South By Southwest, Inc.

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. SXSW first began in July 1986, with Mark Josephsen and Joel Weber wanting to expand New York’s New Music Seminar to Austin. Roland Swenson served as their liaison in Austin. When the plans fell through, Swenson convinced Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, his co-workers at the Austin Chronicle, to continue with the idea. Together with Louis Jay Meyers, a manager and musician, they formed a limited partnership as SXSW, Inc., and presented SXSW I in March 1987. Principle figures in SXSW, Inc., also include Linda Owen, Marketing Director, and Joe Rae DiMenno, Publicist.

SXSW is the sum of a number of components: a series of workshops and panel discussions dealing with aspects of the industry, from booking and management to college radio; the SXSW Music Festival, which showcases a multitude of acts in various Austin nightclub; the more recent additions to the Festival, SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive; the Austin Music Awards, which celebrates the winners of the Chronicle ’s annual readers’ poll; and attendant events like the Press & Trade show.

In addition to the annual conferences, SXSW, Inc. also presents related events including: NXNW in Portland, Oregon; NXNE in Toronto; Berlin Independence Days in Germany; Mississippi River Days in St. Louis; and the Assassination Symposium on JFK, an annual conference in Dallas concerning the John F. Kennedy assassination.

From the guide to the South By Southwest, Inc. Records 97-138., 1987-1997, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas.

SXSW first began in July 1986, with Mark Josephsen and Joel Weber wanting to expand New York's New Music Seminar to Austin. Roland Swenson served as their liaison in Austin. When the plans fell through, Swenson convinced Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, his co-workers at the Austin Chronicle, to continue with the idea. Together with Louis Jay Meyers, a manager and musician, they formed a limited partnership as SXSW, Inc., and presented SXSW I in March 1987. Principle figures in SXSW, Inc., also include Linda Owen, Marketing Director, and Joe Rae DiMenno, Publicist.

SXSW is the sum of a number of components: a series of workshops and panel discussions dealing with aspects of the industry, from booking and management to college radio; the SXSW Music Festival, which showcases a multitude of acts in various Austin nightclub; the more recent additions to the Festival, SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive; the Austin Music Awards, which celebrates the winners of the Chronicle's annual readers' poll; and attendant events like the Press & Trade show. In addition to the annual conferences, SXSW, Inc. also presents related events including: NXNW in Portland, Oregon; NXNE in Toronto; Berlin Independence Days in Germany; Mississippi River Days in St. Louis; and the Assassination Symposium on JFK, an annual conference in Dallas concerning the John F. Kennedy assassination.

From the description of South By Southwest, Inc., records, 1987-1997 (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 658925870