The don’t mention this in the promo material, but a big part of the SXSW is the homework.
It’s a project managers dream, (or nightmare, depending on your perspective). There are hundreds of talks, meetups, exhibitions, networking events, parties and screenings, in venues spread across the city.
And that’s just the official schedule. There are countless other unofficial happenings to considers as well.
But the real kicker, there is so much going on in parallel that it’s literally impossible to see everything you want to.
You’re going to have some very hard choices to make, and in order to avoid FOMO putting a cloud over your SXSW experience you need two things. Planning and acceptance.
If you are making snap decision for every time slot, you’ll not only risk missing your ‘must-see’s’ entirely, but you’ll constanatly be spiking your sense of anxiety.
Better to take the hit ahead of time, make the decision, get over any sense of disappointment, accept your reality and be grateful for whatever awesome thing you’re getting to experience.