Austin Transforms Into "The Pop Culture Mecca" This Week for SXSW

In less than 48 hours, all trend-setting eyes will be on Austin for the 26th annual South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference & Festival. Comprised of three varying components, the series offers the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW is the premier destination for discovery.

Here, take a look:

Last year Austin welcomed 49,126 registrants from 76 countries and an additional 49,681 single admission tickets to film and music events, showcased 2,098 music acts across 92 stages and screened  140 feature films with 1,116 screening filmmakers in attendance, and that's not the half of it. These numbers cover the official registrant stats; countless attendees participate in Austin's largest discovery event without a SXSW badge.

This time last year we were pulling together the final touches to help sell out both showings of the award-winning SENNA movie at Austin's gorgeous Paramount Theatre and welcome Asif Kapadia to Austin.

This year we're also doing our part to keep the F1 buzz growing in Austin. On Monday, March 12 from 5:00-6:00PM I'll host the official SXSW "F1 Meet Up" at the Hilton Austin Downtown. If you're a registered attendee of the SXSW Interactive festival, join us for an hour of networking, brainstorming and idea-building as we discuss the next big thing to transform Austin later this year.

On Sunday, March 11, Kevin and I will again join Social Media Clubhouse as they broadcast live from the IBM Social Lounge in the Austin Convention Center via their Ustream channel at noon. Social Media Club is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing social media education to more than 300,000 members across 52 countries. Last year we had the amazing opportunity to discuss how social media played a role in the distribution of the SENNA movie with director Asif Kapadia. This year, Kevin and I will share our thoughts on the role of social media in the sport of Formula One, especially in the United States in anticipation of our inaugural race this November.

There are countless sources to learn more about the SXSW experience. CNN News broadcast live from the event last year and will be back again at the CNN Grill, apparently with a US presidential candidate in attendance this Friday. There are numerous SXSW-themed information boards on Pinterest. Austin-based advertising agency GSD&M has a fun online "SXSurvival" guide.

The ultimate resource, however, continues to be the official website, which is www.SXSW.com.

Here are a few quotes about SXSW that capture its essence:

Every March, thousands of young, jeans-wearing techies, filmmakers and musicians descend upon Austin, Texas, harboring dreams of getting noticed and hitting it big. They come not just for the balmy weather or the Tex-Mex food but for South by Southwest ("SXSW"), a collection of conferences and festivals that's considered one of the most influential happenings on the annual cultural calendar ...

... It's a massive crystal ball for pop culture. Whatever people are talking about at SXSW - the movies, the bands, the apps - are the things that will really hit it big in mainstream pop culture in six months to a year down the line."

CNN, March 10, 2011

What SXSW has always been about is people. It is the single best place in the creative innovation world to build relationships and get to know people. I have friends from all over the world that I've met over the last five years thta I can't wiat to see in Austin every year.

Fortune

SXSW's creators never conceived of the festival as the massive, three-pronged assault by the latest in music, film and technology that it is today when they launched the original, music-only event in 1986, with 170 bands in 12 clubs to an attendance of about 700. But they've been smart enough to keep an eye to the future all along - first in the music programming, then in the bringing togeterh of music with film and computer-age "interactive" components in 1994 and, this year, by combining all three trade shows into one giant mass that recognizes that all three sides of SXSW now feed and feed off each otehr."

The Toronto Star, March 15, 2011

Twenty-five years after the South by Southwest Music festival emerged as a showcase for new bands, it has become as big and eclectic as pop culture itself with spotlights on movies and, increasingly, high-tech.

Reuters, March 22, 2011

After the festival we'll share our discoveries with you and reflect upon what we learn in anticipation for our November race, which is slated to be three times the size of this production. Until then, enjoy the show.

Lap One Done With the Support of Our Fans!

We are excited to celebrate with you the one year anniversary of the announcement of Austin, Texas as the future home of Formula One™ in the United States starting in 2012. It was also one year ago today that we founded The Austin Grand Prix and embarked upon our mission to bring the most comprehensive news surrounding this announcement to fans around the world. Our mission was simple: “To bridge the gap between racing fans and Austin and welcome everyone to the future home of Formula One™.”

We are extremely grateful for the support of our fans from Austin to Australia and everywhere in between; whether you’ve connected with us via our dedicated website, Facebook page, Twitter account, Vimeo video page, or met us out and about in the streets of Austin at a watch party, networking event, movie premiere, press conference or any other exciting event. Thank YOU for supporting our efforts to be the new media and community resource for the Circuit of the Americas™ under construction in Austin, Texas as the future home of Formula One™ and MotoGP racing, starting in 2012.

On location at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX

What's Next?

• 3 June 2011: The FIA World Motor Sport Council will meet and discuss rescheduling of the cancelled Bahrain GP and preliminary talks of a 2012 race calendar.

• November 2011: Expected announcement of finalized 2012 race calendar.

• June 2012: When COTA has been told to “be ready” for an inaugural race. Also, a June race date would make logical sense, if the track was ready by this time, because the cars should already be on the North American continent, coinciding with the Canadian Grand Prix.

• September/October 2012: Another logical date for the USGP because the cars are shipped through Dallas, Texas (about a 3 hour drive from Austin) on their way to Brazil in South America for the Brazilian GP. Also, back in April, the University of Texas said their Longhorns Football Team would consider moving a football game to accommodate a race weekend in Austin - which would be unprecedented!

Headed to Montreal!

We are also excited to be packing our bags for Montreal in two weeks for the Canadian Grand Prix from 9-13 June. We hope to meet as many F1 fans as possible and have created a casual meet up in Montreal, which you can RSVP for on our Facebook page and stay tuned for more information.

"SENNA" Wins The Hearts Of Austin

It is hard to believe that it was just two months ago that we had the great Kerri and Kevin with SENNA Director Asif Kapadia at SXSWhonor of working alongside Director Asif Kapadia and Working Title Films to help promote and welcome the Texas premiere of the SENNA film during Austin’s famed South By Southwest Film Festival. Thank you for helping sell out both screenings of the film at the iconic Paramount Theatre on Congress Avenue. If you were able to attend a screening, we hope you enjoyed the film as much as we did! If not, check out this exclusive video interview of Asif at the Social Media Clubhouse. Please also continue to support SENNA for next week’s UK release (3 June) and a broader US statewide release planned for 12 August. We want to continue to serve as a reliable resource for the SENNA film so please check our website in the coming week as we roll out some amazing new SENNA film features.

How Can You Help?

Another question we are frequently asked is how our fans and supporters can help. Here are a few ideas:

• Sign-up for our newsletter and tell your friends and colleagues about it!

• Introduce them to our website, Facebook page, Twitter account and Vimeo videos.

• Got an idea? A burning question? A referral? Send us an email anytime atOur fan and friend Heath showing his support at the 2011 Australian GP! Info@TheAustinGrandPrix.com. We would love to hear from you!

• Get your hands on the first product promoting the return of Formula One™ to Texas via our COME AND RACE IT™ shirts! We will also be adding more products in the coming months.

• Please send us your pictures in your COME AND RACE IT™ shirt, as we are compiling photographs of our fans from around the world, just like the one shown here from Down Under!

We are extremely grateful to our fans and supporters because we have been building The Austin Grand Prix to serve you. Sometimes we are asked: “Why is it the Austin Grand Prix? Don’t you think that is exclusive of the rest of Texas, or the US, or North America?” We are the Austin Grand Prix because we are a part of the social fabric of the Austin community; we believe over the next twelve months you will start to understand why we love this great city so much. We look forward to welcoming you and we hope you will join us in 2012 for the inaugural United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Thank You and COME AND RACE IT™!

Kerri Olsen and Kevin Olsen
Co-Founders

Is Momentum Building at Austin's Newest Park?

Austin's track is gaining momentum, YEEHAW! It's been an amazing couple of weeks since all activity at the SXSW Film, Music and Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Let's recap:

-Congratulations to Asif Kapadia, Manish Pandey, Working Title Films, Universal and all parties involved with the SENNA film, as release dates have been progressing:

• 13 April - Valencia, Spain - Spanish premiere
• 4 and 6 May - Toronto - Canadian International documentary film festival, "Hot Docs"
• 3 June - UK Release
• 15-19 June - Sydney, Australia Film Festival
• 21 July - Australian Release
• July - US Release

-Asif and the SENNA online outlets (Twitter, Facebook, web) have been working hard to keep us all informed of the latest release info. It is motivating to read inquires from fans all over the world: "When can I see SENNA in MY hometown!?" Keep asking and keep coming back here. We will continue to help bring this movie to you because it truly is an epic film which we so thoroughly enjoyed. Believe it or not, we have even more #SENNAxSW content to share with you in the coming weeks!

Congratulations to the entire Formula One drivers and teams for the amazing first two races of the season. Although Bahrain was cancelled, Sebastian Vettell gave everyone a run for their money at Australia and Malaysia. Check out this Formula 1 interview here.

And now...there have been many reports in the past few weeks that suggest development at the future home of the Austin Grand Prix is racing ahead.

-Tom O'Keefe published his recap of his Texas visit on Autosport today; you can read it here.

-Dave Doolittle, of the Austin American-Statesman, reports that zombie roadkill is halting F1 construction at the site! Oh no!

-Bob Varsha, of SPEED TV, said "We have a delegation from SPEED that’s going to go visit the track and assess the situation with our own eyeballs on April 13."

-During SPEED TV's airing of the Malaysian Grand Prix on April 9/10, they also made an announcement regarding the upcoming April 12 "special news conference" and said they plan on bringing you a live feed on Tuesday night at 8pm ET.

-Austin's KVUE News posted a supershort video of earth-movers and construction at the site from the ground level, however we're still partial to our exclusive aerial video which F1 Russia picked up and sent us viral! Here it is if you'd rather not dig through our archives:

Exclusive: First Aerial Video of Austin Track Construction from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

So, with all the recent rumblings, we want to know what YOU think will happen at tomorrow's news conference. Here are a few ideas we've heard and/or made up over a few cups of coffee this AM:

• Tavo Hellmund and Bob Varsha will skydive out of an airplane to give you an idea of a real aerial descent upon the future track site, since they weren't too happy with our photos or video.
• Since the Bahrain race was cancelled, construction is really going to ramp up and the Austin race will actually happen in <gasp> 2011 later this year!
• Red Bull is going to return to Austin, the home of their largest U.S. Flugtag audience of 85,000, and create a permanent Flugtag stage constructed over the F1 pit area. (What's Flugtag? Read recap of 2007 event here.)

  by Lynn M. Stone

• The official F1 USGP team is going to formally name the track: "The Best Little Race House In Texas."
• SPEED TV will start the highly-anticipated 24/7 webcam of progress, so you never have to miss a second of the non-stop action as earthmovers crawl around the track!
• Bernie decided that in addition to artificial rain, he would also like to create artificial snow for future driving "excitement"...in Texas...in the summer.
• While Tavo and Bob dive into the track location, Bernie will be on the ground to catch them atop his new ride, this lovely Texas Longhorn:

What are you expecting tomorrow and what would you like to see?

Before I go, I wanted to introduce you to our expanded product line at COME AND RACE IT©! We now have shirts in 4 different colors:

   

Natural, Texas Orange, Heather Grey and Ladies Mocha Brown! (Click on the pictures above to go directly to the order page.)

Here's our shirt Down Under at the Australian Grand Prix last month! We would love to get pics of you in your shirts at every Grand Prix and from all over the world. Please send them to us at COMEANDRACEIT {at} gmail.com. Thank you for your ongoing support!