Comments on: SXSW Kills the Magic?

By: Marvin Kane

Marvin Kane — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:25:00 +0000

Age old problem. You start something at a grass roots level, want it to be successful, it becomes so successful that it loses the magic it held for previous attendees. Do you limit attendance to the first 1000 people signing up? Mmm, can’t do that. Bigger venue? Is there one? Is this a good problem to have? I’d love to hear your thoughts when you get back. BTW, met you at the Boston Wordcamp. Bought your book. Read it. Loved it.

By: Do you think Interactive’s size will “kill the magic”? : SXSW Baby

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:30:23 +0000

[...] the first batch of panels announced by SXSW, friend of The Baby, CC Chapman wonders if the annual Austin event is loosing its mojo: What I have always loved is the diversity of sessions and being able to be in one about [...]

By: Christa Avampato

Christa Avampato — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:23:00 +0000

Hi C.C. I have the same concerns. I went for the 1st time last year and loved being a speaker. However, I was a bit worried that it has gotten very corporate and I felt breaking up the venues did cause some issues. At first I found myself running around a lot and when I got tired of doing that I just stayed in one location and went to something on offer there. Sometimes for sheer logistical reasons, I just couldn’t get to some sessions based on something else I attended in a new location.

Despite all this, I truly enjoyed my time there and was impressed by how flawlessly it all ran. Huge kudos to the SXSW team for pulling it off. I’ll be interested in see how it goes as I imagine 2012 will be even bigger than 2011.

By: Dave Delaney

Dave Delaney — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:27:00 +0000

I’m excited to be attending again this year, after missing it last year for the first time in 5 years.
I know what you mean though. A big part of the value is the conversations in the halls.

I agree with you that Hugh, Katie and the team do an incredible job each year. This thing is mammoth!

One flaw I’m seeing now, that I don’t think can be fixed, is the early panel pitching and voting. This works really well to create buzz online and get people talking about SXSW, but they no longer need it. The brilliant word-of-mouth strategy to grow the conference has done so well, that it is now back firing.

Still, I know we’re going to have fun reconnecting with friends and making new ones!

By: James McNally

James McNally — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:03:00 +0000

This trend has been accelerating lately and sadly, after 11 straight years of attending, it looks like I’m going to give SXSW a miss in 2012. I’ll be happy to come back when it returns to a manageable size. Otherwise, I’ll be looking for a different small conference where the same sort of cross-pollination is encouraged.

By: C.C. Chapman

C.C. Chapman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:26:00 +0000

I LOVE speaking to specific industries. How can I talk to the hotels?

If there is one area that needs to have social in their DNA it is the hospitality industry! I know you know that

Love you too.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:23:00 +0000

I still believe it’s biggest flaw is picking the speakers and the subjects now.. half my job with digital is trying to keep up with and guess what will be new/effective. By March the way we do biz on Facebook could be completely changed form today..etc. I also find it has become a ‘preaching to the choir’ kind of event. It seems a majority of the people there already get it.. and although we can always learn more I think the future is business specific. The way a hotel utilizes digital will be different than the way Pepsi does.. I would like to see more people like you and other success stories speaking directly to the industries themselves. I am a generalist.. so to speak..truly a hotel/restaurant pro first – digital is new. People need to stop talking to each other and speak to those running the actual businesses that need and can benefit from the new digital tools!

p.s. love ya man!
B

By: Simon Salt

Simon Salt — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:39:00 +0000

C.C. I’ve actually made the decision not to go to next years. I’ve been for the past five years and each year I’ve come away feeling that it wasn’t as good as the previous year. It’s getting harder to find the good sessions among the “not so good”. Last year I heard more complaints about the content than I ever had. I think SXSWi is now being driven more by the brands than by the content. They have to make it bigger each year to attract more money and keep the impetus going.
I agree the hallways and the parties are where the real SXSW takes place but I’m not convinced that those conversations can’t be had at other events without the craziness of SXSW. Perhaps once I have skipped a year I’ll want to catch up on it in 2013…or perhaps I’ll have found a different conference to catch up with people at.

By: Raul Colon

Raul Colon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:12:00 +0000

I agree. I really think the best experiences I got last year where the unplanned ones. So not sure how to make a strategy out of that

By: C.C. Chapman

C.C. Chapman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:11:00 +0000

You are most welcome and cool to hear you are going again.

What this will force is all of us to be extra strategic about planning our days around the sessions we most want to see and then hoping we can make it in time

By: C.C. Chapman

C.C. Chapman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Well they sort of already do that with the three festivals of Music, Film and Interactive, but I see what your saying.

The establishment of these “campuses” around different topics probably had to happen due to size of it and I can’t fault them since the numbers are constantly going up and they are meeting that demand. Hard to turn away money when it is being offered right?

I can’t imagine having to deal with a problem like this. Obviously this is probably the only way to do it and keep it going. Who knows.

By: C.C. Chapman

C.C. Chapman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Yeah it happens time and time again with conferences for sure. They are not the first to go through this.

By: Matthew Ebel

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Isn’t this what Podcamp tried to avoid? If the conference starts to balloon, another entire event is formed so they can stay localized and tight-knit. Not sure how that approach is working overall, but it seems to prevent Attendance Bloat.

SXSW has already divided its interests into entirely different events- Music and New Media, maybe down the road you’re going to see the tracks spun off into their own events and you’ll have to pay separate registration fees for each of them or one mega-huge reg fee to go to all of them. Like the different parks at Disney World.

By: Dennis D. McDonald

Dennis D. McDonald — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:47:00 +0000

I don’t attend this conference but I’ve seen the phenomenon before — once conferences grow and have to spread across multiple buildings the benefits get lost. But something else will take its place.

By: Raul Colon

Raul Colon — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:46:00 +0000

C.C.,

Thanks for the great tips you offered me last year since it was my first year attending. Similar to you I already planned my travel to SXSW next year.

One of the most unique aspects of SXSW was the fact that I got to engage with lots of people creating different things in the type of conversations you mentioned. In my case I try to make it to two sessions and then the rest of the day move around towards other things that where happening such as those very important Hallway meetings.