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I was at SXSW but didn't have as much time for Interactive sessions as in past years. Can you expound on your SXSW observation? I did notice the trade show se

I was at SXSW but didn't have as much time for Interactive sessions as in past years. Can you expound on your SXSW observation? I did notice the trade show seemed dominated by the country pavillions like I don't remember before. It made me wonder if they were basically bussing in international startups to cover up for the general lack of startups that wanted to buy a booth.

rexreed 10y ago
First, from what I am hearing, there was overall lower number of badge sales for SXSWi. The sometimes large attendance at sessions was masked by the fact that SXSW now allows any ticket type entrance to various events, but only prioritizes certain badge holders. Second, overall attendance at unofficial events was significantly lower from previous years. Previously you faced huge lines for most parties, but many such lines, if any, cleared quickly this year. Third, investment by startups in their own official events was significantly lower this year. Startups either attended without running their own events or participated in other party's events instead of running their own events. Fourth, many large brands decided not to participate this year. Microsoft and Samsung were both absent for the first time in a long time. And many other companies scaled back their events. Fifth, as you mentioned, the exhibition hall was dominated by non-startup parties moreso than in years past. This indicates that startups are not investing in SXSW as much as they had before. In general, attendance felt lighter this year vs. 2016, and definitely vs. 2015 and 2014, which felt like a peak year for SXSWi. While these are SXSW-specific numbers, I would wager that you are seeing similar slowdown with other startup-focused events and conferences. Meetups are more lightly attended, and certainly less sponsored. It feels like the burst in activity is slowing. Not gone. Just slowing.
- brandnewlow 10y ago
  Thanks for the excellent rundown. That matches what I saw as well. I showed up 5 minutes late for a few events, assuming I was out of luck, only to find I could walk right in.
- ghaff 10y ago
  At the same time, it's also reasonable to ask how much of it is just SXSW getting past its Sell By date. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other but a lot of events seem to go through a certain natural cycle even when the environment they're operating in remains basically healthy.
  - rexreed 10y ago
    While I agree that perhaps SXSW has "jumped the shark", at least the interactive part, you'll find that enrollment and participation at many other startup-focused events is declined in 2017 year over year versus 2016. I would bet that Web Summit, CollisionConf, TechCrunch Disrupt, and others are not as full as they used to be or are facing similar challenges with startup numbers, and sponsorships especially.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      The events I attend which tend to be in the cloud-native infrastructure and agile development spaces (DevOpsDays, kubecon, OpenStack Summit, OpenShift Commons, a lot of the Linux Foundation events) have been really well-attended over the past year or two. Selling out, doubling venue size and then still selling out next time. But, although a lot of startups are at these events (as are a lot of bigger companies), they're not really oriented toward the classic SV social/mobile/web startup crowd.
- rudimental 10y ago
  This is interesting. Perhaps prices went up and the culture of SXSW attendees are shifting, from startups to the more mainstream. Also, SXSW seemed saturated with costs and crowds, and is a potential unwise use of funds for many companies. A few won the SXSW lottery each year, but many did some networking like any other conferences. Perhaps it's a sign of maturity amongst how people are spending VC money?

rexreed 10y ago

First, from what I am hearing, there was overall lower number of badge sales for SXSWi. The sometimes large attendance at sessions was masked by the fact that SXSW now allows any ticket type entrance to various events, but only prioritizes certain badge holders. Second, overall attendance at unofficial events was significantly lower from previous years. Previously you faced huge lines for most parties, but many such lines, if any, cleared quickly this year. Third, investment by startups in their own official events was significantly lower this year. Startups either attended without running their own events or participated in other party's events instead of running their own events. Fourth, many large brands decided not to participate this year. Microsoft and Samsung were both absent for the first time in a long time. And many other companies scaled back their events. Fifth, as you mentioned, the exhibition hall was dominated by non-startup parties moreso than in years past. This indicates that startups are not investing in SXSW as much as they had before. In general, attendance felt lighter this year vs. 2016, and definitely vs. 2015 and 2014, which felt like a peak year for SXSWi. While these are SXSW-specific numbers, I would wager that you are seeing similar slowdown with other startup-focused events and conferences. Meetups are more lightly attended, and certainly less sponsored. It feels like the burst in activity is slowing. Not gone. Just slowing.

brandnewlow 10y ago
Thanks for the excellent rundown. That matches what I saw as well. I showed up 5 minutes late for a few events, assuming I was out of luck, only to find I could walk right in.
ghaff 10y ago
At the same time, it's also reasonable to ask how much of it is just SXSW getting past its Sell By date. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other but a lot of events seem to go through a certain natural cycle even when the environment they're operating in remains basically healthy.
- rexreed 10y ago
  While I agree that perhaps SXSW has "jumped the shark", at least the interactive part, you'll find that enrollment and participation at many other startup-focused events is declined in 2017 year over year versus 2016. I would bet that Web Summit, CollisionConf, TechCrunch Disrupt, and others are not as full as they used to be or are facing similar challenges with startup numbers, and sponsorships especially.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    The events I attend which tend to be in the cloud-native infrastructure and agile development spaces (DevOpsDays, kubecon, OpenStack Summit, OpenShift Commons, a lot of the Linux Foundation events) have been really well-attended over the past year or two. Selling out, doubling venue size and then still selling out next time. But, although a lot of startups are at these events (as are a lot of bigger companies), they're not really oriented toward the classic SV social/mobile/web startup crowd.
rudimental 10y ago
This is interesting. Perhaps prices went up and the culture of SXSW attendees are shifting, from startups to the more mainstream. Also, SXSW seemed saturated with costs and crowds, and is a potential unwise use of funds for many companies. A few won the SXSW lottery each year, but many did some networking like any other conferences. Perhaps it's a sign of maturity amongst how people are spending VC money?