Eager Attendees Pump Up Volume at South by Southwest Interactive

Flying in the face of the recession—and the dip in attendance at industry events so far this year, including the Consumer Electronics Show—this week’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, is expecting at least a 20% rise over last year’s attendance figure of 9,000. SXSW boasts a sexy lineup of leading lights in the online business, with speakers and attendees hailing from television networks, brands, agencies and technology firms including CAA, ICM, IBM, PBS, Digitas, Revision3, MSN, MTV, Google, Microsoft, the New York Times, Kraft Foods, Politico, MySpace, Macrovision, Initiative and Wired magazine. But most attendees aren’t there for the sessions, or even the conference itself. Business at SXSW gets done in the halls. “The panels are informative, but it’s the conversations in the hallways of the convention center that provide the bigger dividends,” said George Ruiz, head of new media at ICM, who’ll attend the show again this year. “Dealmaking is a lot easier when you’ve met ... (link)