Nope.

Dear Grumpy Cat,

Without cats I’m not sure that the internet would continue to function. It would hardly be worth our time without a timely and sarcastic meme at the ready. You are a pioneer Grumpy Cat. Your infinitely expressive face can be applied to any and all situations. Now you’re a living legend and the toast of Austin during SXSW two years running. That’s an impressive feat.

Now you’re cashing in (like every household name should) as the face of Friskies Cat Food. Make that money while the getting’s good because the internet will move on and find a new cat to adore (damn you Lil Bub!). That’s not to say you haven’t made an indelible mark on internet cat culture. All cats who follow are indebted to you GC.

But in the end, you probably don’t even care. Because you’re Grumpy Cat and that’s why we love you.

SXSW Spirit

Dear Mason Endres,

First off, I hope you are feeling better and are on the mend. Although I didn’t personally know anyone involved in the incident, what happened this week at SXSW hit really close to home for me. I was there just a few days before and knew countless people in town for the festival. With the collective spirit of SXSW and Austin in general,  I still felt like a close friend had been victimized.

All that aside, it’s pretty awesome that one of your favorite bands performed in your hospital room! Good dudes they must be. I really liked how you said nothing would stop you from returning to SXSW next year. With that in mind, you should never have to wait in a single line at the festival ever again. They need to mint you a special badge that lets you into any show, no questions asked, and then usher you to the front row. That’s the spirit that makes it such an amazing event and city.

Well I hope you’re back on your feet soon!

BreathoMeter

Charles Michael Yim is founder and CEO of BreathoMeter, a Smartphone enabled Breathalyzer.

Hi Charles,

I had the chance to try the Breathometer this weekend at SXSW. An absolutely awesome gizmo, and one that everyone in their 20’s should own. I blew a respectable .06 (considering it was 2:00pm). With all the free drinks flying around, I assume the folks at the booth saw some impressive BAC’s. I would love to create a graph of my personal BAC of each hour from when I wake up till I pass out during the festival. I would then pair that info with which party/concert I was at, building a definitive guide to  which events get the most wild. Based on past SX experience my guess is that the Spotify House would be the clear winner.

I was thinking about some features you could add that might be helpful:

1. A reading of .30 or higher automatically calls an ambulance to your location.
2. Integration with Uber and/or Lyft. I know it can call a taxi already but no one does that anymore.
3. A recorded history of each blow so you can look back and be like, “Man I got CRAZY on February 14th. What did I do that night again? Oh yeah, I was just drinking alone on Valentine’s Day…”

Tell Cubes I said what’s up. Also, ask him why he hasn’t responded to my letter!

Thanks Charles, enjoy SXSW.

#LetsTalkBums

Clive Sirkin is the CMO of Kimberly-Clark, the corporation that owns Cotttonelle. 

Dear Clive Sirkin,

Let’s talk bums for a quick minute. That’s the hashtag Cottonelle is pushing at SXSW so here we go. While I waited in line for free vodka on one side of the street, the homeless population waited for shelter and a warm meal on the other. An oddly symbolic microcosm of the disparities all around us. Oh wait, you are referring to other type of bums.

I was somewhat surprised to see Cottonelle had a presence SXSW. With a little research, I see that Cottonelle is making a push to engage customers digitally. Toilet tissue is in a very different category than the omnipresent tech focused brands during Interactive, but I guess we all have bums to wipe. Such low involvement products are tough to differentiate which is why CPG brands traditionally shy away from these types of advertising tactics. I’ll give you some props for trying something different at least.

Do you think the investment will pay off? I’m skeptical that a free water water and cellphone charges will change what brand of toilet paper I buy. Heck, I don’t even know what brand I buy.

Hope you made it to Austin for some SX fun. I did.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Roland Swenson started SXSW 27 years ago as a way to help local music venues during slow part of the year. Today, the event brings in $215+ million each year. 

Dear Roland Swenson,

It’s the mooooost wonderful timmmme of the yearrrr (no, not Christmas).

Any great city has that unique time of year when everyone and everything breaks from their usual routine to focus (or avoid) on a city-wide event. New Orleans has Mardi Gras, San Antonio has Fiesta, and of course Austin has South-by-Southwest. Love it or hate it, it is upon us.

I used to pay $300+ to stand in a field for the traditional music festival experience. Everyone’s living out their personal Woodstock fantasy as they wander between the stages and food vendors. The proceedings are nicely curated, mostly orderly.

That is boring. Been there, done that. SXSW rewards the prepared and flexible,  the digitally inclined who do months of research scouring Twitter for party info. Those who listen to literally hundreds of mostly unknown bands to build a week of free shows and hopefully new favorite bands. It is a challenge. It is a marathon. Is line is too long at Fader Fort (of course it is)? Get on your bike and it’s onto plan B or plan C or wherever the next place offering free beer is.

To me, SXSW is about about discovery: the discovery of new bands, new ideas, new technology. It fills me with music and inspiration for the rest of the year. And it begins today.

Happy SXSW Roland. I you deserve to be carried through the streets of Austin like a king in a throne throughout the festival.

Songkick

Ian Hogarth is the founder of one of my favorite apps, Songkick 

Hi Ian,

I used to live in Austin Texas, the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World. I would guess you have attended the madness that is South-by-Southwest being (a) in the start-up tech industry and (b) having an obvious passion for live music. Songkick does a pretty darn respectable job organizing the seemingly endless amount of shows during those 10 magical days.

I almost miss culling through each venue’s calendar for bands I liked. I feel like it exposed me to more bands because I would look into a name that caught my eye, but believe me, I’m not complaining about the time saved. I’ve been on-board with Songkick for about 3 years now and it is an indispensable part of my music consumption.

Due to Spotify and Waffles, I might make 5 music purchases a year at this point, aside from used vinyl. I like to say I support artists I like by making a concerted effort to attend their live shows (until they reach stadium-status that is). Your app helps me give them their due.

Thank you

-Hayden

PS: It would be sweet if there was a function in the app to request a band come to your city. Get X amount of people to say they would go and the band will play there on their next tour.

RESPONSE:

Hey Hayden,

What a lovely idea! I shared your email with our team who felt similarly touched.

 

Thanks for spreading the word about Songkick, it’s always so rewarding to hear that we’ve helped people find a few more shows to go to.

 

The idea you suggested is actually something we’ve experimented with – there’s a write up here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/06/music-industry – hopefully more people will embrace the idea over time!

 

Thanks again for writing to us.

 

Ian