SXSW: Trying Too Hard To Be Hip
The Austin, Texas-based South By Southwest Conference (SXSW) began in 1987 as a Woodstock-styled music festival. Musical acts from around the country and abroad would play a set in what is considered by many to be the "Live Musical Capital of The World". Don't believe me? Just look at Austin's official slogan.
Nearly 10 years later, the SXSW Committee added two more conferences: Film and Interactive. Now, SXSW is one of the largest Conferences/Festivals in the country. People from all over the world attend to get a glimpse of the latest flicks, the newest technology and rock out to some live tunes all the while.
Very cool. Right? Well, "cool" is a relative term. Just ask anyone at San Diego Comic Con. The tricky thing about "coolness" is that when you are trying to appeal to those who are, it usually means you are not.
Case in point: the SXSW Interactive Conference.
There are several sessions that could be fairly interesting. "The Essential Guide to Open Source Flash Development" is one. And being an ActionScript developer, I find myself fighting the urge to camp out to get a good seat. But then further down the list, there is the oh-so-cleverly titled: "Core Conversation: Reduce MySpace Between Waist & Thighs So Wiki Live Longer."
I don't know about you, but reading that description irks me. I have visions of a stressed out, overly caffeinated marketing team sitting around a table shuffling buzzwords. How else would they come up with this utterly inane title... which I'm sure had them all patting themselves on the back over being so very hip, cool and trendy. Side note to those marketers: the people who should go to that session will not simply because of that description. We computer fatties are a cynical and judgmental lot. We suggest the marketing team go to the "Core Conversation: Why Gen Y Won't Friend Your Brand" seminar with all due haste.
What's next on the agenda? Well, how about "Core Conversation: Bloggers: How Not To Get F___ed", or "Core Conversation: F@ck Stats, Make Art"? No, we'll be avoiding those. Why? Because we're too annoyed by your pathetic attempts to attract our attention with profanity. Not because we object to obscenities. Not at all. We just object to inappropriate use of obscenities. Like your mom trying to sound dope. Just doesn't work.
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SXSW: Trying Too Hard To Be Hip
I'd have to agree with you. When a big event like the multi tiered SXSW gets as big as it is, the folks running the show tend to be out of touch with reality. What once was an organic festival is now this huge corporate happening, run by non-hip, disconnected people. It might make it better if they added more bling and made it more like the MTV awards or something...everybody likes a gift bag."The tricky thing about "coolness" is that when you are trying to appeal to those who are, it usually means you are not." Love it!
Get fonzie and a ramp, this tank is ready for jumpin'
Unfortunately as soon as anything - person, event, or work - establishes enough credibility, it becomes a "brand" and is assigned a certain value. When the value reaches the level of "aided awareness" - "sure, I've read/heard about SXSW…" - it becomes ripe for abuse. Gone are the early days of "screw the record companies, let's have our own festival" and enter the major sponsors like FUZE, LITE, and Mountain Dew who, because they MUST BE so damn cool for being sponsors, hope that coolness translates to brand-loyalty from attendees.Cha-ching $$$$$.Equally tragic are the sessions that are so obviously nothing more than efforts at self-aggrandizement "buy my book/product, subscribe to my twitter feed, invest in my company, just tell your fiends how cool I am".
As soon as Marketeers see an opportunity at "brand leveraging" - using what was originally a cool, down to earth, celebration of stuff you SHOULD know about - and send Fonzie flying over the tank of sharks to ally their brand with this cool thing, well, when that happens it's fucked. (and for the love of any-deity-you-choose, when a session's title rightly contains the word "fucked", just write the damn word. Kids can easily find labial photos of every celebutard imaginable, so quit being afraid of words George Carlin loved.)
When "Corporate" arrives, the highjinx start...
I think the quote at the top of their homepage says it all:"In its 22 years, SXSW has grown from a tiny music festival in the Texas capital into a massive, unavoidable media beast..."
When "Corporate" gets involved in anything artistic/creative, some amount of integrity is lost.
Now I'm not naive or a purist-- I understand some corporate involvement is needed, especially if you want your music/film/technology marketed and distributed.
But witness what they have on their Sponsors page:
"Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company is the Exclusive Cigarette and Roll-Your-Own Tobacco Sponsor of SXSW 2009 Conferences and Festivals."
Wow -- thank got they were able to fill that vaunted Tobacco Sponsor spot....