Pick Your Direction

So earlier his week, my aunts went to San Antonio, Texas to visit my cousin. They did the common tourist type stuff but what I’m pretty sure I would have done had I gone, is engage in one of the biggest displays of music, film, and interactive activities just under an hour and a half away in Austin, Texas. From March 9-18, South by Southwest (SXSW) was holding their annual conference and festival.  SXSW is a company that plans and puts on trade shows and other events. The website SXSW.com has all the details and schedules of the event. The website even has a guide for first-timers.

Some parts of the event are free and some need registration that includes costly fees. This is an event you would definitely have to save up for. This huge project used an airline style type of pricing. The closer it got to the event, the more the price increased. This helps with the budget of putting on such a big event. It also is an incentive to get customers earlier so that an estimate of how many will be participating can be calculated. The first SXSW was held in March of 1987 with 700 attending, and last year’s had nearly 20,000! The many sponsors also aid in the costs while also promoting their own brand.

There are three different portions to this festival, they includes Film: showcasing new directorial talent, Interactive: all about new technology, and the Music: new and featured artists. The uses of social networks help in promoting the festival as well as updating and introducing new things with Facebook, Twitter, and the official YouTube channel.

Hopefully I can save up to visit my cousin next year and attend this event that happens every spring. The fact that it’s a huge regional event that attracts people from all around the nation is an example of great past execution.