Austin's South by Southwest conference, widely regarding as a Twitter tipping point after attendees critically overloaded AT&T's network in 2009, has steadily grown from an indie music festival into a sprawling music/film/interactive behemoth.

And if you're among the emerging technology geeks who are planning to attend the March 11-15 interactive portion of this year's 10-day event, you can mingle with like-minded Coloradans at a newly announced official pre-event mixer up in Boulder.

The free meetup will take place next Monday, Jan. 31. It begins with a 6 p.m. "Town Hall," during which SXSW staffers will answer questions about the conference. After that, you and fellow techno-freaks can par-tay from 7 to 9, after which you must go home.

Email iarsvp@sxsw.com to RSVP for the event, which will take place at Bacaro Venetian Taverna, 921 Pearl St., Boulder. No word yet on whether Mountain Dew Throwback will be served.