Had a great time at the Hooligans Party. SxSW volunteer Dave Dart and I played "isn't that guy in some film I once saw". People we unambiguously recognized included Elijah Wood (who spend much of the night DJing, Claire Forlani and Chris Masterson (who seemed like a really nice guy). I recognized David Krumholtz too but had to ask someone what his name was and what he'd been in. I didn't remember him from the films the person listed but a quick check of IMDb when I got back to the hotel revealed I know him from Freaks and Geeks.
Many of the people I talked to have films at the festival. Again it was nice to follow "no I don't have a film at SxSW" with "but I did make the XYZ film festival next month" and generally get the response "oh cool, that's a great festival".
It's always easy to ask filmmakers about their film. I never know what to say to an actor, especially a well known one. What would I have said to Elijah Wood? Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. Chris Masterson was certainly approachable.