The SXSW Baby! blog mostly covers the interactive portion of the festival, but they put together a very helpful guide on how to survive the music festival.
I absolutely agree about getting a wristband for the event. The badges are overrated. I saw every band I needed to see with a wristband. Granted, you may have to work harder to see bands that have amazing buzz (Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand), but it’s not impossible.
thanks for the link robert! we’ve got another post on survival tips and are asking folks for their suggestions.