SXSW started on Friday during a cold and rainy day in Austin, unwelcome seeing as how SXSW happens every year in March. This weather was unable to defeat the spirit of the tech and film crowd attending SXSW though. We immediately headed to the Coworking Meetup (organized by Julie Gomoll of LaunchPad Coworking), the yearly session where people from around the world meet and discuss their coworking spaces and the state of the cowork nation. For those of you new to coworking, it’s a worldwide movement that creates physical centers of innovation where independents and creatives work together with their community because “when you work together you work smarter.” More coworking resources can be found here, here and here. Unsurprisingly the meetup was packed with an international crowd quaffing wine and beer from Hotel San Jose’s collection (the Hotel San Jose is one of the two hippest hotels in Austin, the other being the Driskill). The night’s discussion centered around the year’s successes, more coworking spaces open than last year at this time. Semi-internet famous people shared stories of launches; Alex Hillman of Independents Hall who along with Geoff Dimasi has corralled the Philly tech scene and provided a physical clubhouse to stage game changing initiatives for Philly community. Tony Bacigalupo of New Work City discussed a freshly inked deal with the Mayor’s Office of New York and sold copies of his new book, I’m Outta Here: How Coworking is Making the Office Obselete. Debauchery seemed to be a theme for Friday night both at the coworking meetup and elsewhere. At the coworking meetup Elliot Cole of Caroline Collective handed out cards for his social experiment: Drunk Dial Me, an anonymous drunk dial podcast, just in time for SXSW’s debauchery. SXSW hosted Pastries & Pasties! A Burlesque Cupcake Cookoff! Featuring Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, Jigglewatts, Big Star Burlesque and lots of cupcakes (pictures here). Pace yourself people.