SXSW: A Simplified Guide to Finding Your Way to the Best Stuff

By: Lexi Severini

Everywhere’s founding members Tamara Knechtel and Danica Kombol are 2 of the roughly 300,000 prospective attendees at this year’s SXSW convention in Austin and we’re all collectively envious of them.

If you happen to be a part of that oh-so lucky pool of people who have already, or will be descending upon Bat City in the next few weeks, consider this list your guide to new and sought-after SXSW social apps! I also threw in a couple of apps that will help you navigate the scene itself!

Apps to check out while you’re there:

Highlight: This start-up got a lot of attention last year, and it’s back for round two! Call it an app for the “socially adventurous” among us! This app lets you meet people based on similar interests who are in close proximity to you. According to their website’s description, “…as you go about your day, Highlight runs quietly in the background, surfacing information about the people around you.” This one might be creepily intuitive but these days, who doesn’t want to know about everyone and everything around them? And the goal of SXSW is to connect, so check it out and let us know what you think!
Gauss: a.k.a. “The People Magnet,” Gauss utilizes information that already exists in your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare profiles to assess the types of people it thinks you might be interested in meeting. By maintaining a list of things you would like to do, the app will notify you of people it thinks you should connect with. The good news is no one can see your info, and you get to choose if and when to connect with other users.
Pearescope: Danica is what we call a “connector.” She somehow miraculously keeps a rolodex in her head of how and where she knows people from. This comes in handy for business moves etc., but if you don’t have that natural talent, this app is for you. Curious about or interested in a friend of a friend? Pearescope allows you to meet people by introducing you to other mutual friends. You’ll even be able to see who’s met whom and through which friend that you both have in common. An ideal way to capitalize on those 6 degrees of separation. Think LinkedIn, but in a socially intuitive app.

Apps to use while you’re there:

Mashable SXSW Trendspotter- This website (with analytics by Topsy) will provide you with an up-to-the-hour look at the topics that are trending at SXSW based on categories like Music, Interactive, Brands, etc.
SXSW Go – This is a succinct mobile app created to help the busiest of SXSW-goers to stay organized and keep in the know. This app allows you to schedule your day, browse event media, find venues, and search for events/exhibitors. What’s especially great? It’s available on iPhone, iPad and Android.