SXSW Attendance Up, but So Are "Can't Afford it" Tweets

The Industry Standard — Excitement is building among Web developers, content creators, entrepreneurs and aspiring cyberlebrities for this week's South by Southwest conference in Austin. The ten-day event, which runs from Friday through March 22, mashes up three different topics: Music, film, and "interactive," a euphemism for Internet and digital media.

SXSW, as it's commonly known, began as a showcase for bands in 1987. As the World Wide Web and independent film became respectable industries of their own, SXSW added the interactive and film categories in 1994.

For many Web workers, SXSW, organized by a private company in Austin that works year-round on the conference, isn't just a professional conference. It's the big social event of the year. In 2008, Wired used a breathalyzer to profile attendees. The talk of last year's conference wasn't Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook announcements, it was whether or not BusinessWeek reporter Sarah Lacy was too flirty while she interviewed him.

But with worries about the economy hanging over the heads of so many Internet workers, there's a sad new demographic for 2009: Those who want to go to SXSW, but can't afford it. A Twitter search for "SXSW afford" serves up an online support group of sorts.

Interactive festival director Hugh Forrest told the Austin American-Statesman that the conference is on track to top last year's 9,000-plus attendance. He attributed the strong attendance numbers to the event's low registration fees -- early-bird Interactive event passes sold for US$375 last fall -- and to the airline industry's sharply reduced fares. However, Forrest added that a few panelists who aren't paid for their appearance had cancelled.

This year's Interactive festival will include a new event, called the Accelerator, in which more than 20 startups will demo their products before a panel of judges hosted by venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki.