A half dozen of my Radius colleagues and I recently attended the South by Southwest festival (SXSW), in Austin, Texas. Along with cosponsoring an event, we met and talked with people who worked in a wide range of industries and who had a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. The diversity was characteristic of the entire festival, which could hardly have been better-suited to someone in the global growth industry like myself.
SXSW started as a music festival in 1987 to promote Austin-based musicians. In less than three decades, it has grown exponentially, and now attracts not only aspiring musicians and music lovers, but filmmakers and moviegoers and, most remarkably, corporate giants in
Not surprisingly, SXSW has produced some pretty strange bedfellows. A recent article in Grantland explores some of the festival’s contradictions. One of my favorite examples is a 2013 event, in which the rapper LL Cool J performed “on a stage built to look like a giant Doritos vending machine.” You can practically see the author shaking his head as he adds: “That actually happened. That’s SXSW.”
SXSW’s marriage of hipsters and corporate types, like its origin, is widely known. What is maybe not so well known is SXSW’s remarkable global element. According to the organizers’ website, the festival’s original impetus was “to reach out to the rest of the world, and bring them here to do business.” The plan worked more effectively than probably even the most optimistic organizer could have hoped. The annual festival is now a genuine international event, attracting companies and attendees from around the globe.
While allowing for the fact that I’m in the business of global expansion software and services, from what I saw, SXSW 2015 was dominated by international attendees. Which is not to say there was any great lack of domestic companies on display; the U.S. corporate presence was still everywhere to see. However, the non-U.S. startups looking to make a name for themselves were certainly more visible in 2015 than they were five years ago, at least to my eyes.
This trend may be in part the result of domestic companies feeling that the festival is less vibrant than in years past, and the non-U.S. companies are, so to speak, picking up the slack. More likely, though, I think the trend speaks to the ever-increasing globalization of our economy. And SXSW hasn’t just been a beneficiary of the effects of globalization. Its success is also due to SXSW’s continuous pursuit of global customers. In short, SXSW has increased its own global footprint to ensure its success. As its website notes, “SXSW now has offices in Ireland, Germany, Australia and Japan that help bring SXSW registrants to Austin.”
On a more personal note, let me add that some of the best parties I attended were organized by foreign government organizations, including IDA Ireland (a Rugby 6-nations viewing party), UK Trade & Investment (a Scotch whiskey tasting), Brazil Day, and Oktoberfest @ Reeperbahn (a Hamburg-Bavarian party).
So for companies looking to develop global connections, SXSW has a lot to offer. At Radius’ event alone, I spoke with the head of an East London-based design studio and a software