For SXSW ’94, often remembered for the Johnny Cash keynote/performance, two new events - Interactive and Film - were introduced. Growth was steady for the first seven years. As hoped for, Austin’s charm won over the visitors, and SXSW took on a life of its own. The first event, held in March of 1987, saw an expected 150 registrants swell to 700 on the opening day. The SXSW group expected initial resistance from the locals, but it was quite the opposite. A name was sought that was not restrictive in its concept.įinally, in October of 1986, the announcement of the first South By Southwest was made. For a local event to bring the world to Austin, it needed to have value everywhere. The solution being discussed was an event that would bring the outside world to Austin for a close-up view.Īs the key ideas were formed, recognition grew that Austin was not the only city where this was an issue. Inclusiveness and reaching for new things were core values. Music was the uniting factor, but the group had a catholic taste for art and ideas. A fundamental opinion shared by the group was that the local creative and music communities were as talented as anywhere else on the planet, but were severely limited by a lack of exposure outside of Austin. The meetings were in the offices of The Austin Chronicle, and participants were sworn to secrecy. That same year, a small group of people in Austin, Texas began a series of long discussions about the future of entertainment and media. 40 million music CDs were made and sold worldwide. An Apple Macintosh computer with 128 kilobytes of RAM sold for $5,500 (in 2015 dollars). Many phones used rotary dials to enter numbers.

'Electronic mail' was used primarily by universities and the military.

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