Hey y'all, I'm Sandra Pham.
And I'm Minh Vu. And you're listening to Asian in Austin. So we've got a special episode for everyone.
Yeah, I think we just thought it would be interesting to cite our official involvement in SXSW. And so thrilled to kind of recap that with y'all and chat with Minh as always.
We were able to host an official AAPI meetup at SX and a shout out to Audrey and the entire SX team for helping make that happen and all of the volunteers. It was a, a really good opportunity to be able to create community or hold space for community.
So I'm really excited that we were able to do that in such an official capacity where people who were attending the fest and either identified in the community or were supportive or interested in the community all came together in this hotel conference room and connected. And it was really, really beautiful. And I think we just want to take this episode to talk about the behemoth that is SX our experiences with it and how creating community continues to be so important.
Sandra, what's your, well first, what's your experience been with SX in general over the years? I know we have memories from college going to SX, but I'm curious just from your perspective. Yeah. Like how have you experienced the festival in the past?
Yeah, it feels like this year, I think, was a big milestone for us and obviously super grateful that we were able to attend SXSW in a different way that we had previously, obviously having gone to school here and having experienced SXSW and seeing the changes over the various years from going You know, experiencing as a college student, obviously, is very different than in a professional setting.
And then also this year, getting the opportunity to actually be part of the official programming, hosting and holding space was, you know, really, really special for, for me this year. But. Yeah, fond memories back in the day, you and I, during spring break, because it would always happen during spring break, going to concerts, trying to find the cool different events. I remember seeing Ed Sheeran before he was Ed Sheeran in the, you know, the, the 2000s and and then fast forward to today.
It's so different.
Yeah I think I feel like I remember us going to like a Red Bull sponsored event or concert and I feel like it was just in a parking lot somewhere. Which they still do. I will say this year, we also were able to see a Vietnamese Hungarian singer. Who fused Cải lương and electronic music, which my mind was like, completely blown by that. For those who don't know, cải lương is like, a specific Vietnamese traditional music genre, kind of like theater, musical theater, really specific.
Yeah, shout out to
Hien. Yeah. She was so good. Yeah. Trilingual, which is incredible. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, she sang in Vietnamese, then Hungarian, then in English as well. It was really cool. I think, for me this year, that's what stands out to me, is like the global aspect of, like, the experience that I was able to have seeing singers from all across the world. In one day, I like, I was at the Canada house and there was a singer who like their genre was like Afro pop. And then even also at Canada house, one of our previous guests, Aisha, Dreamchild, she was DJing there. Just really cool.
moments I think for me this year.
Yeah, I think as SX continues to grow and has become this, I think you said behemoth, like at the top of the the episode here, it's it just continues to grow and I do find myself kind of feeling lost a little bit every year, right? I think every year my experience is different. I seek different things. Some years, it's really heavily leaned into music. Other years, it's really into the panel and the content.
Being a marketer myself and trying to gain some knowledge there this year, because we had a place that we specifically were able to host that AAPI meetup. I find myself really being intentional about finding community and a lot of the activities that we do. I saw to be involved in this year. Also got the amazing opportunity to host some unofficial SX things, but around SX, so, moderating that panel with ambassador Catherine Thai, which was a really big deal.
As well as the amazing other women who were on the panel, who are local Austinites or the majority were yeah, this year, I think, For me personally, I wanted to find representation and community, right? Finding specific panels, events that were centered around the AAPI community itself. Having, feeling like really motivated to, to carve out those spaces.
Yeah, I think it was good for us to see the different opportunities there were to create community both officially through SX and unofficially as well, too. It was great to be able to collaborate with some folks who came into Austin, but also still try to lift up the folks locally here. So, yeah, All in all, I think it was, it was really good. Was there a standout moment for you?
I think I'm very biased. But obviously having our meetup and just chatting with everyone and getting to know everyone's story. There were so amazing people that, that showed up to the meetup that I got to talk to from folks who are like artists and really trying to showcase their music and, and feeling really encouraged by the fact that there was a meetup.
To have conversations with other people to, there were students there I can't remember from what university, but they were able to get funded and come to SX and experience this and pitch a big client. It was the Austin airport and be able to showcase their work, but also wanting to feel like they can make friends and meet other people. So I was just inspired to be in that room and have conversations.
And I mean, you know, at the end of the day, that's really what drove us to build this podcast was. To meet other folks and hear their experiences. There was also a woman I met and she is in the music industry and she really wanted. She grew up in Austin and had gone to SX firm for many, many years, like 20 plus years. And I was telling me how excited she was that that.
Our podcast enabled us to have conversations about, you know, folks in the community who pursue different careers and to really see the space that she never thought would be possible in, in, in all the time that she had gone to SX, which is amazing. And also, you know, we just heard yesterday kind of a tangent, but the first Vietnamese American lead, a bachelorette, like, it just feels like there's so much momentum and I'm. proud that we get to be a very teeny teeny part of that.
Yeah, I think about some of the people that I was able to meet at the meetup and basically we all, I was with a group of people and we all went around sharing where we grew up and what the Asian population was like there, if there were any. And I think in that short amount of time, there was already just people being like, Oh my gosh, like I'm half Filipino, half white. There weren't a lot of us growing up. I also like.
You know, they met people who basically had very similar experiences to them and that type of like community and connection happening in real time was really special. I think we all both vocally and silently understood what it meant to be sometimes the only in a space. And then to be. The majority in a space during that meetup was really, I think, empowering and really special.
I'm going to ask you I know it's, it's hard to think about because literally we, SX Southwest just wrapped up, but if we're thinking ahead and I know it'll be around the corner when we think about SX in 2025, what do you hope or what do you dream up that could happen next year that didn't this year, or what is that? I
think more opportunities to connect in a larger capacity. And what I mean by that is Like, where my mind goes here is like, we know that SX is a great economic development driver for a lot of like local businesses, especially downtown hotels, restaurants, bars. And I think as we Hopefully that there's even more AAPI related programming, both officially and unofficially.
But also what that means too is that people both locally and from out of town who are creating these events and activations are tapping in. to our local AAPI vendors or restaurants or talent, you know, both musicians, speakers, artists leaders to be able to participate in the stuff that they're organizing. So, I think a combination of those things, you know, just more, Connection. Intentional connection. I think. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree with you. I think for sure over the last few years there have been some stepping stones and things set into place. And obviously we love all of our out of town friends, but we are here year round and want to make sure that SX isn't the end.
I think also for those connections, especially, you know, I always get excited about SX and yes, I want to meet all the folks that fly in and take time out of their lives to come and do all the things, but it's also a really good time to connect with people locally and see their faces. I like. Meeting people and knowing that they're also down the road and that it's not okay.
See you in a year from now When you come back for SX you, it's hey, there are really amazing community leaders and folks who are doing the work and investing here and so it's you know, not connecting with the local vendor just the one time you hosted an event here it's remembering to support them all year round and You amplifying the work that's being done.
So I think for sure next year, I hope to see our local community really kind of get together and figure out how we can support SX more and in a way that feels right for us without overextending our community organizers here.
So I am curious for people who don't know what SX is or have been here and haven't participated in SX I wonder if we can give them a little like overview and like tips from our experience and I'll just say top line and this is not like You know, I'm not reading from the SX playbook or whatever, like, is on their website or anything like that. The festival's been around for a long time, has evolved in a number of different ways.
I won't go into the history too much because I'm not going to pretend like I know the entire history of SX. But today, what it looks like, a tech conference. Well, it actually, it starts with EDU. So like an education conference, just I think a week before the actual festival. And then it starts with the tech conference, the first weekend, essentially film also starts around that time.
So there's also a film festival that's happening and then a music showcase That also ends up happening towards the middle of the week and through the end of the festival. So What I always like to observe is the, you can really tell when you're downtown, when each part of the festival shifts because of the demographic of the attendees that end up showing up both in demographic, but also like style and swag, like what people are wearing and stuff the music crowd.
versus the film crowd versus the tech crowd, you can really kind of tell a difference. There's also comedy involved usually that first weekend as well too. So, you know, that's the official SX stuff. And then there's like a bunch of unofficial things that sometimes happens as well throughout downtown, which primarily means getting on on an RSVP list. And lining up early to hopefully get into the venue before it reaches capacity.
Because if some venues are 100 percent unofficial and some venues are official and if it's official, then badges get priority. So that's like a quick overview of the fest. Happens all throughout downtown and on the east side. Sandra, what would you say would be like one of your tips if you were attending the festival?
I think don't feel too much FOMO, right? I think, just sitting as you described it, I'm just like, oh my god, it's really overwhelming. It really is, it continues to grow and expand and become this gigantic thing and it is kind of hard to describe, especially for folks who aren't familiar with it, don't regularly attend, maybe aren't in town. Figure out what you want to get out of it.
If you're super into the music thing, lean into that, go to the concerts and all that thing, or you want a little bit of a sprinkle of all the things, sure. But I think don't pressure yourself. I think early on when I first started attending SX it was like, oh my god, I'm gonna have FOMO if I don't. stand in line for three hours to go see Jay Z because he has some random pop up or whatever thing that happens into town.
I think being really intentional, I think I also get to a place where I'm like, oh my god, I gotta do SX all day long. You head out there and you're there from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. or whatever it is, and I think really carve out your time.
And figure out what are the things that really get you excited and what are that must do and then everything else go with the flow like SX is a show you just kind of you vibe out you go with the vibes you figure out if there's an unofficial thing you pop by if you don't you don't but I think remove the pressure of needing to hit up everything because you're not going to enjoy it if you're popping in 10 minutes to that one show and then running over to the next things.
There's so many things that overlap. For me, the one thing I wanted to get out of it was just spending time with people. And seeing the people I wanted to yeah, there was, you know, a sprinkle of music, a sprinkle of film, sprinkle of panels, and all of that, but just not pushing myself to feel too much pressure to hit up everything, because I did come up with a schedule, and then I was like, Wow, there are eight things at the same exact time. I'm, I'm, that's impossible.
I can't be in eight different places. So if I make it, I make it. If I don't, I don't. And for the rest, I can just watch everyone's stories and I'll be okay. But my takeaway this year was just, Really being grateful that I got to spend some, you know, in real life time with folks, because we so often become internet friends, or you connect with people through whatever way, and sometimes it's just nice to see someone face to face and just have a good old chat.
Yeah, I completely agree with basically, like, identify one or two things per day that you really want to see, prioritize those things, and then as far and and then, Everything that happens around it, tumbleweed, tumbleweed around. Like let the wind take you wherever it's going to take you use the SX app. That was really helpful for me to see, okay, what's going on around this time. That's near the thing that I want to go see. But because yeah, otherwise.
Sometimes the venues are kind of spread out, you need to, like, scooter around, you could walk around, but that's gonna add a lot more time and it'll just probably be better. be more work than fun. And I will say the most fun experiences that I've had at SX in years past and also in this year is just like happening upon something that wasn't always on my list. But It was something that was nearby and close enough that I could go to while waiting for the session that I really wanted to go to.
And I discovered some great artists that way, some great music that way that I probably wouldn't have if I didn't, I wasn't open to it in that way. So, pro tip, definitely, if you find yourself going to SX, you could do that. And also, you know, if you're not able to get a badge, like, I think you can still look for those unofficial events. Know that in the evening, it'll be probably a lot tougher to get in, capacity wise.
But maybe during the day, if you're able to attend things during the day or earlier on in the day with just an RSVP, you probably have more of a Likelihood and chance to, to get in and, and experience that piece of the festival.
Yeah. And totally have flexibility because even if you are SVP or you intend to go something, as this thing continues to grow and more and more people come into town, like, there's no guarantee you're going to get into some things, right? Like I know you and I wanted to go watch some films and Sometimes it's not available or you're just really tired and you're not going to stand in line and make it to whatever it is.
So be adaptable be flexible enjoy it like Don't don't put so much pressure on yourself and and enjoy seth byte. It's it's a really interesting time Of year, I will say I kind of have a love and hate relationship with it because I do feel like SX is the reason a lot of folks move to Austin because the weather is beautiful, downtown is popping, so many fun events. You just go, wow, like what is this incredible Disney World experience that you're having?
And so then a ton of people move here for better, for worse. Again, we talk about this a lot, but you know, I, I love that it does showcase our city in an incredible way, but also. sometimes to our detriment. And it can be a little wild. But anyway yeah, SX, what an amazing time we did it. We survived. But had such a good time.
Yes. I, I agree. I think SX and also like the, like, legion of volunteers that they have that do such good work of like trying to put their arms around that entire festival is there's a reason why, like, during the film screenings, when they say thank you to our volunteers, the whole theater, like, erupts in applause and appreciation because I think that is really where a lot of yeah, it just takes a, it takes a village.
And yeah, you know, there's, As much as I think SX has been part of like Austin's growth and all the pros and cons related to that growth, I still find myself Being appreciative of the opportunity to be able to experience something like that in our backyard, basically. And have the choice, you know, whether or not we want to engage. Because I know a lot of Austinites, too, like, I've done this in the past. Like, go out of town during this time of year to kind of avoid it.
And totally, you're prerogative. I think the But the, for me, it's like, well, at least that there's a choice to potentially, you know, if we're so lucky to be able to attend or not attend. So, I'm excited for the rest of this year and I'll What we have going on. We have another season that we're planning of the podcast. It was also really like cool to be able to meet people who have listened to the podcast at the festival.
We really appreciate the kind words and the encouragement and the support that y'all have shown. I think Sandra and I continue to, you know, do this podcast as like our side project are something that we. really believe in and and care for and also being mindful of protecting our health and time and making sure that we're pouring into ourselves as well too. And so, you know, I think we found a good balance in these abbreviated seasons. I know I wish we could do more episodes each year.
And maybe that's something in the future, you know. But for now, we're excited to continue with kind of these abbreviated seasons, being able to bring on special guests for a couple of months and sharing their stories with you all. So stay tuned for more of that coming in a couple months, actually.
Yeah. Yeah. The year's flying by, but for sure. I think we're excited for this new season. So stay tuned. Want to continue having these conversations with with the community. And I think we're trying to be really intentional about some of the guests that we bring on and making sure that there's, you know, Diversity in the voices and the stories that we continue to share. So we'll definitely be working on that and I'm excited. Want to make sure that we're continuing to meet more folks.
I mean, there's, there's so many people in the community that we don't know about. So definitely love when we get to connect in person and we hear more stories and more about, learn more about individuals. So I'm looking forward to, to learning more in this, this season.
Yeah, there's a lot of work being done in the community that I know Sandra and I aren't aware of and I think at the end of the day we just continue to want to learn as much as we can, try to amplify I all parts of our community in all parts of the greater Austin area as best as we can. So, SX was a really good opportunity, like Sandra said, to, to meet with people that we hadn't been able to meet with before. And so hopefully we just continue to do that and encourage that.
And I encourage you all to do the same. And the more that we're able to bridge these connections with one another, the more we can. more power to our voices and help uplift our entire community. So, um, with that, we will catch you in a couple months.
Bye, y'all.
Thanks, y'all. This project is supported in part by the City of Austin Economic Development Department.