March 12, 2009, 10:24 AM — 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.
The real crime in all this is these seminars sound like they could be a wealth of great information. Could it be that it's simply an irrational fear on my part that these are complete non-tech luddite types who are championing Interactive Technology with no real understanding of what it all is? Is this just a way to make more money through sponsorships without regard for their audience? I mean, will there be a Financial and Real Estate Conference added on next year, too? Will they bump Ra Ra Riot for Jimmy Buffett? Perhaps we should just make the SXSW Conference a place to see some cool new movie previews, listen to some good music, and maybe catch a glimpse at the new Google OS and Playstation 4.
What do you think? Is SXSW being run by corporate, non-hip, soulless entities?
