More on SXSW-gate

Here's a list of quotes someone compiled and published on the unofficial sxsw list.

Statesman:
-Swenson: "We believe everybody deserves equal scrutiny."

-"[Asst. Fire Marshall Dan Smith] said, fire marshals did not go to all the venues on the list because many of the nearly 80 locations,including the Austin Convention Center, were obviously going to be in compliance."

News 8 Austin:
"South by Southwest does make complaints. We did receive some complaints saying this is going to happen from SXSW. We did receive complaints from nightclubs saying this other night club is going to do this or that. We don't necessarily care SXSW or non-SXSW. Doesn't matter," he said.

SXSW director Roland Swenson said lists of non-sanctioned SXSW parties are easy to come by - even the Austin American-Statesman prints one. And he doesn't deny sharing it with the fire department.

"We had a list of every event in Austin that we knew about - parties, clubs, everything. We said, 'if you're going to lean on our clubs then here's the rest of SXSW. You have to pay attention to this to.' And apparently they did," he said."

Statesman:(http://tinyurl.com/277tbc)
"Los Angeles based label-head and promoter Franki Chan made multiple trips to Austin organizing his official SXSW showcase and two after-parties. The fire inspector visited the site of one event numerous times last week and never discussed the ordinance nor did he ever request a copy of any permits (with full understanding of the large-scale event that was going to take place there). The night after our event was shut down, Frankiís party was too for the same reason - lack of permit."

Austinist (http://tinyurl.com/ywcxnx)
Swenson: "#1 "Ultimately, FactoryPeople didn't obtain the permits and we
accept full responsibility"

We have to wonder how you've lived in Austin all this time and were unaware of how many times the Austin Fire Department has cracked down on venues at all times of the year and have shut down or delayed SXSW shows. The first thing SXSW does when we get a new venue for a show or party is find out if the Fire Department is going to let us have an event there, and how many people we can admit. The assembly permit is not new. You ask "Would we have known about this new ordinance if we had been in communication with the Fire Department?" It's a stunning admission that you didn't even bother to check on what permits are required by the Fire Marshals to hold a safe, public, advertised event."

"When this accusation started spreading this week we looked into it and could only find seven parties that were affected out of the literally hundreds held last week. Four parties shut down early due to lack of load cards and fire inspections. One party shut down because part of a balcony collapsed. Two parties ended at 2am instead of their advertised 4am end times. Maybe there were more, but we don't know because we were a little busy last week with our own event."

SXSW