THIS year’s South by Southwest Music and Film Interactive event in Austin, Texas, in America is bigger and better that in previous years.
I remember following the event five years ago and hearing about this new little online application that was launched during the event and signed up for it immediately. Today Twitter is one of the largest and most popular social networking platforms on the web.
This event combines a large number of conferences and festivals.
For years now it has been a very important event for musicians as it was the place to be seen and the place to perform.
You can also go to the www.sxsw.com website and down¬load hundreds of legal, free songs.
Over the years the event has, however, evolved and today it is a very important event for technological innovators to launch their pro¬ducts.
With an entire section of the event focusing on new media this is the perfect place for networking and getting exposure for your new pro¬duct.
Maybe even get investors. The large number of confe¬rence panel discussions also makes this event more than just a festival, it is truly a place for great minds to converge and share ideas.
The coverage of the event is extensive and if you would like to follow it from a distance like I have for a number of
years, you will find links on the website, but also find a large number of podcas¬ters podcasting from the event.
One of my favourites is TWiT (This Week in Tech) and you can access a large number of recordings at www.twit.tv.
This is not the only coverage that you will find, so please do an online search for more information about the event.
.  Nico Baird is a new media expert and can be contacted at nico@clicksa.co.za.