Last year was the first time I had ever been to South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular tech, film and music event in Austin, Texas that draws tens of thousands of people.
I thought I was going prepared, but I ended up making a lot of rookie mistakes.
The conference begins this week. If it's your first time attending SXSW, here's everything you need to know before you board the plane.
As soon as you know you're attending SXSW, book a hotel room.
Last year, hotel rooms in Austin were completely sold out for SXSW's interactive portion by early December.
This year, it was even worse. All of the hotels within a 20-mile radius have been booked since October.
If you haven't gotten yourself a room, go on SXSW's site and register for housing. You can email the housing committee at SXSW to advise you on next steps. There's also Airbnb, but rates are as high or higher than local hotels, and most of those rentals are booked up too.
I called 13 hotels in downtown Austin and found a few with openings that weren't listed on the website. The rooms were absurdly expensive, but there will be some last minute cancellations, so you might get lucky if you call early in the morning.
But your best bet may be to surf LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for others in your situation. People have set up message boards to help stragglers find housing.
Try as hard as you can to get a hotel within walking distance of the convention center. If you can't, rent a car.
Last year, there were only 700 cabs in Austin and SXSW had 30,000 attendees. There were a lot of pedicabs, but no bikers is going to take you across the highway or miles to your hotel. Uber hasn't launched in SXSW either, so calling a car isn't an option either.
While Austin is a walkable town, getting home is tough and the hotel shuttles stop running late at night. Your best bet may be to rent a car and stash it in a nearby lot during the day, and either stay sober at the open bars or come back for it in the morning.
If you have to stay driving distance from the convention center, don't buy an R&R Limousine shuttle pass.
SXSW pushes R&R Limousine's shuttle service to attendees because it is the official transportation sponsor of the event. Don't fall for it.
The pass costs $70 for five days or $20 per ride. But it doesn't operate on a set schedule. It will roll up to your hotel when and if it feels like it.
The service says to expect the shuttle every "30-45 minutes"; It also warns people not to waste the company's time calling if you don't see an R&R shuttle.
I magically caught the shuttle service three times while in Austin. The other times I bummed a ride or shared a cab with other attendees. It makes more sense to rent a car than to cross your fingers and pray a ride shows up.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider