The first of the South By Southwest music conference and festival was held in 1987 in Austin, Texas. Despite the fact that this city was not on the list of major markets, the background and characteristics of the city made it a perfect place to host this event. Today this conference/festival attracts people with interests in music and film from all over the world. This major event is broken up into a film, music and interactive festival. The film festival brings together industry leaders and talent in a uniquely creative environment. This allows for invaluable networking opportunities and dives into the art and business of independent film making. The music festival showcases informative panel discussions, featuring some of the key players in the industry today. This allows for people to gain an insight of the music industry by sitting in on a keynote. The SXSW Interactive show offers people the chance to attend presentations that discuss the future of technology from the brightest minds in emerging media. Some of these include best new websites, digital projects, wireless applications, video games and much more.
SXSW uses a variety of marketing tools to get their message across, such as program guides, which provide people with an in-depth look into what they expect to see at this festival such as, session descriptions, film and band listings, schedules, maps, official events and much more. They also publish five issues of their magazine called SXSWORLD, annually, offering people a unique opportunity to reach out to the SXSW community before, during and after the event. This magazine provides cultural and industry features, as well as interviews and news and also influences readers from the interactive, film and music industries. Today's generation spends alto of time on the Internet, and SXSW has taken the initiative to start their own Youtube channel, providing people with footage of their past events as well as music videos and film trailers from upcoming SXSW participants. This is a great marketing tool to use when one is trying to reach a large audience. SXSW demographic attracts a large audience between the ages of 31-40, who generate income between $85,000 - $150,000 and total of 20,457 subscribers on Youtube.
After spending some time on this site, I've come to realize that SXSW has marketed themselves in a great. They have managed to bring in more than 40,000 attendants to their event. The fact that they also bring diversity to the table, by inclining themselves in different parts of the industry, makes me think as an entrepreneur on what I can take from this conference/festival and apply to my own business.
Sources:
http://sxsw.com/
With the date for the release of the iPhone 5 draws closer, anticipation is at an all time high, as most of the focus has been shifted away from the glamour and exterior features. Questions are being asked on what will make this smart phone tick. The latest in Apple's smart phone arsenal is said to pack the A5 silicon, a Qualcomm 3G chip and circuits that support a higher-resolution camera. The A5 chip will house the main processor, that will give power to the phone. This is the same chip that currently powers the iPad2. This is different from its predecessor (A4), which is being used in the iPhone 4, as it has two processor cores and will also provide the user with better and faster graphics. Two cores allows the device to multitask better than a single core.
According to macrumors.com, "The iPhone 5 is expected to be a world mode phone capable of running on both GSM and CDMA networks". It is rumored that OmniVision will be supplying the 8-megapixel CMOS sensor, that comprises of the sensors that will be required to power the iPhone 5's camera. There is also the question of whether or not this phone will run o 3G or LTE (Long Term Evolution). This is a faster broadband technology sometimes also referred to as 4G, but Will Strauss of Forward Concepts, a company that tracks the phone chip market sees it differently and feels that the new iPhone will not use this technology.
Apart from the speed and improved graphics, it has been said that the A5 chip is overheating and could delay the launch of the new iPhone. Since Apple is adding one more core, it means that it will be producing more heat than a single core. Apple is still looking for a solution to this problem and if they are unable to come up with anything shortly, they might be unveiling a smart phone based on their current iPhone to buy more time.
Sources:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20101365-92/inside-the-iphone-5/?tag=mncol;txt
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_a5_chip_overheating_might_be_delaying_the_iphone_5_launch-news-2893.php
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/26/photos-of-iphone-4s5-logic-board-suggest-a5-processor/
