Fun Facts for SXSW – Hint, it involves a small microblogging website called Twitter

SXSW is around the corner and 50,000 of my closest digital friends will be enjoying Austin, TX. Get Psyched.


SXSW kicks off this upcoming week and it will be the largest gathering yet. Here are a few fun facts you might want to know about the Austin, Texas-based celebration of all things music, film, and interactive. 
1. SXSW started in 1987 as a music festival. There were 172 acts, and 700 people attended. 
2. The festival expanded into multimedia and film in 1994. In 1995, film and multimedia (it would be come interactive in 1999) split into their own separate conferences. 
3. According to a report by Greyhill Advisors, the economic impact on the Austin economy from SXSW in 2012 was $190.3 million.
4. The first three years of SXSW Multimedia had panels called “The Web Is Dead?” and “So You Want to Make a CD-Rom?” The official festival email address was 72662.465@compuserve.com.
5. During SXSW Interactive 2012, festival attendees generated 4.7 profane tweets per minute, for a grand total of 33,860 profane tweets over the course of the 5-day conference.
6. From Iron Works to Stubbs, Austin is full of BBQ establishments, and during SXSW, they are hopping. To get a slab of brisket at Franklin BBQ—which opens at 11am—people usually line up before 9am; it’s not unusual for the restaurant to sell out of meat in under three hours. It takes around 18 hours to make Franklin’s brisket.
7. Twitter was introduced at SXSW in 2007. #Failure 🙂
8. Foursquare website is launched in 2009. 
9. Musicians that have been discovered or broken into the mainstream while playing at SXSW:  Hanson, John Mayer, James Blunt, Janelle Monae, Best Coast, The White Stripes, Veruca Salt, Polyphonic Spree—and many more.
10. 72,000 people are registered for 2014

Let the games begin.


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