Convention Center from above
AUSTIN, Texas--Lights glitter Thursday night at the Austin Convention Center, home of the South by Southwest Interactive, Film, and Music festivals.
On Friday, the interactive (SXSWi) and film festivals begin. The music portion starts Wednesday.
SXSWi is set for 20 percent to 30 percent growth over its record attendance a year ago. That's notable at a time when many conferences are shrinking. But the Interactive festival is seen as indispensable to many people in new media and Internet businesses.
This year's event includes keynote speakers like FiveThirtyEight.com blogger Nate Silver, Wired magazine editor and "The Long Tail" author Chris Anderson; and Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. There will be dozens of panels and parties, and more iPhones and Twitter conversations than in just about any other small neighborhood in the world.
March 12, 2009 10:24 PM PDT
Photo by: Daniel Terdiman/CNET
