SXSW Safety

Is SXSW safe? City asks you to weigh in on official festival evaluation

A full-scale analysis of SXSW is currently underway after a resolution was approved 7-0 by the Austin City Council on March 27. The approval came just two weeks after Austin was rattled by the Red River incident where Rashad Owens allegedly drove through a crowd of SXSW attendees, killing four and injuring many others.

The 90-day evaluation will take a comprehensive look at SXSW, reviewing everything from crowd control to event sprawl — and now you have a chance to weigh in.

"The City of Austin and its affected departments estimate that necessary changes will need to be made to ensure safety for all upcoming festival events."

As part of the initiative, the City of Austin has created an online survey where locals can provide feedback regarding SXSW 2014 and other large-scale festivals.

"The City of Austin and its affected departments estimate that necessary changes will need to be made to ensure safety for all upcoming festival events," states the website. "City staff has been asked to compile community feedback on events taking place during SXSW festival for a post event evaluation."

The survey, which can be completed confidentially by April 18, covers general festival infrastructure as well as specific questions related to SXSW. The public is asked to share thoughts on a variety of festival programming elements, including permitting, distribution of the city's resources, and adequate street closures.

Locals can also weigh in on everything from issuing fewer permits during peak festival seasons, to limiting events to one area of downtown. Community feedback will be incorporated into the report, which will include the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission's look into alcohol-related issues and the Urban Transportation Commission's findings regarding traffic management.

City Manager Mike Ott is expected to present the findings to City Council later this year.

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Worker Bee News

Amazon wants to hire 1,000 seasonal employees in Austin for holiday

Photo by Wallstplaybook.com

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As the 2024 holiday shopping season approaches, Amazon is doing its annual round of holiday hiring, seeking to fill 250,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal roles across the U.S., including 18,000 positions in Texas — including 1,000 openings in Austin.

The bulk of the open positions in Texas are in Dallas-Fort Worth, but they're also hiring in Houston and San Antonio.

Seasonal Amazon jobs offer competitive pay, flexible schedules, and, as a release so eloquently puts it, "the opportunity to be part of the bustling retail industry during its busiest time of year." LOL. Many of these seasonal roles also come with the potential to transition into regular, full-time employment after the holidays.

The release does not specify which positions are open but one can assume packing and delivering boxes are involved.

Interested applicants can go to amazon.com/localjobs or text NEWJOB to 31432 to sign up for job alerts. Open roles are posted throughout the holiday season.

Pay and Benefits
All seasonal employees earn at least $18 per hour, and have access to comprehensive benefits like health care coverage from their first day of employment.

Approximately one-third of seasonal employees stay on year after year.

Seasonal employees who stay at the company can see an average pay increase of 15 percent over their first three years.

Amazon perks include career advancement opportunities; access to earned pay at any time; health, vision, and dental insurance from the first day on the job; a 401(k) with company match; and up to 20 weeks of paid pregnancy/parental leave for birth parents (six weeks for eligible supporting parents).

They also get Amazon Prime employee discount, and Amazon’s Resources for Living program, a free benefit offering mental health and financial services and support for employees, their families, and their households.