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.

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.

Hold on a moment, I hear you digitally thinking, the timetables and schedules aren’t complete, and I thought SXSW Baby! always said go with the flow? That’s true, but even if you are floating around Austin like a leaf in the wind, it’s a nice idea to know what sort of shape you’d like the destination to be. Which is what this week’s get ready is all about.

In my summer break I went to Southby and I got…

Get a blank sheet of paper and grab your sharpie. Write down, in one sentence, your goal for attending South by Southwest, your mission statement, your reason for going. Is it to promote your start-up? …to learn about directing music videos? …to get noticed by the US music press? …to get your mojo back?

Everyone going to SXSW will have a different goal, do you know yours? In a single sentence, sum up how you want you Southby story to end.

Things to get

I’d also suggest you grab yourself a notebook. The hipsters in you can have a dedicated Moleskine book for SXSW, the smarter readers will go for some Field Notes, and no matter how many times I suggest it, the only Filofax at Interactive will be mine. Still, all the agents and promoters at Music will join me with the ring binders, so I’ll keep the powder dry. No matter what you use, keep this close to hand over the next few weeks.

Anyway, note machine in hand (with that mission statement printed in large friendly letters on the front page perhaps?) I’m going to suggest two sections. The first is things to get. Be it medication and pills (Tylenol, paracetamol, ibuprofen, etc), a new hands-free cable for your iPhone, a US to European plug adaptor, you’ll have moments when you remember there is something you want to bring to Austin. Always write it down.

By the time you get ready to leave, you know you’ll have everything you want and need.

People to see

SXSW is all about the moments of meeting people in a corridor, over barbecue, or in line for a secret gig by Stan Bush. Some of those will be happenstance, but others, where you ping someone in a Twitter conversation and say “we have to meet at SXSW!”, you can work on to make happen. In the whirlwind of the Convention Center, you’re not going to be able to remember all those notes, nudges, and status updates. You will miss someone. Again, write it down, and give yourself some targets and goals of people to meet outside of your big statement. It’s unlikely you’ll get the full set, but you’ll get far more than you miss. And what is SXSW if not the connections you can make.

Stuff to do

And finally, how are you going to answer the external question “where’s the party?” once March is here? If you’re me, I flip open my Filofax, and can rattle off to or three for most times of each evening. You can do the same. Whenever you see a link to a party or event, follow it, RSVP, and write it down. Same for your must-see sessions, bands, and films.

Yes, all three of these elements are the same idea – when you have a spark or idea about SXSW, if you can’t act on it at that very moment, then capture it so it’s not lost. A simple idea to improving your time in Austin, but one that’s incredibly powerful. Because when you get to SXSW and there’s no time to think, all you need to do is look at your secret weapon notebook for the next play.

And you might have noticed in the new blog design (that looks almost like the old blog design) the faces that are lurking in the top corner. Right now some of those faces belong to The Baby! team, and others are friends of the site. And we’d like to extend that opportunity to you, our readers.

Just drop an email to friends@sxswbaby.com with your name, a website you’d like us to link to (if any), and your picture.

The new guide, which is published seasonally, gives details on all Central Texas brewers, brepubs, and beer bars, including descriptions of their products and maps for locations.

It is a great resource, and everyone attending SXSW should give it a look see, even veterans will be surprised at how much the craft beer scene in austin has changed since last year.

Some beers to note are Independence’s Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout, winner of a Good Food Award and several seasonal beers from the local Austin brewers. when in doubt, ask your friendly SXSW beertender for whats new!

The newest guide can be found here. Note the maps on pages 52, 54, and 56.

Of special note for Ewan is page 25

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.

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?

Along with the Film trailers on the site, you can also find Music videos, SXSW 2011 coverage, and some neat info on what SXSW is all about. I’ve spent my morning watching Film trailers (all 47 that are up so far as of this writing)… What did you do?

1. You can only buy two.
One of them must be for the person named on the credit card that purchases the wristbands, the other must be nominated at the time of purchase. ID will be needed when picking up the wristbands from Registration in march, and they will be placed on your wrist at that point in time.

2. They are for Austin residents.
The address on the credit card must be in a local zipcode (the official list is here). Although the ‘plus one’ can be from anywhere the first wristband must be for a local.

The wristbands should always be thought of not as a part of everyone’s SXSW Music, but as a way for SXSW to do outreach to local music fans in Austin, and as a thank you for letting the conference take over the city. A music badge is currently  $700, and the wristband price is considerably less… the first 2000 advance wristbands will sell at $149 inc tax, the next 2000 will sell for $175 inc tax, with a walk-up rate of $225 for any that are left over.

All set? Then you can buy your wristbands now!

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!

With 65 World Premieres, 27 North American and 10 U.S. Premieres among 130 features, there are plenty of opportunities to discover emerging and developing filmmakers, as well as catch up with new work from more established names – all of which feature risk takers both in front of and behind the camera.

The Midnighters feature section and the Short Film program will be announced on February 8.

I reviewing all of this with Larry Richman, he noticed that there is no “Lone Star States” section, and that the previous “Spotlight Premieres” has been split into “Narrative Spotlights” and “Documentary Spotlights”

While you are perusing the list, we here at the Baby! will be working up our list of “must see” films and keeping an eye open for announcements from SXSW regarding the Film Venues and publishing of the Film Grid.

Running March 16-17 from noon to 8p.m. Style X is open to the public as well as badgeholders, and features up and coming designers, trends and the crazy intersection of design and culture. Just looking at the photos from the debut of StyleX  last year might get the fashion fiends out there day dreaming, and a little worried for the health of your bank accounts.

The list of designers and companies is an interesting mesh. Some of them you might have heard of, but even better than that there are probably plenty you haven’t. I wonder if I can convince Ewan that we all need SXSW Baby! watches designed by TIKKR?

This has been added to my list as a must do for a first SXSW experience. Maybe I should bring an extra suitcase?

Daughter – “Medicine”

Daughter is the moniker of Elena Tonra, a young Londoner with an airy yet serious vocal tone that carries over a minimal post-rock underbelly.  Daughter’s music in inheritably dark, crooning over minor melodies and spaced out harmonies.  There are some driving drums and bass interspersed throughout, but overall the tone is mostly sparse.  This creates a blank space to allow Tonra’s vocals to take over.  It’s in these moments that Daughter sounds like something truly special and unique. Never does Daughter get to poppy or too tripped out.  This middle ground she lives in allows for a beautiful canvas to be transformed.  Daughter has released 2 EPs (both streaming on Bandcamp) over the course of the last nine months via Communion Records, though she still remains unsigned to a specific label.

More from The Drowning Men, Dry the River, David Ramirez and Dead Confederate after the jump.

The Drowning Men – “More Than This” 

The Drowning Men must have taken good notes in their Arcade Fire class.  The California band has found their own niche in the anthemic rock department with bombastic and driving pop songs.  Some of the tracks on their debut LP, The Beheading of the Songbird, focus on simple pop melodies accompanied by an orchestral sweep of instrumentation.  What makes The Drowning Men really interesting is their more experimental numbers, from the mysterious piano runs in “Oracle Meets Weeping Willow” to gypsy-prog hybrid “Courageous Son”.  While these tracks can be looked upon as musical detours (in a good way) of the album, it shows the band has potential beyond the anthemic rock sound that has been so defined in recent years.  Their epic nature surely translates well to the stage, so it should be a great set to check out at SXSW as The Drowning Men get ready for their sophomore release this year.

Dry the River – “Weights & Measures”

Dry the River are a London-based band that has gained some noteworthy buzz overseas based on their epic folk-rock ballads.  Like Fleet Foxes in the way of U2, Dry the River build their simple yet sweeping base into waves of sound.  The vocals switch between a Bon Iver-esque falsettos to a southern rock tinged grit dependent on the mood of the music.  There’s a great deal of emotion delivered on their various EPs and singles over the band has produced over the years, creating the backbone for the band’s far-reaching sound.  I like that that Dry the River goes for a bombastic pop sound everyone once in a while too, straying away from loading up too much on overly-heavy lyrics and music.  They even give off a Killers vibe on a few tracks.  Keep an ear out for Dry the River early next year; their debut album is set to arrive the first week in March.  Definite keep your “buzz band” antennae up for Dry the River at 2012’s SXSW.

David Ramirez – “Stick Around” (live)

The highlights of David Ramirez’s music is when he breaks it down to its bare elements.  Ramirez has a stirring voice, at times he could stand in as a doppleganger for Ryan Adams.  I know I’ve said this about a few singer-songwriters already, but Ramirez has a way of drawing a great deal of honesty of his vocal performance live and on record.  There’s this magic quality to this quiet demeanor, the same type that allowed The Civil Wars to strike gold with last year’s Barton Hollow.  The other half of the story is this modern rock approach that is just a little to clean for my liking.  “Fires”, an ambitious seven-plus minute track featuring extended instrumental breaks and a pop rock percussion line, is purely a gateway to the stripped down material that gravitates the emotional ear.  Ramirez’s last release a 2011’s Strangetown EP, so I expect he’ll have some new songs in rotation as he rolls through SXSW.

Dead Confederate – “Giving It All Away”

My first SXSW was in 2008 after transplanting permanently from Boston down to Texas.  I went in pretty much blind, except my buddy was all about checking out Dead Confederate.  He had seen them up north a few weeks prior and was beaming to share them with me.  We caught them in the late afternoon early in our first SXSW adventure and I was blown over immediately.  Dead Confederate created a wall of sound, but underneath were these doomy, yet catchy pop numbers.  They take noise rock and meld it so seamlessly with pop songs that could fit right next to their 90s rock forefathers.  Since then, Dead Confederate has released their second LP Sugar, which shows a more upbeat side of the band, a welcome counterpoint to the darkness of Wrecking Ball.  It’ll be interesting to see their next stage of evolution, as Dead Confederate will most likely be featuring new material at 2012’s SXSW.  Dead Confederate puts on an excellent show anchored by expressive musicianship, so keep them on your musical map while in Austin.

Check out all the details here.

Dave McClure (500 Startups) and Eric Ries (The Lean Startup) are putting together the Lean Start-up track at SXSW Interactive, and it has got a website all of its own to help it stand out. Running over a single day, Saturday March 10th, it promises to teach entrepreneurs how to be better, faster, and smarter.

Unfortunately Lee Majors is not on the speakers list, by McClure and Ries have gathered together an impressive roster including Chad Dickerson (Etsy), Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot), and Janice Fraser (Luxr). The exact schedule will be coming out this month, but you can sign up to the newsletter on their website for this and all the other news of the track.

ETSAs and Visas

Actually, there’s no real way to rush your paperwork if you are travelling across the border into the USA. Make sure you’ve got a valid passport, and even if you’re from a Visa waiver country, you’ll need to apply online for an ETSA. If you’re outside the Visa Waiver, or you are travelling to Southby to do something that’s not covered by the waiver (such as putting on a musical performance or showcase), you’ll need the full Visa – if so start here.

Business cards

Yes we all have snazzy smartphones (at least at Interactive) but there’s nothing simpler than a business card you can swap in a dingy bar, dark BBQ, or the middle of the Austin Convention Center corridor as two of you are pulled in different directions. Leave a bit of white space to scrawl a note and you’re all set. My favourite trick is to do one ‘tag’ on a card about the person who gave it to me, be it #Follow, #Avoid, or #LooksLikeBradMajors.

If you’re looking for some card ideas, can we point out the Moo.com special offer in your SXswag bag? You can pick up 50 cards for P&P only, or if you have a bigger order to put in, there’s a 20% discount code you can use. Naturally other business card printing services are available.

Stickers

Laptop stickers, thumbnails, big circles, cheeky name badges with space beside you company name for people to write their own name… same drill as the business cards, but for some reason flight cases, bags, and laptop lids love stickers at SXSW. The investment will be worth it, and stickers tend to stay on display as people travel the halls of Austin, PR and a walking advert? Simples!

Badges

More one for Music than Interactive,although the geeks love them too, but the inch and two-inch button badges go down wonderfully well. I’ve a little shop in Glasgow (www.weebadgers.com) that put together The Baby! Badges – ask me nicely in Austin for one – but hit up Bing Local or Google and you’ll be fine.

Other stuff… like chalk

There is always something wacky in the back of your mind to do for SXSW. Foursquare bought a box of chalk so they could play foursquare on the pavement; the Secret History of Eurovision brought hundreds of flags on cocktail sticks, every band needs a box of CD’s to give away at a gig, heck I once asked my wife if she could whip up a five foot high Cthulhu arm-puppet so I could stand out.

If you have a crazy idea, now is the time to commit and get it sorted. The clock is ticking…

So it’s with half an eye on the yet to be announced SXSW Film line-up that we’ll note the Sundance winners. ’The House I Live In‘ picked up the Grand Jury prize for best documentary; while Helen Hunt’s ‘The Surrogate‘ walked off with the audience award (and a special jury prize for the ensemble cast). The Best US documentary went to ‘The Invisible War‘ and the Best World documentary prize was lifted by ‘Searching for Sugar Man‘.

Will any of these be heading to Austin? We may find out this Wednesday as the first batch of Feature Films in the program are publicly announced!

Take lots of business cards with you, and keep a fine Sharpie handy so you can note down important information on the back of each one you take. You’re likely to meet lots of people and forget what conversations you had, so little reminders can make all the difference.

More hints, and links, over on the Lanyrd blog (and thanks to Sophie for linking through to us). And if you want to keep an eye on Lanyrd, they have a dedicated twitter feed for Austin… @LanyrdSXSW.

As lovers of all things metal, we’re stoked to be able to give some of our favourite bands the chance to represent and show Texas exactly why we do what we do. Joining our showcase and repping for the UK will be none other than ragga punk kings Skindred and industrialised metallers The Defiled, with Norwegian rockers Audrey Horne, jazz metal maniacs Shining (the Norwegian one) and Danish djenty types The Interbeing also getting in on the action!

We’ve still to see the full schedule for the March fun, but I love the sound of this one. Sure I’ll be bar-hopping, but as a one of the early time and dates to go in my diary, this is a corker!

That’s assuming we’re looking out for something new to pop up – many people forget that Twitter and Foursquare had a few years at SXSW to cement their “overnight success” tag. Given that, there might already be a victor in the App Stores and Marketplaces of the world… Eventbrite.

If you look at the huge number of parties and events being organised at Southby (especially during Interactive) you might notice many of them using the Eventbrite events and invite website. Which means if you’re being smart and signing up to a bundle of parties, your Eventbrite account has tickets and timing filling up your profile. What better way to have them close with you that through Eventbrite’s own smartphone application – giving you a personal guide to SXSW and QR codes to replace all your tickets?

Available right now for iOS (with a promising “Coming Soon” for Android), it might not be flashy or catch the headlines, but Eventbrite might just be the app to have at SXSW.

Marvel has been making a big push to move into digital comics. They launched Marvel Digital Comics in 2007, which was really the first major digital comics program around. And yes… there is an app for that, on both iOS and Android.

While I am excited to be there as I am all for comics, my ComicCon friends they seemed to be a little prickly that Marvel is going to a non comic event to do a big announcement. Let me tell you it started a very heated discussion over digital comics versus traditional that made me regret even mentioning it. Personally I think it could be a great platform to make an interactive innovation announcement.

To borrow a roller derby term I am fresh meat for SXSW (this year will be my first to finally attend!) so I find myself wondering how the traditionalists see a comic incursion to the Festival. Is this blurring the line between the festival and the plethora of comic cons a little too much? Or is it just another example of how many different aspects of our lives are touched by interactive media?

Among the 21 companies that have already been announced are Bazaarvoice, Whale Shark Media, All Web Leads, Cosential, Rackspace Hosting,Teksystems, and SpaceTimeStudios. The event is billed as a place for “talented professionals can easily connect with the best tech jobs and career opportunities – all in one centralized location at SXSW.”

The event runs on Friday, March 9, from 11am to 5pm and on Saturday, March 10th from 12pm to 5pm, with a Happy Hour sponsored by WhaleShark Media on Saturday from 5pm to 8:30pm. Registration is not required, but they ask that you register so they know how many to expect.

Check out the their site for more info. And spread the word!

A simple premise: you have twenty speakers… they each get two minutes… and they all answer the same question. Now in its 16th year, 20×2 could be a fabulous way to start your Southby. And yes, you did read that right old-timers, start your Southby.

20×2 is moving from its Monday night slot to 8pm on the opening Friday. The new venue is Skinny’s Ballroom, the fun starts at 8pm, we don’t know the question yet, and The Baby! will see you there!

PS: Facebook event page, if you want to be all new and modern and RSVP and stuff.