Ed I would strongly suggest establishing a bitcoin presence at this event, rather than trying to make your own from stratch.

http://sxsw.com/trade_shows/about

It is much more effective to bring 20 bitcoiners to an event like this, with thousands of other people around to talk to, than just have the 20 bitcoiners in a separate event talking amongst themselves.

(SXSW indie bands) * Bitcoin = $$$

I just checked out the prices and even just registering for the Interactive Event is now $850, which is out of my price range, so there goes trying to crash the exhibits with an informal presence, at least on my end.

bump

Just show up in Austin during SXSW. There's no need to spend money on the admission badges to their show.  There are plenty of free opportunities around town for bitcoiners to meetup, and talk with thousands of other people in town.

I am planning to be in Austin for the first few days of SXSW, probably Tuesday-Wednesday.

Start advertising this. If anybody needs a ride in the Austin area, PM me.

Littleshop told me this conf is happening but dont see any info here.

Whats the update?

Here's what we got so far:

When: March 17 & 18, 2012
          8am - 5pm both days
Exhibitors may set up one to two hours early.

Where: Hilton Palacio del Rio - Downtown San Antonio
           North Section of the Salon del Rey Ballroom - Mezzanine Level

Map:


Exhibit space will be 1653 square feet but there is room to grow. (See highlighted area.)


The Hilton is also located right on the Riverwalk. I found plenty of images that were obviously "tweaked" to emphasize the presence of the building but it really is literally just a few steps from the water. Here's a good image that gives an honest look at its proximity (the arrow is pointing to the Hilton, obviously):



Littleshop and I are putting together a bag to hand out to visitors with gifts from bitcoin businesses. Anyone who would like to have their product included or their name displayed on the bag, please contact Littleshop or me.

I'm still working on getting wireless internet for the room and all attendees.

Parking is going to be your biggest hurdle. This will be St. Patrick's Day weekend and the entire downtown area will be bustling with activity and parking prices will most likely be higher than normal. The Hilton does have a parking garage but they are anticipating to be sold out and may not have any space available for non-guests. In any case, parking at the Hilton isn't free and you would probably save a few dollars by finding a spot somewhere else and walking a block or two. Exhibitors will be able to unload at the front drive, but don't expect to be allowed to park there for more than 30 minutes.

Just about every potential speaker and presenter has been waiting for me to confirm that this event was actually going to occur, so unfortunately, I don't have a program put together yet. Anyone who is interested in speaking, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I would still like to meet up with anyone who will be in Austin for SXSW during the week prior to this. Please PM me if you are going to be there.

Any other questions?

I can now confirm that ceptacle.com will be conducting a tutorial on how to code and build new tools for bitcoin using libcoin at the Convention, Saturday afternoon, March 17.