have a pretty good idea of what makes the fest easiest to navigate, schedule, and enjoy to the fullest. Chances are you're looking for an easy way to keep your schedule straight and get to and from the festival. Here are a few apps that will make enjoying the festival even better.
SXSW® GO - Official 2014 Mobile Guide to South By Southwest
Each year this app gets better. You can sync with your schedule on sxsw.com, check out a Google Map of where everything is located, and share the panels you're attending on social media (Facebook and Twitter in particular). This is particularly useful for me as I'm Film Press and try to socialize my experience for The Horn as much as possible.
You can also go into each panel and take notes in the app, which you can then email to yourself. You can also look at the bios of presenters and attendees, reach out via SXSocial, and double check if you have the right credentials to attend. It's pretty slick this year, and definitely worth the cost of no dollars. Get it from the App Store.
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Capmetro
Public trans is the way to go if you live in Austin and want to attend SXSW. If you're UT student, staff, or faculty, your ID gets you free rides. If you're from out of town, you'll find that the bus system is a great way to get where you need to go cheaply and pretty quickly too. Foot traffic will be rough during the Music festival in particular, so embrace the busses! Personally, I think the bus system is great downtown and near campus.
Added bonus: now you can buy tickets in the app without having to go to a terminal or carry cash. The app is free, and is worth it for the trip planer alone.
Google Wallet
I'm relatively new to the Google Wallet bandwagon but I love it. Google Wallet is a great way to keep track of what you spend, and you can send money to anyone using just their email address. You can transfer funds to and from your bank account for free, and if you have the Google Wallet card, you can use it to pay with a physical card (MasterCard). If you love eating out in groups or with new people, don't stress the bill and just send money with Google Wallet instead.
A bonus of requesting the Google Wallet card is you can just carry that around, rather than your bank card or credit cards. SXSW attendees are pretty great all around, but you should always be as secure as possible!
VSCO Cam®
If you're like me you either don't have a DSLR or you don't have the patience to carry one around and worry about it at a giant media festival. So why not get the most out of your pictures? VSCO Cam takes and makes the best smartphone pictures. Period. Gorgeous, simple, and you can get at great .vsco.co address to show off your pictures.
There are plenty of additional-cost photo packs, but the basics included in the free app will get you more than on your way to great photo coverage of the festival.
Downcast
So you go to a great live podcast recording. What next? Downcast is hands-down the best podcast app out there. No, it's not free, but it's only $2.99. Skip a Starbucks latte thing and get this instead. It lets you create podcast playlists and has a much more friendly interface for organizing, downloading, and listening to podcasts.
There you have it! If you have these apps you're good to go.
If there are apps you love to have handy for big festivals like SXSW, please share them in the comments section below.
SXSW® GO - Official 2014 Mobile Guide to South By Southwest
Each year this app gets better. You can sync with your schedule on sxsw.com, check out a Google Map of where everything is located, and share the panels you're attending on social media (Facebook and Twitter in particular). This is particularly useful for me as I'm Film Press and try to socialize my experience for The Horn as much as possible.
You can also go into each panel and take notes in the app, which you can then email to yourself. You can also look at the bios of presenters and attendees, reach out via SXSocial, and double check if you have the right credentials to attend. It's pretty slick this year, and definitely worth the cost of no dollars. Get it from the App Store.
Capmetro
Public trans is the way to go if you live in Austin and want to attend SXSW. If you're UT student, staff, or faculty, your ID gets you free rides. If you're from out of town, you'll find that the bus system is a great way to get where you need to go cheaply and pretty quickly too. Foot traffic will be rough during the Music festival in particular, so embrace the busses! Personally, I think the bus system is great downtown and near campus.
Added bonus: now you can buy tickets in the app without having to go to a terminal or carry cash. The app is free, and is worth it for the trip planer alone.
Google Wallet
I'm relatively new to the Google Wallet bandwagon but I love it. Google Wallet is a great way to keep track of what you spend, and you can send money to anyone using just their email address. You can transfer funds to and from your bank account for free, and if you have the Google Wallet card, you can use it to pay with a physical card (MasterCard). If you love eating out in groups or with new people, don't stress the bill and just send money with Google Wallet instead.
A bonus of requesting the Google Wallet card is you can just carry that around, rather than your bank card or credit cards. SXSW attendees are pretty great all around, but you should always be as secure as possible!
VSCO Cam®
If you're like me you either don't have a DSLR or you don't have the patience to carry one around and worry about it at a giant media festival. So why not get the most out of your pictures? VSCO Cam takes and makes the best smartphone pictures. Period. Gorgeous, simple, and you can get at great .vsco.co address to show off your pictures.
There are plenty of additional-cost photo packs, but the basics included in the free app will get you more than on your way to great photo coverage of the festival.
Downcast
So you go to a great live podcast recording. What next? Downcast is hands-down the best podcast app out there. No, it's not free, but it's only $2.99. Skip a Starbucks latte thing and get this instead. It lets you create podcast playlists and has a much more friendly interface for organizing, downloading, and listening to podcasts.
There you have it! If you have these apps you're good to go.
If there are apps you love to have handy for big festivals like SXSW, please share them in the comments section below.
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