Evening Events at SXSW Interactive // Makin

"I was more than overwhelmed by all the amazing people I met who befriended me and welcomed me to an amazing group of folks. " - Tantek ?elik, tantek.org

A full schedule of exciting evening events helps make the SXSW Interactive Festival special and unique. The informal nature of these evening events make them very conducive for brainstorming new ideas, making new connections, or just relaxing with interesting people who share similar interests.

Unless otherwise noted, evening events are open only to SXSW Interactive, Gold and Platinum badgeholders.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Friday Night Mix
Six (117 W 4th St)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Get a head start on the Interactive Festival with the first ever, Friday Night Mix at Six. Hosted by Porter Novelli, this pre-party is the perfect launching pad for reconnecting with old friends and making new connections. By the way, Mix is co-owned by Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong -- no relation to Heather.

BlogHer Meet Up
Stubbs Bar-B-Que (801 Red River)
9:00 pm - ?
Come mix it up with the BlogHers. All BlogHer and friends of BlogHers (including men, of course) are welcome. The BlogHer co-founders and speakers from all five of our BlogHer-produced sessions will be there. No-host, but all-fun. More details / RSVP here at the BlogHer site.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Austin on Rails Happy Hour
Buffalo Billiards (6th & Brazos)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Austin's official Ruby on Rails user group welcomes all SXSW Interactive Festival registrants to an informal happy hour at Buffalo Billiards, located within easy walking distance of the Convention Center. We will have a private room with pool tabless, shuffleboard and darts. Come to talk code, or come just to talk. We pay for the first 100 drinks! Food available for purchase.

Milkshake Media Party
Lucky Lounge (209 W 5th St)
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Get lucky with Milkshake Media, Austin?s tastiest creative agency, at our annual SXSW shindig. Come fly with us at the Lucky Lounge for cocktails, good eats, and good times. Take a chance at some groovy swag, or if you come up snake eyes, a Sorry Charlie prize.

frog design SXSW Opening Party
1305 East 6th St
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
The frog design SXSW Opening Party provides your first big opportunity to hob-nob with your fellow attendees. Hosting this get-together is frog design, who have hosted some of the most spectacular evening events of SXSW past. For 2006, the location moves to 1305 East 6th Street, a space that will allow more room and much more fun. Need a ride? SXSW is providing a FREE shuttle bus to party locale from 5th Street Side of Hilton. FREE shuttle runs from 7:45 pm to 12:45 am.

AMODA 5th Anniversary Digital Showcase
Copa Bar (3rd & Congress)
10:00 pm - 2:00 am
The Austin Museum of Digital Art presents a hi-tech lounge / art party featuring video projections, digital prints, interactive installations, and live electronic music. The main event will be a Laptop Battle where local musicians square off using their laptops to musically outperform each other before a panel of judges.

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

Flickr, Upcoming.org, and Del.icio.us in the company of Yahoo!
Iron Cactus (606 Trinity St)
5:00pm - 7:00 pm
Please join Flickr, Upcoming.org, Del.icio.us, and Yahoo!, for Happy Hour at Iron Cactus on the corner of Trinity and 6th from 5 to 7-ish. It'll be fun! Please RSVP at upcoming.org to attend.

9th Annual SXSW Web Awards Ceremony - Presented by Adobe
Downtown Hilton Hotel (500 E 4th St)
6:00pm - 9:00 pm
The Web Awards Ceremony is the centerpiece of evening events at the SXSW Interactive Festival. Pre-Party with complimentary food and drink begins at Brush Square Park (just across Fourth Street from the Austin Convention Center) at 6:00. Ceremony itself begins in the Grande Austin Ballroom promptly at 7:30. The SXSW Web Awards are presented by Adobe.

Fray Cafe
Red Eyed Fly (715 Red River)
8:00 pm - midnight
Celebrating its sixth year at SXSW Interactive, Fray Cafe is a night of true, personal stories told live on stage. Join host Eric Rice and a soon-to-be-announced lineup of featured performers as the confessional website that you have loved for so long comes alive. And, be sure to bring a five-minute story to tell during the open mic!

Funky Kingston
Headhunters (702 Red River)
8:00 pm - midnight
Need another option for Sunday night post Web Awards entertainment? Join blogads for the first-ever "Funky Kingston." Great music by the Sufferah Sound System plus lots of other cool stuff. Headhunters is also located on Red River, just two blocks north of the Austin Convention Center. Limited guest list for this event -- please e-mail tix at blogads dot com for info.

Web Awards After Party
Club DeVille (900 Red River St.)
9:30 pm - Midnight
Need a cool and convenient place to chill out with your friends after the Web Awards? Want to rehash the winners, as well as the highlights (and lowlights) of the ceremony? Pluck and Austin Ventures give great party after the Web Awards at the fabulous Club de Ville. DJ Mel spins outta control while the beer and wine flow. Admission with Interactive badge/invitation.

MONDAY, MARCH 13

Interactive at the Movies: High Score
Dobie Theatre (2025 Guadalupe)
4:00pm
Although technology continues to evolve, a group of die-hard gamers refuses to abandon the classic arcade games of yesteryear. Portland gamer Bill Carlton is one of the most brazen, fearlessly taking on some of the toughest records on the books. High Score follows Bill as he attempts to take down the Atari classic Missile Command and its twenty year-old record. To get the 80 million points he'll have to play the game on one quarter for over two days straight. There is nopause button. There will be no sleep. There can only be one victor in this classic story of Man vs. Missile Command. For this screening only, no admission fee for SXSW Interactive Festival badgeholders.

20 x 2
Tambaleo (302 Bowie St)
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Here's tonight's recipe for fun. Take twenty designers, writers, musicians and bon vivants. Give each two minutes and the same question to answer, and turn them loose before a live audience. That's the equation for 20x2, which celebrates its sixth SXSW. Join us as participants answer the question "What's the Secret?"

Blogger Party
Club DeVille (900 Red River St.)
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
What do you call a two-hour open bar with drinks on Google? A blogger party in a glass by itself. You are cordially invited to bring your appetite: In addition to the platter of jumbo shrimp, petite crab cakes with remoulade sauce, fresh fruit and sushi, there?ll be Mediterranean stuffed mushrooms, stuffed artichoke hearts ? and no stuffed shirts.

EFF/EFF-Austin/Creative Commons/LOTV/Enspire Learning
Elks Lodge (700 Dawson Road)
7:00 pm - midnight
The Fifth Annual EFF / EFF-Austin / Creative Commons / LOTV / Enspire Learning soiree will feature live electronic music by KiloWatts, Gift Culture, and David DeMaris, DJ sets by Thomas Fang, robots and theremins (via The Robot Group), interactive digital art by Zack Simpson and AMODA artists, cash bar, sushi, and a postcard view of Austin's skyline. The Elks Lodge is a bit hidden -- be sure you consult your online map application of choice before you set out for this bash.

I Look Like an Egg, But I Identify as a Cookie
Vortex Theatre (2307 Manor Road)
7:00 pm
This interactive baking comedy premiered at SXSW Interactive two years ago. Fresh from sold-out off-broadway shows at Ars Nova (Sarah Silverman and Sandra Bernhard), Heather Gold returns with a new and improved recipe for fun. Featuring special appearance by Austin singer-songwriter Patrice Pike. After-show includes 80s songs from Pike, plus warm cookies for everyone.

Lifehacker.com Drinks
The Side Bar (602 East 7th)
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Last year's party was so cool that keynote speaker Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette had to wait in line to get in. What can we do in 2006 to top this? Stop by the Side Bar on Monday evening for drinks with Gina Trapani of lifehacker.com as well as the rest of the always-entertaining crew from Gawker Media. We are even more fun in person than we are on the web.

Nuclear Taco Night
Brush Square Park
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Now in its fourth year at SXSW Interactive, and this year hosted by Intellitechs, Nuclear Taco Night is a celebration of masochistic cuisine. Join a loose confederation of geeks to share the tears of joy that only come from experiencing Austin's newfound underground tradition: nuclear tacos. (New this year, an Amy's Ice Cream chaser.) Not for the weak of stomach or heart, these munchies are fiery bliss.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14

C3 Party
Austin Ballet Theatre (501 W 3rd)
7:00 pm - midnight
The Digital Convergence Initiative presents the first annual Connect / Converge / Conquer Party at SXSW. Stop by and enjoy great music and great people. Meet your peers and make new connections in the digital convergence space. Explore the digitally convergent future and start to envision how this future will touch every part of your life.

The Law Project
Vortex Theatre (2307 Manor Road)
7:00 pm
See the "beta" premier of Heather Gold's newest open-source comedy: The Law Project. Does the law have room for our humanity? Are we serving it instead of the other way round? Save $90,000 and three years, or just get a really great and entertaining romp through the US Constitution and the law skul experience as Heather Gold teaches and learns law with the audience.

Media Temple SXSW Closing Party
The Foundation (307 W 5th St)
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Media Temple specializes in hosting cool websites. On Tuesday night, learn that they are also really good at hosting a kick-ass party. With dueling DJs, open bar and a happening downtown location within walking distance from the Austin Convention Center, the Media Temple SXSW Closing Party is the the grand finale that you don't want to miss.