The parties weren’t so wild at SXSW Interactive — and the most exciting technology may have been the party invites that let you rub shoulders with the likes of model Amber Rose and Jake Gyllenhaal.
That was the harsh verdict from some revelers at Austin’s annual tech bash this year, despite performances by Ludacris, Willie Nelson and Lil Dicky at shindigs hosted by Comcast, Spotify and Pandora.
Traditionally, South by Southwest (“South by” for short) has been an excuse for late-night beer binges by tech nerds, and maybe a little of the weed that’s preferred by Willie.
But this year — as President Obama swung through to accuse Apple of “fetishizing” iPhone encryption — the hottest ticket may have been Spotify’s morning Soul Cycle classes with DJ Chromeo, says Splash CEO Ben Hindman.
The early AM spinning obsession “was an indicator” of a more sober mood at SXSW, says Hindman, whose Splash event-planning software was used to host 434 events at the festival.
Hindman, based in New York, readily admits to our James Covert that Splash isn’t as flashy a product as previous SXSW sensations like Twitter and Meerkat.
It was a modest battle, but attendees said Splash stole the thunder from rival incumbent Eventbrite, which has ruled SXSW in previous years.
“Eventbrite is Microsoft, Splash is Apple,” said Alex Taub of SocialRank, a Big Apple-based firm that provides analytics tools for Twitter and Instagram celebs.