SXSW: Huh?
I didn't get to SXSW this year.
But then, I didn't get there last year, or the year before, either.
But if you're anybody who's anybody in Interactive technology, you should have been there.
What's that, you ask? South by South West. It's actually more than an interactive conference. SXSW is actually an Austin-based company that "plans and executes conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Current roster of events include SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco, which take place every spring (usually in March) except SXSWeco, which takes place in October." (Wikipedia)
What I was amazed to learn is how long SXSW has been around - they've been at it since 1987! What? Who even had a computer then? Well, that's because it actually started as a music and film venue, and having been to Austin, TX, I can verify that it is definitely a national, if not international, music hub. The music you find in a grungy little bar in Austin is likely to be better than a lot of what you find on the FM dial these days.
While film still occupies the majority of the roughly month-long festival, music and interactive are gaining popularity - as I said, if you work in the Interactive field and you weren't there, you'd better question your credentials. Though I did learn that there weren't really any block-buster mobile or web apps delivered this year - one year Twitter gained some early traction, for example, but this year was evidently a bit disappointing. Most of the apps that got any mention were some social media derivative - and just how many ways do we need to hook up with our friends electronically? One of these days, they'll introduce something new: it will be called "talking."
At any rate, it's still the place to be, as "The music event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000 registrants. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year, most recently bringing around 15,000 to 20,000 registrants to Austin every March.Collectively, SXSW is the highest revenue-producing event for the Austin economy, with an estimated economic impact of $167 million in 2011." Poor old Austin. A month of fun, games, parties, and revenue pouring into the city, most of it under 40.
Now I'll shamelessly steal from Wikipedia and rerun some of the highlights of the event, just so at the next party you go to, you can sound like a cognoscenti:
A Little History:
"In July 1986, the organizers of the New York City music festival New Music Seminar contacted Roland Swenson, a staffer at the alternative weekly The Austin Chronicle, about organizing an extension of that festival into Austin. The plans did not materialize, so Swenson decided to instead co-organize a local music festival, with the help of two other people at the Chronicle: editor and co-founder Louis Black, and publisher Nick Barbaro. Louis Meyers, a booking agent and musician, was also brought on board. Black came up with the name, as a play on the name of the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest. The event was first held in March 1987. The organizers considered it a regional event and expected around 150 attendees to show up, but over 700 came, and according to Black "it was national almost immediately."
Roughly 20,000 people attended the 2011 SXSW festival, which ran from March 11 to 20, and this year's festival ran from March 9th through the 18th, with an expanded music portion, and, as I said, nothing much to report on in the Interactive world. So far!
So, now you know, and you can sound like a real tech-savy, music afficiando, movie critic the next time the subject comes up.
Come on, Syracuse - let's come up with something equally interesting for those summer months when nobody wants to be sizzling in 100+ temperatures in Austin!
But then, I didn't get there last year, or the year before, either.
But if you're anybody who's anybody in Interactive technology, you should have been there.
What's that, you ask? South by South West. It's actually more than an interactive conference. SXSW is actually an Austin-based company that "plans and executes conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Current roster of events include SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco, which take place every spring (usually in March) except SXSWeco, which takes place in October." (Wikipedia)
What I was amazed to learn is how long SXSW has been around - they've been at it since 1987! What? Who even had a computer then? Well, that's because it actually started as a music and film venue, and having been to Austin, TX, I can verify that it is definitely a national, if not international, music hub. The music you find in a grungy little bar in Austin is likely to be better than a lot of what you find on the FM dial these days.
While film still occupies the majority of the roughly month-long festival, music and interactive are gaining popularity - as I said, if you work in the Interactive field and you weren't there, you'd better question your credentials. Though I did learn that there weren't really any block-buster mobile or web apps delivered this year - one year Twitter gained some early traction, for example, but this year was evidently a bit disappointing. Most of the apps that got any mention were some social media derivative - and just how many ways do we need to hook up with our friends electronically? One of these days, they'll introduce something new: it will be called "talking."
At any rate, it's still the place to be, as "The music event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000 registrants. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year, most recently bringing around 15,000 to 20,000 registrants to Austin every March.Collectively, SXSW is the highest revenue-producing event for the Austin economy, with an estimated economic impact of $167 million in 2011." Poor old Austin. A month of fun, games, parties, and revenue pouring into the city, most of it under 40.
Now I'll shamelessly steal from Wikipedia and rerun some of the highlights of the event, just so at the next party you go to, you can sound like a cognoscenti:
A Little History:
"In July 1986, the organizers of the New York City music festival New Music Seminar contacted Roland Swenson, a staffer at the alternative weekly The Austin Chronicle, about organizing an extension of that festival into Austin. The plans did not materialize, so Swenson decided to instead co-organize a local music festival, with the help of two other people at the Chronicle: editor and co-founder Louis Black, and publisher Nick Barbaro. Louis Meyers, a booking agent and musician, was also brought on board. Black came up with the name, as a play on the name of the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest. The event was first held in March 1987. The organizers considered it a regional event and expected around 150 attendees to show up, but over 700 came, and according to Black "it was national almost immediately."
- In 2000, John Mayer was "discovered," and signed to Aware Records, and in 2004 James Blunt was signed to Custard Records.
- In 2005, SXSW Film named a new style of indie film "mumblecore," simply low-budget, low-production values, amateur actor movies that somehow intrigue viewers.
- 2006 introduced The Flaming Lips, Wikipedia and Craigslist, while 2007 featured (though it did not, as is commonly mis-reported, debut there) Twitter.
- In 2008 Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg gave the keynote address, and by 2009, a heavy strain on smartphone provider networks proved that the event was not only popular, but that people were chatting it up via mobile apps as much as they were face-to-face. It was also that year that many who could not attend dreamed up something they called "NotAtSXSW," using Twitter and other online tools, with events held worldwide.
So, now you know, and you can sound like a real tech-savy, music afficiando, movie critic the next time the subject comes up.
Come on, Syracuse - let's come up with something equally interesting for those summer months when nobody wants to be sizzling in 100+ temperatures in Austin!
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