Introduction
This year, I went to SXSW (“South By Southwest”) in Austin, Texas, for the first time. I had wanted to go for a few years, but after talking to Dennis Walker, my friend and a SXSW regular, I took the plunge. Anyone can pay to attend SXSW, but when I mentioned it to my friends, there seemed to be a kind of coveted allure around it. My friends asked me: What was it like? What did you learn? And, I imagine they were wondering, how much did it cost?
This article is a quick tell-all about SXSW for those of you who want to know what it's like. I promise to be completely honest about my personal experiences. Here's everything you need to know.
What is SXSW?
To be honest, I don’t have a single answer. The SXSW conference, owned by SXSW LLC, was founded in 1987 and has grown to become a giant expo of tech, music, and independent cinema. SXSW 2025 happened between Thursday, March 6th, and Saturday, March 15th; the conference was long and grueling at some points, but it's got everything.
SXSW is like its own city within the city of Austin. The sessions take over five different massive hotels and conference venues in downtown Austin, like the Austing Conference Center and the JW Marriott Hotel. There are also mini-conferences within the bigger event, like SXSW EDU (focused on education), SXSW Film, and SXSW Music Festival, which take place around the city. A lot of independent filmmakers have special events to launch their creations at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. It’s the same with creators in the music industry. A lot of musicians release albums at the festival to be able to say they had an official SXSW launch.
What is it like to attend?
When you buy your SXSW pass, you get access to a ton of keynote speakers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, startups, featured sessions, film screenings, music showcases, etc. The organization is extremely well run, and there are thousands of volunteers and streets of food trucks and brand showcases to serve your every interest. You can also reserve tickets to independent films and see a ton of live music. I honestly hadn’t heard of any of the musicians, so instead, I focused on going to panels and learning sessions, specifically focused on women and the “Creator Economy" track. These various tracks are happening simultaneously, so you have to decide whether you're interested in attending sessions on AI, Psychedelics, DEI, etc.
SXSW invites innovators from all over the world, and I particularly liked attending the country-specific house events, like the Brit House and Aussie House events. I got free drinks and schmoozed with a bunch of people from around the world. There are also a TON of Brazilians at SXSW, and the Brazil House always had a massive line out in front of it. There was also a Dubai House, I believe, that was giving out free chocolate from Dubai?
Aside from all the cool activations and parties, attending SXSW feels like cramming an entire semester of college classes into one week. You’re back-to-back learning from people who are incredibly successful in their various fields. It’s all available for registrants via the SXSW Go app, so you have every event update or interactive media meeting at your fingertips so you can plan all the sessions you want to attend.
Why did you go to SXSW?
I went because I was interested in getting some help, guidance, and direction for my current business. I’m a writer and author who is planning to build a career in public speaking and digital products, so I saw going to SXSW as a great way for me to meet new people and bounce some ideas around for projects I'm developing. I mostly work alone, so I wanted some fresh ideas and creativity for inspiration.
Beyond the networking opportunities, I believe it’s important for anyone in any field to check in with what is at the forefront of the world. When we are going to our jobs day in and day out, we often forget to see the bigger picture or understand where we are in the trajectory of the world economy, innovation, and the advancement of technology. For me, it was an insanely valuable learning experience to get out of my solo bubble as a writer and remember what else is happening out there.
What did you learn?
I learned an absolute ton! Some of the ideas I had are super exciting but will take months to come to fruition. This isn’t everything, but here’s what’s sticking out to me right now:
- The founder of Bluesky, Jay Graber (who went to my university and who is only a couple of years older than me), spoke about distributed systems of social media and how Bluesky users have more control over their feeds than on “traditional” social media apps like Instagram that just bombard us with ads constantly. This inspired me because I’m a big women’s health advocate, and many femtech founders get their ads banned by Meta for “sexual” content, even if they're promoting products that are beneficial for women's health. I immediately saw that Bluesky could be a great alternative for femtech companies to spread their messages.
- I attended an awesome series on Strategic Foresight by Amy Webb and her team from Future Today Strategy Group (FTSG). I’ve been a fan of Amy Webb ever since her TED talk, and it was fascinating, inspiring, and a little bit scary to think about how technology is changing our lives and how we can build desirable futures.
- I got personalized feedback and some awesome ideas for my Substack, Misseducated, from the founders of The Taboo Group, an innovative branding agency in Australia.
- I got to meet Jon Youshaei again, who also went to my university, and talk to him about strategies for success in the Creator Economy. He also gave me some personalized feedback on my TikTok page.
What were your other highlights?
- Getting to support my friend Dennis during his talk about psychedelics.
- Receiving a Strategic Foresight badge from Amy Webb’s team! They had a deal where you could get a badge if you attended a certain number of their talks. I found their content fascinating.
- I sold a copy of my book to a guy that I met at the Brit House event!
What were your low moments?
- For much of the conference, I fluctuated between inspiration and total despair for the world. The advent of AI is changing everything so much that I kept getting bombarded with fear and anxiety about the role of writers in the future.
- I received further negative feedback about the state of writers worldwide. One famous YouTuber told me that he doesn’t read at all. This sent me into a mild depression because I felt conflicted about my passion for being a writer and the reality that people currently prefer short-form videos and are switching from TV to YouTube. But I figured that I could make video content out of my written articles if I wanted.
- Events filled up, and I couldn't attend things I wanted to. For example, I wanted to see "Arrest The Midwife," which is all about Amish and Mennonite women getting arrested for the way they were practicing midwifery. Still, by the time I got to the cinema, it was already full. There are thousands of people at SXSW, so a couple of times, I learned that the hard way. No attendance at any event is guaranteed unless you pay extra for the Platinum pass.
My Tips For A Great SXSW Experience
- Buy your wristband pass, tickets, and flights early. Cut major costs wherever possible. Try to get your accommodation or the entire pass comped by your company, or stay with friends. Also, I believe that if you give a talk, you get to attend the rest of the conference for free.
- Get to events you want to attend early. Spaces quickly fill up for people who are in high demand, and arriving 15 minutes before won't cut it when 2,000 other people want to see the same keynote talk as you.
- Be aware of when you’re burning out. The conference, if you’re staying for more than a couple of days, is insanely intense and very long. For example, Michelle Obama came to speak on the Thursday a week into the conference. Though I love her SO much, with the badge level that I had, I couldn’t get access to a pre-reserved ticket, so I knew I was going to have to queue up from about 7 am to see her with no guarantee of getting a seat. At this point in the conference, I was dealing with some pretty bad burnout. I decided to wait to see her another time. TLDR: pick your battles.
- Don’t try to optimize everything. You can't. There are too many interesting things happening simultaneously. Go to one event at any given time, and have one backup event in case that one is boring. The amount of stuff happening at SXSW is way too much for any single person ever to be able to take in, so make sure you take plenty of breaks and get some rest in between sessions as well.
- Focus on learning and improving over time. You’re not going to be able to get all the best free food and brand giveaways the first time around the conference. You just have to try to do your best. For example, I stayed in the suburbs for the week, so I rented a car, but this wasn't ideal, even though it was cheaper for me as I got intel on a secret place to park for free (moahaha!).
- If in doubt, choose to meet people rather than attend a panel. This applies when you’re feeling a bit tired and burned out from learning so much from all the speakers. The events that stuck out to me the most were things like the Women in Podcasting Meetup and the Authors Meetup. There, I got to meet people in my fields, connect with them on LinkedIn, and take a breather.
- Set your phone background with a QR code for your LinkedIn. I stole this idea from Anna-Maria. Take a screenshot of your LinkedIn scan page and fix it up as an image on an Instagram story. This made networking a lot easier and more fun.
- Protect your peace. Remember that you can watch some of the SXSW keynote speakers live on YouTube anyway for free without the stress of waiting in line.
How much did it cost for you to attend?
I got pretty lucky with my trip, while many of my friends got their tickets and hotels comped by their companies andclients. I paid for the trip myself. Here's how much it cost:
- Interactive Pass Badge: $1,185. I applied for a Press pass and didn’t qualify, but I did get a discount. I bought my badge six months in advance (September 2024).
- Flights: $323. It was quicker and cheaper to fly from Mexico City to San Antonio then drive to Austin. Plus, I got a taste of Texan drivers on the freeway, which was insane.
- Rental car: $521. I used Turo, and it was pretty convenient to pick it up and return to San Antonio airport parking.
- Gas: $35. Only had to get gas once the whole time. Good mileage on my Toyota Camry!
- Est. food: $270. This included a splurge night when I went to the Four Seasons with a new friend, Becky Swank, who hosts an Erotica Open Mic night in Portland! She’s very cool.
- Accommodation: Free. I stayed with a friend in the suburbs, which cut my cost significantly.
Estimated total cost: $2,334 USD.
Was it worth it?
For me, yes. I had friends I wanted to visit in Austin, and no one in my immediate family had ever been to Texas. It was an opportunity for me to invest in myself and grow my network. As a writer and author, I live alone, write alone, work mostly alone, and I’m single. It was important to me to go out and meet a shit ton of people in a short space of time, stay current, and continue to learn.
Is SXSW a cult?
In some ways, yes. There’s a strong in-group and out-group mentality where the speakers repeatedly stroked the audience's egos. They said that the SXSW attendees are more advanced than most. There was also a total separation from the Austin locals despite parallel lived experiences. There was some conference-specific language, like simplifying SXSW to "South By" for people who are in the know. There was exclusivity around tiered pricing and limited access to the speakers. There was the repeated mantra that these conversations can only happen at SX. Twitter was launched at SX, etc.
What are your ambitions with SXSW in the future?
I would love to speak at SX in the future because, to me, this symbolizes being on my A-game and building a great brand as a writer and content creator. In the meantime, I hope to attend next year if I have the personal funds available.
Final Thought
Feel free to contact me if you have any other burning questions about SXSW that I didn’t answer here. Good luck!
