2012 AustinJS SXSW Party Wrapup

Now that SXSW is officially over, we had to share the great experience our community provided and shared in at the AustinJS SXSW Party for 2012.  The party, which was aboard the Lonestar Riverboat, was a historic event as we cruised along Lady Bird Lake basking in the incredible weather of which Mother Nature graced us.

You could feel the excitement as everyone patiently waited to board the riverboat, anchor tokens in hand.

The security measures were so strict that it made the TSA look like school crossing guards.

When it was time, the onboarding began.

Our guests made their way to the dock where they were greeted by our hosts and given a raffle ticket.

As music blasted from the top deck, we embarked on our 3 hour tour.

It wasn’t long before everyone was diving into Maudie’s tex-mex tacos and enjoying Fireman’s 4 and authentic margaritas from the bar.

And then the raffle began!

First up: an 11” Macbook Air, courtesy of Appcelerator.

Next up:  Samsung Galaxy Note, courtesy of Nodejitsu.

We ate, drank, cruised and socialized to our heart’s content.

And then gave away more cool stuff.  Samsung Galaxy Tab, courtesy of Mozilla.

13” MacBook Air, courtesy of Adobe.

Oh, and there were bats. 1.5 million of them.

And of course, Pork Militia Bacon Cookies from Frank.

They were a huge hit. EVEN WITH @andrewdupont #dupontCAPS.

Did we mention that we gave away an autographed, framed pic of Phil Collins courtesy of Microsoft?

The excitement behind Phil warranted an animated gif.

And before we knew it, we were back at the dock.

But we had one last surprise: loaded swag bags that included jars of Mom’s Family Kitchen salsa, large bags of tortilla chips, koozies and cans of Lone Star beer, mini bottles of Tito’s vodka, Microsoft t-shirts and posters, Adobe sharpies, Nodejitsu t-shirts, Appcelerator stickers, Mozilla flashlight pens, KendoUI gum from Telerik, TEKsystems pens and highlighters, Geekli.st invite code cards and stickers, and gift certificates from Cultivate PR to Uchi, Uchiko, Limbo Jewelry, Away Spa and Trace.

This entire event would not have been possible without our INCREDIBLE community sponsors:

• Microsoft
• Adobe
• Mozilla
• subPrint
• Appcelerator
• Nodejitsu
• TEKsystems
• Geekli.st
• Telerik + Kendo UI
• Mass Relevance

Also, we couldn’t have put our plan into action without our outstanding staff:

Captain Ric and Katy from Lonestar Riverboat Photographer:  Annie Ray Music:  DJ Johnny Bravvo Visual Designer:  Joon Shin

Skippers: Bonnie Varner and Katherine McCaslin Bartender: Stacy Matthews

Event Lead:  Mandy Lauderdale Event Host:  Joe McCann

We’ve already begun to plan the party for next year.  There’s a rumor that Burt Reynolds’ moustache might make an appearance.

Want to view all 280 pics from the party? Click below: