24 Hours at SXSW-March 17th 2010 with Zoe Cordes Selbin from Transmission Entertainment

Unless you’re surgically fused to someone, chances are you aren’t going to have the same experience at SXSW as anyone else. With that in mind, we invited some of our friends from around Austin and the country to document 24 hours of their experience at SXSW. Geeks, filmmakers and musicians will all be sharing their SXSW 2010 experience with us. There might be some surprises!

Today’s guest is 16-year old Zoe Cordes Selbin. Don’t let her age fool you tho; this young lady is 80,000 times cooler than me or you. I mean, she’s SIXTEEN and kickin it with some of my favorite local and national acts AND tons of execs in the music industry. And she works for it as Transmission Entertainment’s Operations Coordinator–I mean, I don’t know any other 16 year-olds with a LinkedIn page. I was freakin learning how to drive and drinking Zima’s (not at the same time) when I was 16.

Zoe Cordin Selbin’s view of March 17th, 2010, at SXSW

My day started out when my alarm blared at the all-too-early hour of 8:15 AM. This is the hour I usually wake up on weekdays, but for the late late nights of SXSW, it’s brutal. No pics of my sleepyhead–I rushed through a shower and out the door, totally forgetting my camera, so unfortunately you will have to deal with Blackberry photos of my day.

The first stop of the day was a 9:30 coffee at the coffeeshop in the Hilton lobby with my friend Paul Tao. Paul is the co-owner of the absolutely incredible IAMSOUND Records, and I met him at SXSW 2008. Funny story: Paul is also a music writer on the side, and I enjoyed and had been following his writing. There I was, SXSW 08, 14 years old, awkward and nerdy, at the always incredible BMI Brunch, and I caught sight of Paul Tao’s badge and totally geeked. “Hey, are you Paul Tao? Like THE Paul Tao of IAMSOUND and Hate Something Beautiful and Absolute Punk??? LYKE OMG!!!”

Okay, while that may not be word for word what I said “back in the day,” it was a close approximation. ANYWAY, since then, in the past 2 years, Paul and I have become friends and I stopped geeking out over music writers. It was great to sit down with him and gossip about secret shows and the industry. Here’s a shot of him in action–we’re both ridiculously attached to our Blackberrys.

After that I got some work done thanks to Hilton’s A+ wi-fi, and then headed over to Mohawk to VIP it up for Austinist’s Gotta Get Down party. The whole thing was hosted in the green room at Mohawk, and it is such a gorgeous space–I’m super stoked to be hosting my 17th birthday party there next month! This shot of me, rockin a cowboy hat, is way terrible, but hey–what’s a few bad pics between friends…err…the whole internet world? Whatever, readers, don’t judge me….it had been a long day already!

Next up I spent a few hours running around distributing MWTX fliers to street teamers, who will be distributing them to YOU, as well as going over to the MWTX/Eastbound and Found lot to do some work. So much to be done before the big day(s)! Finally I got to take a minute to use my day pass (super thanks to Logan Youree for the hook up!!) to wander around the SXSW Trade Show at the convention center. It was fantastic to run around all the booths checking out all facets of the music industry, and I scored some decent freebies as well. It’s a giant show but here’s a photo of just one small corner!

I also stopped by the super comfy and cool Seed lounge. I won’t bore you with the details of why they’re there, but suffice to say, if you’re a writer or an aspiring writer, you’ll wanna check out their site. They had tons of free water and chocolate covered sun flower seeds, so I noshed a bit before heading over to City Hall to work the Mayor’s Party.

To continue reading about Zoe’s day at SXSW, click here:

The Mayor’s Party is, by far, (in my humble opinion) the most glamorous event of all of SXSW. The food is always catered by our local finest–La Condesa and Central Market absolutely slayed it this year–Annie Ray does an all-out photo booth, the bars are well stocked, and the gift bags, well, they are out of control!

Speaking of which, I stuffed said gift bags a few hours before the party and let me tell you–if you got one, you went home happy! From whole bottles of Tito’s to 20$ giftcards to Uchi to CDs and snacks galore, it brought a little of that celeb vibe to casual Austin.

The party is all thanks to Austin superstars Rose Reyes and her right hand lady, Amanda Garcia, as well as their team of super-interns, including the ever lovely and spunky Samantha Spillman, who graciously allowed me to take her photo!

After the Mayor’s Party ended at 6:30, I had to run to meet my family for dinner at Mandola’s. I love Mandola’s–their rich Italian food is to die for–and it was nice to get out of downtown for a while! I went with a pot roast sandwich–how can you ever go wrong with that??

My sister also found a giant jar of Nutella in the Mandola’s store–here she is, looking a little shocked by the prospects of it all!

After dinner it was back to the MWTX/Eastbound lot for some work–I tried to take pix but the light was too bad for my lil Blackberry. I did catch a shot of the Mamboberry truck we have parked on the lot–Mamboberry is my absolute favorite frozen yogurt–I consider myself a fro-yo expert and big fan, and I have never tasted better fro yo! The sign says it all…

I was going to go out after working at the lot, but I was too exhausted and still had about 60 artist envelopes to stuff with passes and drink tix, so I headed back home to Georgetown. Perhaps not the most exciting end to the day, but I hope, dear readers, that you will forgive me and understand my work obligations.

To make it up to you, I’m giving away a pair of VIP tix to MWTX; that gets you backstage with all the bands–but just remember, if you wanna stay alive, stay out of Gwar’s way! You can check out the lineup here: http://mwtxparty.com/index.php . Just write your reason for wanting the tix in the comment section, and a winner will be chosen at 9pm on Thursday (today!), so get on it! Make sure to leave your email so we have a way of notifying you.

Have a great SXSW, everyone!