Every Spring, the who's who in the world of film and interactive media descends on Austin Texas for a set of events dubbed, The South by Southwest(SXSW) interactive, film and music festivals and conferences. The event was first held in 1987 and is centered on the downtown Austin Convention Center. It's at conferences like SXSW Interactive that geeks such as that ones that dwell in EventOrb's IT sweatshops meet to decide the future for the rest of the world.

With it's tendency to attract deep-pocketed sponsors, the festival is of high economic value to the region's economy, generating roughly $110 million in 2008. In 2009, amidst twitter heads running amuck, 250 films were screened including 54 premieres. Highlights for this year include the award-winning film The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow which has been nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, the Spike Lee-helmed Passing Strange, Greg Mottola’s entry Adventureland and several others. Check out the event's website here