Ok what the heck is SXSW??

And I think Sacramento would be a great city to have Real World in. Great singles scene, nice bars downtown, its not really ghetto, its scenic etc.

South by Southwest (SXSW, Inc.) is a private company based in Austin, Texas, with a year-round staff of professionals dedicated to building and delivering conference and festival events for entertainment and related media industry professionals. Since 1987, SXSW has produced the internationally recognized Music and Media Conference & Festival.

As the entertainment business adjusted to issues of future growth and development, in 1993, SXSW added conferences and festivals for the film industry (SXSW Film) as well as for the blossoming interactive media (SXSW Interactive Festival). Now three industry events converge in Austin during a Texas-sized week, mirroring the ever increasing convergence of entertainment/media outlets.

In addition to the SXSWeek events, NXNW is a production of SXSW as well. In association with NOW, an alternative newsweekly in Toronto, SXSW is also involved in North by Northeast (NXNE), held in Toronto, Canada in late Spring.

About SXSW
http://2005.sxsw.com/about/?PHPSESSI...dcf26a9ada80a8

They announced the music schedule last week:
http://2005.sxsw.com/music/


Fun background on Austin that also applies to why it was picked for the Real World:

Why Austin?
The first South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was held in 1987 in Austin, Texas. Despite the fact that Austin is not a major metropolitan city, the background and character of the city made it a perfect location for the conference. Austin has always been considered a fairly cosmopolitan town for its size because of the University of Texas, which draws people from all over the world. As home to the state government and Texas Legislature it has also always been a popular party town, with a reputation that goes back to the 19th century when numerous nightspots and bars were populated by General Custer's troops after the Civil War. These nightspots are located in the same areas where the 6th Street and 4th Street club and bar scenes now exist.

Austin's eclectic music scene goes back to early in the city's history (from Mexican, German and colonial origins) and encompasses a wide variety of music including country, folk, jazz, blues and rock. Central Austin boasts more original music nightclubs in a concentrated area than any other city in the world.

The classic problem facing Austin musicians was being isolated from the rest of the world here in the middle of Texas. SXSW was a way to reach out to the rest of the world, and bring them here to do business. To do that successfully, SXSW needed to appeal to people other than local artists whether they were from Austin, Ft. Worth, Chicago, Toronto, Munich or Tokyo.

National interest in SXSW was immediate. For years, music businesses on both coasts had been intrigued by what was going on in Austin. The cosmic cowboy, blues, punk and other scenes had already proven that Austin was a receptive place for bands to be creative. With SXSW, music industry executives gained a good excuse to come here.

International interest in SXSW began the second year due to many Austin and American bands finding their first success in Europe. Conversely, there was a lot of interest from SXSW registrants in the international bands who came to perform. SXSW offices were set up in Europe and Asia to help bring those cultures to Austin.

The music event has grown from 700 people in 1987 to over 8000 people. As Austin has grown and diversified, film companies and high-tech companies have played a major role in the Austin and the Texas economy. In 1994, SXSW added a film and interactive component to accommodate these growth industries. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events attract approximately 6000 people to Austin every March.

The goal from the beginning was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas. That continues to be the goal today whether it is music, film or the internet. And Austin continues to be the perfect location.

real world
 

i've seen the real world crew around downtown a lot...walking on the streets, getting lost, etc. it's pretty hard to miss the whole menagerie of people, cameras, microphones, etc.

and if you're in austin and wanna run into them, a sure bet is spill on 6th...they've been regulars there since filming began...

Re: real world
 

Fun article about where they have been spotted

The semistealth MTV production will flee Austin in early May, with the 16th edition of "Real World" scheduled to debut in June (new episodes air Tuesday nights). The young cast members might not have made a ripple in the majority of Austinites' lives, but they've made a big impression on night-owl hipsters, Drag dwellers and others.

A hotbed for gossip and actual info is realworldaustin.com, which gets 60,000 to 80,000 page views per day — more than 120,000 per day when the site launched Dec. 24, the day MTV announced it was coming to Austin. About 500 people are registered.

There has been Internet chatter about fights in bars, with regulars miffed that out-of-towners take up valuable space with their cameras and lights. And some Austin patrons don't like MTV folks asking them to sign waivers that could make them look like fools when the show airs.

Online testimonials are about evenly divided in their assessment of the cast. They're jerks, loud-mouthed drunks who never explore Austin beyond the bars on Sixth Street. They're full of themselves and never talk to anyone except each other. Or they're cool kids who have become victims of MTV's secrecy and the "Real World" bubble. They're sweet and sexy, full of personality.

Weekly sightings at UT's Department of Radio-Television-Film lend credence to the rumor that they are making a 15-minute documentary about a band at South by Southwest.

Anyone know who they booted off the Inferno last night? I mssd it and i really hope veronica got kicked off

aparently they went to see my dad's band sans cameras... guess their lives aren't taped all the time afterall.

It also could have been that the club wouldn't let cameras in. If I owned a club/bar, I certainly would not.

You ain't lyin!!! I'm not American, I'm a Texan. Don't you forget it!!!!!

Sadly, it was not Veronica. Jodie lost by a mile in a pretty easy inferno.

Having gone to school in Oklahoma, we made many the roadtrip down to Texas. I absolutely loved Austin. For the longest time I was wondering why they hadn't filmed in Austin, Houston, or Dallas--it's about time. I think St Louis would also be a great place--definitely a distinguishable city with the arch. It's got great nightlife as well as gambing on the riverboats. They just have to keep them away from the bad areas but that wouldn't be too hard.

That is going to be interesting. I had the opportunity to go to Austin with a group of kids when i was in high school, but I couldn't go. That season is going to be interesting to watch.

I always tell my family that if they really wanted to have a PARTY season with really no working (which is basically EVERY season of RW..lol) they should come down to El Paso. Right next to the border, bars open (in Mexico) 24/7....hell that's a story ready to happen.

But that would never work because 1. El Paso is too boring! lol
2. There have been over 300 women killed in Juarez (the city right across the border) and Sloppy drunk American girls seem like a good target....especially with cameras and expensive equipment. That screams out "hey rob me!" lol

Austin is gonna be good though.

Oh I know...that was pathetic. She really just gave up and let Veronica win. That was one of the easiest infernos to date and Jodie just let it slip out of her hands.

Did anyone see the spoiler tonight? :eek:

what fraternity is Wes in? He goes to ASU?