I’ve been to Austin (never for the conference) and while I’m sure the increased revenue is a bonus, it can’t be good for the city’s vibe (which is the reason Austin was so cool to begin with).

Just a thought.

So basically what you are saying is that it’s Twitter.

Sorry, but I’ve seen you in heated battles with “Z-Money” in the past, so I assumed your comments at face value.

As you were.

Also: honest criticism is always better than passive acceptance.

First, everyone knows the non-conference activities are the best part of SXSW. Also, if you don’t like it, you can vote with your feet and just not go. You know, a lot of the people putting on this conference and speaking at it are good people who do a great job. And damn, how many years are we going to have to listen to jaded hipsters like you complain about this stuff, anyway?

Get over yourself.

For instance I had a wonderful conversation at the Hampton about geo-location only to find one of the folks in the conversation was on the W3C and the others worked on browsers themselves. When would I have that conversation any where else? Probably wouldn’t.

I know there are number of people now attending the conference but not getting a pass. The reputation of SXSW being “Nerd Spring Break” certainly continues.

Personally I believe it is time to spin of SXSWm for those on the marketing track. The frustration I have with SXSW and speaker selections is that the Social Media crowd seemed to have overwhelmed what I think of as the original target market of the conference. This is noticeable simply by looking at the major categories and how the large majority are around Social Media.

I’m certainly not disparaging these folks. But I can’t help but think SXSWi is for makers. SM folks are mostly people who use the tools the makers build.

Another potential downside is the dilution of relevance as SXSW becomes overwhelmed with people and product launches. I think music has already seen this happen with major label acts showing instead of indies. We’ll call it the “Sundance” effect.

Word.

I’ve been to one web conference, FOWA, in Miami two years ago. I enjoyed it, but in the end I didn’t glean any info I couldn’t have obtained online through my normal channels. Did I meet some new people who became online friends? Sure. But as you say, meeting people should be secondary to the quality of the conference.

I think most of these conferences represent a sort of hero worship that I want no part of. Kenny Meyers wrote a great post about this: http://happymagicfuntime.com/post/3431723111/making-friends

I personally would rather spend my vacation days doing something totally unrelated to my job, and the less crowded rooms that are involved, the better. But I also appreciate genuinely great public speaking, so I’m still on the lookout for conferences that have something truly special to offer.

Vince: Yep, I used 20% so as not to sound like a complete asshole :). I’m sure it’s higher than that as well. I also agree about prioritizing speakers over topics, but the scary thing about that is there are going to be some great speakers there you’ve never heard of.

Jason: Nice! You get the bonus points.

Luke: That’s a good way to think about it: reducing the things that distract you from a few days with your friends. Well put.