Austin's Bold Move: How a Convention Center Closure Sparked Innovation!

Welcome. Thanks for being here this morning and thank you Tiffany and Alex. Um I've been really excited for this session today. It's visit Austin South by Southwest. Obviously both have been a game changer for how people think about events, culture, creativity, innovation. Um but the big question, so as of April a few months ago 2025, the Austin Convention Center um is closed. It's offline for a major four-year renovation, right? >> Uh so the big question is how are you navigating this big change? Talk about it. >> Yeah, I'll jump in. Um so I obviously

have a very interesting job of marketing a destination for an audience like this with a convention center offline. Um but what's been really exciting about it is really kind of approaching this moment as a product launch, right? This is our moment to kind of innovate the way that people gather um and come and meet across our city. Once you get outside of the four walls, what does it look like to have the destination as a canvas and kind of an extension of your content? Um and I think we're we're well positioned um to be successful in that. Sitting here with Alex, you know, South by Southwest is part of our DNI DNA, excuse me. um it's part of our DNA. And so, you know, we've over decades, we've watched this unfold in our city every single spring. And now, how do we replicate that in a more evergreen fashion while the convention center is offline? >> Yeah, Alex.

>> Yes. First of all, it's so good to be here. Um, thank you for having me. And I mean, we only have a few minutes. I could talk about all the exciting changes and things coming to Southby um all day long. I'll be here all day, so I'd love to chat with you all, but we are just totally leaning in and embracing it, right? I mean, I've been with the Southby team a little over a year. Um, I know the team before me has been, you know, planning and talking about the convention center going down for years and years, knowing this was coming. Um, we're totally just ready to take it on um head first. It's a challenge, but it's a really exciting one. I mean, we'll we'll we'll have the ability to utilize Austin in ways that we haven't before. And I think it's a really exciting time to just re-imagine the experience for our attendees. >> Yeah, I love that kind of taking the opportunity. I love the phrase reimagining destination as canvas. Um, and yeah, I want to talk a little bit

about Alex. So, South by Southwest, you know, it's so deeply rooted in Austin. It goes hand in hand. Um, yeah. So, how do you stay so rooted in Austin, you know, especially with the convention center closing? And what are some of the advantages of staying local? Um, you know, keeping those roots there. Yes. So, I'm actually a born and bred New Yorker, so I'm I'm home this week, which is exciting. Um, I've been in Austin about four years, so I'm not a true Austinite yet. I think I'm getting there. Um, but I think Southby is not Southby without Austin, and Austin is not Austin without Southby, right? like the two just go hand in hand and and Tiffany said it too, it's just in both of our DNA. I mean, I think someone already mentioned earlier today um we do have a South by Sydney now and a Southby in London. So, we have, you know, our our brand showing up in other places around the globe, but you know, the the headline is like we are in Austin and we're in Austin and we're staying in Austin. So, um I think the big thing there that we're rallying around is our community, right? I mean, you'll see behind me, look at look at the key art for 2026, right? It's Congress Avenue. It's the capital. It It is Austin. Um and it's, you know, the people who make Austin authentic and the independent spirit that really embodies the city. Um and we're totally going in on that and and embracing that. So, we're super excited just about the vision and the footprint, taking over different parts

of downtown. We're creating neighborhoods that are going to be rooted with club houses that match each badge experience for the attendee so you can really find your community and your people um while you're at the event. >> Yeah. And I just love these illustrations. I know there's little Easter eggs for Southby and Austin in here. Um so yeah, Tiffany, I'm assuming

that with this change, planners are really having to get creative in how they think about events in Austin. So, what are some event formats that are emerging? You know, how are people how are planners thinking about events in new ways? Um, yeah, how are they taking advantage? And again, going back to that reimagining. >> Yeah. And Alex, I'll say because you're Southby, you get kind of a fast pass to becoming a local. So, I'll go ahead and give you your local your local card now. Um, but you know, we're really kind of modeling after what the Southby experience has always been. And when you think about this idea of a a campus style or a distributed event, that's what we're seeing our most, you know, innovative planners really jump into with us. And so um it works because you know we have such a condensed footprint with so much hotel inventory, so many unique venues that what we're seeing is you know our planners starting to package like maybe you have a headquarter hotel and then you know that's where the bulk of your programming is and then you spread around that and maybe you have an executive track across the street at the Four Seasons and maybe you have something else at the at the property um next door. But then you're also mixing in a museum here or a tech space here or a live music venue and really creating that kind of content extension through a sense of place. Um, and so it's been really exciting to see kind of this

concept that we started really dreaming up years ago because you know this convention center redevelopment didn't catch us off guard. we knew it was coming and so to start to see >> it come to life has been really exciting. >> I love that. So, Southby does have

experience uh planning events and creating events across the city and across uh different and alternative venues. So what are some lessons you've learned or like advice you would give um to those managing you know logistics across these multi- neighborhood um yeah decentralized events? Yeah. So c cue the map. Um I think >> here we go. Um the the joke here is that in other presentations there was a slide similar to this that said south by 2025 and then it panned to this and it showed that nothing really changed. So I think the point being you know these decentralized sort of footprints are are what we do and what we're used to at Southby. It's sort of how the event has always been modeled. So this isn't really new territory for us. I think we're just getting the opportunity to really lean on our hotel partners and the venues and, you know, the music spaces and these places that make Austin Austin in ways that we haven't before. And I think that's really the exciting part for us is to say, hey, you know,

you've been supportive of Southby in some capacity for a decade, two decades, three decades. Southby is turning 40 in 2026. So, um, getting able to lean on these folks in the community in even bigger ways and say, "We want you to be a part of this new reimagined experience with us has been really exciting." So, you'll see too that black box kind of in the middle is where the convention center once stood. Um, we'll continue to sort of embrace all these different neighborhoods in Austin on the east side and in downtown and have additional street closures and really have a ton more opportunity for brands, meeting planners, groups to come and embrace the city with us, right? And I think the cool thing about Southby that a lot of you can probably, you know, attest to is like that's the place people really come to get creative, right? That's a place that people come to take risks and do new things. And like we welcome that, you know, even even more so going into next year. >> Yeah. Um and yeah, Tiffany, I want to

talk a little bit about the relationship between Austin and the planners. Um how are you helping that community rethink these alternative spaces? you know, this might be really new for for some people. Um, and then on the second part of that question, we want to talk about attendees as well. So, how are you making sure that attendees feel welcome, making sure the city is uh easy to navigate? Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, so I think kind of the it's easier because the nuts and bolts and the infrastructure are there. You know, when you've got the 15,000 hotel rooms just downtown, you've got all of those kind of unexpected venues that are accustomed to being activated for corporate events. Um, it just works. But I think the secret sauce is really in the care of the team, the DMC's, the hotel years. It's always been a very tight-knit hospitality community in Austin and we acknowledge that doing this format isn't the easiest >> Yeah. >> way to go necessarily. You know, you might have multiple contracts. You might, you know, and so the team really is kind of across the entire community, not just the team here at Visit Austin, but across the community. you're really seeing them start to offer more of this white glove experience where they're helping you kind of go everything from concept all the way through execution with our DMC's. And really for the first time too, Austin is able to provide incentives um for events like this to offset things like maybe there are additional transportation costs or maybe there are additional security costs, maybe there are other things that you are going to incur with FnB or AB and things like that. So, how can we kind of lighten that load to make it easier for all of you to make the case to your leadership that Austin is where we want to be? And from an attendee experience

perspective, that's where I get really excited. Um, I think there's a reason why, >> you know, groups that come to Austin, >> there's a reason why a lot of people see record attendance whenever an event is hosted in Austin. and it's a destination that people want to get want to come to and it's easy to get to. And so now when you've kind of taken everyone out of the four walls of a convention center and they're walking from A to B and maybe there's some live music on the street when they're walking by or they're grabbing an Austin bite from like a Michelin awarded food truck as part of their experience. They're getting to experience more of the destination's character um as part of their overall >> experience. So >> yeah, they're that much more immersed in the city, which you know, from attendees perspective is great. Um, >> yeah, so last question, we have a minute left. Um, you know, Austin, of course, you know, we're talking about it here. It's always been so innovative, creative. It just has that reputation and South by Southwest is a major part of that. So what advice would you give

to planners who are kind of looking to think outside the box, you know, dig into that authenticity, that innovation side of things? Um, yeah, for both of you. >> Yeah, I'll start. I mean, you kind of just said it. I think it's a little cliche, but like authenticity is key, right, in these moments. And I think leaning on the resources, you know, that Visit Austin is providing. You know, I'm here today hoping to meet a lot of you, be a resource from the Southby lens, like, >> you know, the history and the legacy of the people that I've met working at Southby, too. Like, these folks just know Austin in ways that you can't even imagine, right? So I think really em embracing those relationships and building those relationships now in your planning. I mean we're going to be without the convention center for four years so we can start talking now for 2027 and still you know everything will still be relevant. So I think really leaning on the resources that are being provided um and and the locals who really know how to best guide you to curate that authentic experience so that it feels really organic when you do show up. >> Yep. Yeah. I know we're at time, but

yeah, I would just say for anyone who who's looking to kind of take a risk and um you know, partner with us, let us let us be a resource. Let us tap into the destination expertise, tap into the community and just think about you know, the impact of your events and how they kind of flow through and across across the industry and the community. >> Amazing. And we we had the QR code up for a second. if we could just bring that back up. But that is if you want to learn more about South by Southwest for 2026. Badges go on sale October 1, so that's just two and a half weeks away, which is crazy. Um, yeah. And that's it. Thank you so much. Thank you. So great for you.