Only on ABC-7: City of El Paso spent more than $50,000 to send employees to SXSW

From March 8 to 17, numerous El Pasoans are in the state capital to share the city’s story and its potential during the South by Southwest Conference and Festival.

South by Southwest, also known as SXSW, is pitched as the festival where music, film and ideas come together in Austin, Texas. It’s been around for more than 30 years, and 2019 marks the third consecutive year the City of El Paso has participated – on the taxpayers’ dime.

Records obtained by ABC-7 show the City shelled out $50,819.86 on SXSW in 2018. More than half of the amount, $28,350, paid for the booth space and registration.

“I stand by every dollar that is expended there because I see the benefit,” said Jessica Herrera, the City of El Paso’s Director of the Department of Economic Development, to ABC-7 in the days before city staff left to Austin for this year’s SXSW. “We exhibit in a way where we can showcase a lot of what we have to offer.”

Video from the city’s Facebook page posted on Monday showed the city hosting an event called the Taste of El Paso at a bar and restaurant in Austin. A musician from El Paso performed live while ambassadors served up food from Chico’s Tacos to dozens of waiting patrons.

“I’m from El Paso, so it’s great having (something from) home,” said one man as he received a paper boat of the restaurant’s signature rolled tacos in red sauce covered with shredded cheese.

In the days before city staff left for Austin, Herrera told ABC-7 that the city hosts events like the Taste of El Paso to keep the city at the top of mind for those who’ve left, those who’ve driven through but never visited, and those who’ve never even heard of the Sun City.

“It’s a good way to talk about all the exciting things that are happening and then bring them back into our city,” Herrera said, referring to El Pasoans who’ve relocated, who she called the “ex-pats.” She added, “You never know: as they start having a family and (see) that in cities like Austin where costs are going up, (they) have to commute, (we ask) ‘Have you considered coming back to El Paso? Do you know what’s happening across the region where you can play a role?'”

ABC-7 also asked Herrera to explain some of 2018’s SXSW expenditures, including $8,015 that was described as being spent on pedicabs, which are foot-powered taxis. She explained that the pedicabs were not used for transportation of city staffers; rather, it’s part of a marketing campaign in which the pedicabs are wrapped with custom-printed ads promoting El Paso, and each pedicab is supplied with an electronic tablet filled with pictures and information about the city.

“Images of all the really neat things that are happening in the region, whether it’s the streetcar line, downtown, the medical center, UTEP, you name it,” Herrera said. “You never know if the person who got on that pedicab is a CEO of a tech company that is getting ready to scale. We don’t know if that two-minute drive was the reason why … we get a phone call from that tech company or from another company.”

When ABC-7 asked if that’s actually happened, Herrera was enthusiastic. “Yes! That’s happened. Those are impressions that you cannot put a dollar amount towards.”

Records show that in 2018, the city spent $9,180 on expenses related to the convention booth, from insurance to electricity and decorations.

The city supplied images to ABC-7 of the booth setup from last year, which also appears to be the same as this year’s based on videos posted by the city on its Facebook page on March 11. The setup contains massive screens displaying images from the city.

According to the records obtained by ABC-7, the city also paid for the airfare, accommodations, rental vehicles and other expenses for a public information officer and three employees from the Economic Development Department; Mayor Dee Margo and City Council Reps. Alexsandra Annello, Cassandra Hernandez Brown and Peter Svarzbein also had their airfare covered by the city of El Paso. The hotel expenses for Margo and Brown, and rental vehicles and other ground travel for Brown and Svarzbein were also paid by the city.

Herrera said the nearly $51,000 dollars spent by the City is an investment in El Paso’s future.

“We are competing for people, and people actually want for there to be a better quality of life, for things to do, a place where (they) can start business,” she said. “The more we can help provide information about who we are and extend an invitation for others to come into El Paso, the better.”

The County of El Paso spent $48,309.28 in conjunction with the city for the 2018 SXSW campaign, which was organized by Destination El Paso. Destination El Paso is the parent organization of Visit El Paso, which oversees tourism development and marketing for the city.

Both the city and county — as well as the City of Las Cruces and the Borderplex Alliance — contributed funding to Destination El Paso to coordinate the 2018 SXSW campaign.