Results tagged “convention”

• Clinton's convention speech: "No way, no how, no McCain"
• Chatter over Hutchison as McCain's possible VP pick gets louder. Isn't she running for governor?
• Suffering from exhaustion, Dalai Lama cancels international trips

• Georgian president says "there is no cease-fire" as Russian convoy advances
• Phelps makes Olympic history with two more golds; US women gymnasts take silver
• Opening ceremonies singer, chosen for her cuteness, lip-synched song

With a shape-conforming bed, internet-enabled pillow and massaging bathtub, the hotel room of the future is on display this week at the Austin Convention Center.

Photo by cogdogblog on flickrNetroots Nation, an annual convention of progressive political bloggers, has chosen Austin as the location for its 2008 meeting. Formerly known as Yearly Kos, Netroots Nation is expected to draw more than 2,500 participants for the July 17-20 event. At their 2006 meeting, about 2,100 bloggers and reporters attended, along with several Democratic presidential candidates. "There are many reasons that we chose Austin," organizers said in their announcement. "I was most...

Photo by Veronica Meewes on flickrAs expected, this year’s Stitch was both fun and overwhelming. We tried to take it all in, circling around the booths bundled under Austin Convention Center many, many times. However, it really is impossible to experience everything thing unless you dedicate at least three hours to paint a Carlo Rossi jug, sew a sweater at First Samples, watch the runway show… and then, of course, shop! The latter was easy....

Poster by City On Fire Stitch AfterpartySaturday, November 10thThe Mohawk (912 Red River)10 pm, $5[info] If you attend The Stitch Fashion Show and Guerrilla Craft Bazaar at the Austin Convention Center you're gonna leave with a bellyful of terrific Austin homemade couture. You're also gonna be sad that it's over. To extend the experience, sometime tomorrow around 10pm you should find your way over to the Mohawk for the afterparty. DJ Abominatron (Indirect/Blue Noise) and...

Photo by Fort Cloudy on flickr StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]We figured we'd end our Stitch Preview series by interviewing Matthew Stinchcomb, who does PR for Etsy. We learned that the online store is kind of a big deal in the DIY world. Several Stitch vendors sell their homemade wares on the site so it'll be a treat to meet the...

Photo courtesy Ornamental Things StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]Austinite Natalie Tischler's reworked vintage jewelry, Ornamental Things, has a strong magnetic pull on us every time we walk into Parts and Labour. It's always hard to decide what's cooler, the button rings or the dangle-y earring and necklaces she creates from things found at flea markets. Natalie's bringing her beautiful pieces to...

Photo courtesy 31 Corn Lane StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center (500 E Cesar Chavez Street)Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]31 Corn Lane is all about girls wanting to have fun. It's the brainchild of three sisters—Teeter (the youngest), Amy and Heather Sperber (the latter two are identical twins who rock out with The Boxes). We've loved their pony necklaces, novelty totes and bright floral print belts ever since we saw them...

Album cover of McLemore Avenue, Booker T. & The MG’s The hilarious kids of ColdTowne bring their audience-driven film/music/improv spectacle, 3, 2, 1 Kill!, to the new downtown Drafthouse digs Austin Music Commission hosts a very important town hall meeting tonight at Momo's on the resurrected sound ordinance proposal, which could dramatically transform our city's live music landscape -- and not in a good way Stitch, Austin's ultimate gathering of D-I-Y fashion and design, takes...

Photo courtesy Jessica Plymate StitchSaturday, November 10Austin Convention Center [map]Doors at 4pm, Fashion show 9:30pm, Tickets $10[info] | [tickets]Jessica Plymate revives the art of appliqué in super rockin' way with Aorta Designs. Gone are the days of mom's innocent poodles sewn on skirts. Jessica's animals are hardcore; drinking wine and smoking cigarettes. What is your design/art background? This is where I have to confess I have no formal training in design, art or anything. I've...

Kay Bailey Hutchison may be running for governor and detests your anonymous blog. Retiring Republican Reps may lead the Dems to a larger majority in the House when election time rolls 'round. Temporary pedestrian islands to go up on S. Congress Avenue, in the area between Riverside and Ben White. Live bat found at McNeil High School yesterday has tested positive for rabies. And another rabid bat was found this weekend at the Convention...

Last Thursday's Texas Conference for Women brought 7,500 folks to the Austin Convention Center for some estrogen-fueled networking and personal development. With panels on starting a small business and caring for children and elderly parents, the conference served its diverse demographic well. While we wished for a little more substance from some of the speakers and panelists — the keynote session featuring Nancy Giles and Elizabeth Vargas mined well-worn material to the point of blandness...

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts...

City Manager Toby Futrell announced a couple days ago that she will be retiring in May 2008. Ms. Futrell has served as city manager since 2001. She had been expected to retire sometime next year, since the city council recently approved a pretty sweet retirement package for her. Futrell has worked for the city since 1976; her current annual salary is $240,600, and the retirement package ensures her $167,000 per year. During her service...

Tomorrow, take a trip up I-35 and get your pants scared off at the Texas Frightmare Weekend, a giant horrorfest being held in Dallas at the Omni Dallas Park West Hotel. George A. Romero will be there, which is, for us, reason enough to brave the hordes of horrorfans (why can't we stop thinking of Comic Book Guy?). But that's not all: you could meet Clint Howard (Ron Howard's weird-ass brother/star of Ice Cream Man);...

Part of the trouble with being labeled an “experimental” band is that no one quite knows what to expect. Or, maybe that’s the fun of it. Either way, the all-girl Brit-rock machine that is Electrelane, which sometimes draws comparisons to Stereolab, is sure to bring to The Parish a welcomed departure from the stale sounds of the Libertines-esque pop groups who tend to make their way across the pond. Electrelane is touring in support...

There are quite a few mentionables this week, including Dappled Cities' Granddance, produced by Jim Fairchild (of Grandaddy) and Peter Walker, and mixed by Jaquire King (Modest Mouse). Dappled Cities are an Australian indie rock band that we've grown rather fond of as of late, mostly because of "Fire, Fire Fire". Also of note this week is the latest from Ladybug Transistor and the latest Eccentric Soul compilation, The Prix Label. As usual, do...

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors Predictability seemed paramount at the time. The end-all, want-all. It was the sole reason we were even living here back then. Our purpose. Goals and whatnot. We’d had enough of the side-dealings associated with chaotic under-tabled business ventures and the perils of potential imprisonment (by either: society in prisons, or society in...

Spank Dance Company is conducting a social experiment on you. Have you noticed? Were you wandering around outside of the Convention Center during SXSW only to see four red clad dancers (and one whimsical ring leader) spontaneously break into dance? Maybe you were enjoying the epic day we had this past Thursday at Republic Square Park and caught a glimpse of them. According to Spank Dance Company's director and choreographer, Ellen Bartel, if you...

After the news of the firing of the director of the convention center earlier this week, today a search warrant was issued to search his office. What is being searched for has not been released, but the plot sure is thickening. The former director, Robert Hodge, was fired for supposedly doctoring surveys related to customer service, but that act alone doesn't seem worthy of a search warrant. More likely, this is tied to an...

City Manager Toby Futrell sent out notice this morning that the director of the city's convention center department, Bob Hodge, has been fired for violating city policy. It is unknown at this time exactly which city policy he violated, but it seems unrelated to the Center's rumored accounting issues. Hymie Gonzales (currently assistant director) will take over as interim director until a new director can be found. Assistant City Manager Rudy Garza will talk...

Let's be honest: everyone loves SXSW week, but when it ends, you are secretly very ready to move on. Before we do, let's take a look at some of the isolated, crazy, and wonderful moments that make SXSW such an over-the-top sensory experience. – The dude at Girl Talk dancing with a broken pinata on his head. Then passing said pinata to someone else to dance with. – Isaac Hayes talking in his famous...

We're back in New York where people are trying to recover from SXSW, here's the last entry of Nate from My Brightest Diamond's Austin tour diary he kept for us. Read the first part here. Over at Gothamist we've got Pela's tour diary...we totally snuck in to their hotel room and found it under their pillow. SXSW DAY 2: A DAY, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER In contrast to my first 24 hours here at the...

FRIDAY [16] art • Artist's Reception: Joan Winter: From Marfa to Sudari at Flatbed Press and Gallery (6-8pm) art • Flatstock 12 Poster Convention at Austin Convention Center (11am-6pm) books • Jack Pendarvis preseents The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure at BookPeople (3:00pm) books • John Sellers presents Perfect From Now On at BookPeople (7:00pm) sxsw • SXSW Film Festival at Everywhere sxsw • SXSW Music Festival at Everywhere theatre • Austin Shakespeare...

Tony from LAist, here again to give you some choice picks of some of the bands that LA is very proud of. Tonight is one of those nights where you really wish you could split yourself up into several you's to check out all the bands that are rocking your fine town. The pick of the day has got to be Dengue Fever which is a multicultural group starring Cambodian pop star Ch’hom Nimol....

Believe it or not, there's still a bunch of activities going on around town this week other than SXSW. This week's IST List won't include our usual bevy of music and film events; for those, we recommend that you check out our Interactive Guide to SXSW Parties and the Other Side Guide, respectively. Meanwhile, if you'd like to share your SXSW photos with the Austinist community, simply tag 'em "sxswaustinist" -- we'll be featuring...

We first ran into The Small Stakes at The Flatstock Poster Show during SXSW 2006. The three-day concert poster convention features works by today's premiere screenprinters and artists. Sifting through the field of amazing choices, we kept finding ourselves returning to The Small Stakes before making our final purchases. We grabbed up a number of their posters that day; now, their business card is the only one we still have. Behind The Small Stakes...

Believe it or not, there's a bunch of activities going on around town this week other than SXSW. This week's IST List won't include our usual bevy of music and film events; for those, we recommend that you check out our Interactive Guide to SXSW Parties and the Other Side Guide, respectively. We'd also like to welcome LAist editor Tony Pierce and Gothamist arts editor Jen Carlson, both of whom will be joining us...

In what might be the best example of both SXSW Interactive & Film comes "The Weathered Underground", a film that allows you to choose the direction that the main character, Eric (played by Michael Ciriaco), gets to experience. Wanna see Eric trip out on mushrooms? Wanna see him go to a club instead of working? Or would you rather see him work instead of drinking? The control is literally in your hands in this...