SXSW: Will Attendance Be Propped Up

Has anyone heard what the SXSW attendance will be this year?  If it is like the thousands of others conventions or conferences that have not been canceled over the past six months due to too low pre-event registration then it should see a huge decrease in attendance.

But will the sponsors and investors in that ‘$ Billion Baby’ let it appear less popular?  From what I have heard it is completely possible that the ad firms hired to hype the SXSW have resources to make that happen.  But will they do that and launch a high level of “Propped-up Marketing” by bringing in paid supporters to fill in the gaps?  OR will they do like the other conferences and conventions I reported on previously that are letting the chips fall where they may in their effort to highlight for ‘The Change Gang’ in Washington that TARP Funds shoveled out to event sponsors who accepted them should be targeted to supporting the economy these conference produce and not those companies’ executive salaries.

Not since the iPhone rage a few short years ago has the speculation of paid supporters (or audiences)been mentioned, but with these tech investors dropping hundreds of millions of dollars on product and business start-up launches, which is a traditional function of the SXSW Interactive venue, they have a lot to loose that is not applicable for government bailout funds. 

So, will the producers of the SXSW Interactive gathering use “Propped-Up Marketing” to keep the appearance of the high level of popularity towards their products and businesses in hopes that it will produce an ROI?  Or will they let the chips fall where they may and provide more support to the fact that the economy is on its second flush?  Guess we will soon find out, won’t we?

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