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Browse Old Austin Grouch posts about corporate austin, Austin nostalgia, and the city habits locals still argue about.
Use this topic hub to explore satire, memories, and cultural commentary about corporate austin in Austin, Texas.
In 1994 you paid cash at a folding table outside a paint-peeling room on 5th and Brazos, watched a band from Athens or Lubbock blow the roof off, and left with a napkin setlist; now the corner demands an $1100 wristband scan, sponsored gates, and an engagement coordinator hawking tote bags while venture capital chatter drowns the guitars.
6 min read
Kicked off the tour at the curb outside the old Red River ice house where free drink tickets once flowed to any guitarist in sight, now replaced by a $1,400 platinum lounge with forced networking; the week of unpredictable music, cheap covers, and happy accidents has become a locked-down trade show where even the bathroom requires an RFID scan and the only discovery left is which sponsor owns which bar.
6 min read
The scanner at the door on Red River demanded my company name before I could hear a band; inside, a panel on 'tokenized fan engagement' ran long while the actual musicians loaded gear through a service alley lined with sponsored scooters. The 1998 version cost $45, required no lanyard, and somehow produced better memories than anything optimized by a growth hacker.
6 min read