South By South West

Spring 2011 Site Review

The process of becoming an intern at South by Southwest (SXSW) begins in late October of the fall semester. Interested students should keep up to date with the career services offices on campus. I attained my internship position from Liberal Arts Career Services (LACS), located on the basement of Flawn Academic Center. Students should check on the LACS website for the informal meet and greet with the volunteer coordinators Gene Butler on the conference volunteering side, and James Shainult on the Music Production Side. Gene and James will pass along information on all the internships available in a variety of departments from planning to conference tech. I will touch base on the internship with the volunteering department.

A day in the life of an intern at SXSW is exciting and fun. There have been many changes to SXSW throughout the years, but the company still maintains it’s lay back culture. I enjoyed working in an environment where there’s no dress code, and everyone wore SXSW gear at work all day every day. Before the interns were hired, the coordinators outlined a list of mandatory dates and events that all interns were required to attend. Events such as the Volunteering Calls usually set on a Sunday and Wednesday, where volunteers mingled and interviewed with different volunteering crew chiefs about potential volunteering opportunities. Interns played an important role during the volunteering calls by streamline the process and maintain the information booths. 

As an intern for the volunteering department you can see first hand how the SXSW operates by working the volunteers check in center, providing logistic support to over 2900 volunteers, and even work the registration component for over 20,000 badge holders.  Most interns worked at least 20 hours a week from January to March. During the week of SXSW interns worked tireless from 8 in the morning till 10 pm at night. If you are interested in SXSW be prepare to work at least 40 to 50 hours during the week of Spring Break.

Lets not forget the fantastic perks you acquire as an intern at SXSW. You will get clothes such as Nike staff jacket, crew chiefs zip ups sweaters, shoes from vans, jeans from True Religion, and most importantly a platinum, all access badge valued at 1200 dollars. With the badge you can get into all the shows and events you want to attend at SXSW.