Hey, GSD & M (one of those pesky advertising agencies in Austin that love having SXSW in their own city and make me jealous until the Edinburh Fringe comes around) have put together www.sxsurvival.com. It which might be ahead of The Baby! in alphabetical order, but we don’t mind, because they’ve packed it with great advice on attending SXSW.

Driven by their own company blog, Twitter hashtags, and liberal use of Pinterest, it’s another bookmark for you all to collect and keep for March.

The smartphone is becoming a key battleground at SXSW, especially during Interactive, with start-ups, established services, and big corporations looking to get a foothold on the screen in your pocket (and in the column inches of the press). And then there’s the battle over organising SXSW. From shared calendars, group messaging, push alerts, there’s a fight for space (and your precious battery life) to be the part of the phone that helps you understand SXSW.

It’s time to add the official application into the mix.

Full details are up on the SXSW Go page at the main site, but all you really want to know is the cost (it’s free) and where to find it (iPhone, iPad, and Android versions here, here, and here).

I still don’t think it’s a substitute for a good diary (or a sharpie and the official paper program). Compared to my memories of last years application it feels a bit less polished and “we’ll show you everything and let you work it out” than last year. It’s still developed by Xomo Digital, so it might be better to blame my memory – and it’s not going to cost you anything to find out yourself.

Versions for Blackberry and Windows Phone users are expected to appear in the very near future, and we’ll let you know when they’re ready for download.

For some reason the press need to find a new service at SXSW Interactive and anoint it as “the chosen one.” It’s all rather silly to my eyes and ears, but never let it be said we don’t listen when the masses have spoken – which normally happens on Twitter.

But that’s okay, because the next web company that’s going to try to wrestle the mantle of SXSW success is based around Twitter. We’ve mentioned Lanyrd here before, but they’ve just launched their SXSW Interactive Session Planner over at sxsw.lanyrd.com. Punch in your Twitter name and  you’ll not only get alerts on your favourite sessions when they are about to start, but also see which sessions your friends on Twitter are attending, which have the buzz, and which will be attended by the TNW crew and Hermionie’s ever-present video camera.

I love that Lanyrd lets you export the data in a common format so you can pop it in your electronic diaries. Perfect. Seemingly they have more tools to come out over the next four weeks to keep the press hype going… the cads.

Willo O’Brien has got in touch with us at The Baby! (you can too) with details on her “CraftMakerCamp” at this year’s SXSW Interactive:

Are you a designer, maker, mover & shaker selling your goods online? If so, then stop by the first-ever CraftMakerCamp at SXSW to meet like-minded souls. With a full day of programming specifically developed for creative entrepreneurs, CraftMakerCamp at SXSW will inspire and educate you for a more successful and productive year ahead. Check out Schedule.SXSW for complete details on this all-new space.

Now this sound fun. I mean everything sounds fun at SXSW, there’s buckets to choose from, but I’ve noted it down in the diary and will swing by the sessions and spaces to see what’s going on. There’s so much buzz around hand-made and small run goods that I can see a lot of people swinging by to share ideas and learn something new.

You’ll find more details on Willo’s website.

Even though many of you will already have “Saturday morning at Magnolia’s” in your diaries because you just knew we’d be organising this, here’s the official announcement. This year’s ‘SXSW Social Breakfast‘ will be on Saturday March 10th, starting at 8am at Magnolia Cafe on South Congress (that’s the Saturday of SXSW Interactive).

Everyone is welcome, and the SXSW Baby! team will be there so make sure to say hi!

A big thank you as always to Magnolias, who’ll be opening up the patio area just for the Social Breakfast so you can all mingle, meet old friends, make new ones, and set yourself up for the rest of the day. If you’re keen to get back to the Convention Center, most folk are finished by nine and there’s a local bus that will take us all back to town in time for the first morning sessions.

You can RSVP on Facebook.

We’re not sitting over our mailbox waiting for people to tell us about their SXSW parties (but it is nice to get them, you can all reach us here), but two or three times a day the team here at The Baby! are checking up the SXSW PartyList page on Facebook - they’re on Twitter as well (@SXSWPartyList).

Our rule of thumb by the way is to RSVP to everything, and write down all the parties in a diary (or a Google Calendar if you’re hip and with it) and choose on the night, but your mileage may vary! Spotted any good parties or dates so far?

It will come as a huge surprise (not) that IODA have announced their day party will be on the Wednesday of SXSW Music, starting at noon. But note the venue – it’s at the Red Eyed Fly this year, and not the traditional Emo’s Annex (something to do with the fact that Emo’s has closed and moved on).

That does have some advantages, not least that IODA have two stages to fill with great new music. This year’s roster is:

Outside Stage: Ruthie Foster, Dan Mangan, Polica, Tycho, Thee Oh Sees, and The Wedding Present
Inside Stage: Daniel Ahearn and The Jones, Bam Bam, Tiago Iorc, Bright Moments, Y La Bamba, and Oddisee.

There’s some familiar names in there, and of course IODA’s musical radar will have found some great new music as well. You can find out more about the line up, event details, send in an RSVP (no SXSW badge required), follow their blog, and more, at www.iodasxsw.com.

Oh, and they’ve got the annual SXSW CD Sampler you can download to get into the Southby music mode right now!