SXSW 2009 And Why I’m Going to All Three Conferences
There isn’t a huge amount of doubt, but I’ve got enough dominoes lined up to say with confidence that I’ll be at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, running from March 13th to the 22nd.
SXSW is of course three festivals, an Interactive festival, a Film festival, and a Music festival… which pretty much hits every base that I like to talk about and get involved with. For the third year running, I’ll be attending all three conferences; and counting the number of times that “why don’t the Music industry listen to us†said at Interactive is balanced by “why don’t the Web people listen to us†said at the Music festival.
It really is a shame that the two industries can’t sit down at the same sessions, but Austin is such a small place the two gigs can’t run at the same time, and the respective groups don’t mingle at all.
One thing I wish SXSW could do (but the hotel accommodation in Austin would never let it) is have at least one day where those two conferences overlap (as Film overlaps with both).
If you have any drive in either space I’d recommend you arrive a day early (if you are attending Music) or stay on another day (if you are at Interactive) and see how the other side live.
Hear hear! I’ll be right there with you, Ewan. Can’t wait to see you again!
Last year, it was amazing to arrive on the 12th or so and not leave until almost 2 weeks later. I was broke and burnt out, but it was completely worth it. As you’ve said, more people need to bridge the gap if tech and music are ever going to really work together.