Last year at this time I was getting prepared to head down to Austin, Texas to attend a very large conference in the interactive media world known as South By Southwest or more commonly known as SXSW. 

The conference that every spring takes the city of Austin by storm is geared up to launch again on March  7-16, 2008 for 9 days of total conference mayhem.  The section I attended last year was the SXSWi or the Interactive portion of the conference, but it also has a music component and a film section.  They bring many like minded individuals together for this conference.  This from their History:

The music event has grown from 700 people in 1987 to nearly 10,000 people. As Austin has grown and diversified, film companies and high-tech companies have played a major role in the Austin and the Texas economies. In 1994, SXSW added a film and interactive component to accommodate these growth industries. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events attract approximately 7,000 people to Austin every March.

That translates into some great revenues for the people of Austin and a great boost to the economies of small businesses, especially the bars on 7th Street.  As I remember it, there was was live band playing at nearly every bar on what I liken to the strip in Las Vegas in the City of Austin.

I had a wonderful experience when registering last year and was upgraded to a suite that was canceled by a previous registrant.  All in all, I give the organizers an A+ for my memory of the event and the way it was organized.  I am still trying to get my way back to Austin to experience the conference again this year.  Now if I can just find someone to pay for the trip!

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