Although the Interactive Festival doesn’t officially kickoff until Friday, the city definitely has a buzz about it with badge pickups, stages being built and huge brand activations being pieced together all over downtown. You’ll probably be hearing a lot about our good friends (and clients) at 34 Degrees since they’re also attending SXSW this year and have the same love for food, libations, music and all things digital. We wasted no time getting right to it yesterday – here are our favorites from Thursday
Nom nom: Moonshine Grill is a SXSW favorite, but not just because it’s next door to the convention center. With menu items like “Moonshine Corn Dog Shrimp,” green chili cheddar grits and baked macaroni with pimento cheese and bacon gratin…its no joke. The macaroni, by the way, was our favorite of the day.
Libations: Moonshine also had an amazing cocktail list, but we’re going to give a hat tip to all things Texas for Day 1 and say that there’s nothing like watching live music at the Continental Club while knocking back a Shiner Bock – every drop brewed in Shiner, TX.
Celebrity-ish Sighting: We attended a Whole Foods and Denver-based Forkly (fun new food/restaurant/event app) collaborative event Thursday evening and ended up seeing Cathy Strange, the global cheese buyer for Whole Foods. Jim asked her if she needed a correspondent for Italy and/or Spain. She doesn’t.
Through the lens: As is now a GFM tradition, we made a quick stop at the Whole Foods flagship/HQ to stock up on necessities for the week. We didn’t get very far before running into the cured meats display. Whoa.
Grab Bag: It didn’t take long to bump into friends from the great State of Colorado. Always good to see Denver-ites like @gpelz and @biavio.
Free Stuff Rules: The swag bag from the Whole Foods/Forkly event included all-natural cheddar puffs, Steaz Iced Teaz, sparkling water, chocolate covered pretzels, and a list of the wines and cheeses from the event.
Overheard: “You guys tracked caffeinated beverages and hours of sleep last year. We’re going to track ‘number of creamy/cheesy side dishes we consume.” ~ Jen Margoles, General Manager, 34 Degrees
Number of steps taken: 9,500
Hours of sleep: Jim: 7. Jon: 6.
Caffeinated beverages consumed: Jim: 3. Jon: 2.
Number of connections made: 12 and counting.
