Everytime I attend South by Southwest or even living in San Francisco I have learned that having the top coolest apps on your phone will help you stay ahead of the trends and make the most out of events and conversations over dinner with friends. These five apps will help you get the most out of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival starting March 12th.

5 Essential Apps for SXSW

Travel Apps

Uber: I am a big fan of Uber and if it Uber is back in town for South by Southwest this is clearly the app of choice for getting around.

Lyft: If Lyft is in indeed the official travel app of SXSW it might behoove you to download and use it as a mode of transporation.

Zipcar: A San Francisco based (wait…aren’t all these SF based? :P) company allows you to rent a car and return it in the same spot on a per hour or per day charge. They might go quickly, so go to zipcar.com and find out more about registering for this service. It does take a couple days to get the card in the mail, so make sure you’re leaving plenty of time to apply and get it. (Tip: If you live in SF just go down to their office and pick one up)

Social/Messenger

My favorite social app for SXSW and the one that I use the most is GroupMe. It allows us to have all of our friends in the same chatroom to see what’s going on during the event, what sessions their attending, and any secret parties they stumble upon.

Events

If you’ve been to SXSW before you know all the parties are hosted mainly off Eventbrite. Make sure you download this app and have everything organized so you can easily have your barcode scanned at the door.

Organization

If you’re like me and completely A-type and OCD you’ll have an organization app or a calendar app to keep track of what, when and where you’re going during SXSW. I use Sunrise which is my favorite calendar app and it integrates all different types of applications, including Eventbrite!

Official SXSW App

I’ve found this app useful in the past to see last minute changes to events and sessions that I’m attending during the week. If you don’t have this app download, it might be a good one to have on your home screen during the festival. You never know when you’ll need to reference it to get the most out of your experience!

What other apps have you used at SXSW to make your event a success?