Admittedly, I’ve never been to SXSW before.
2011 is going to be my first year in attendance but it seems eerily familiar to something I’ve done before. I have a very, very helpful network of awesomeness /friends (blatant link-love jamming) to weed out the crap. If I had to judge by Twitter and other online streams it would be nearly impossible to not see this connection (so I’m sure a similar comparison exists, although none jumped out at me in Google’s SERPs).
I’m not sure if this is something to be excited or skeptical about, or both, but it’s certainly taking shape.
Here are a few of the similarities and differences I’m seeing between SXSW and my high school senior prom…
| SXSW | Prom | |
| Travel in cliques | Yes – people you might not know well but will be in your future. | Yes – people you know well but might not be in your future. (Facebook doesn’t count) |
| Parties | Yes – Worried about RSVP for hundreds of parties | Yes – Worried about RSVP’s for minimal parties. |
| Arrival car of choice | Chevy Volt | Over-sized limo |
| Problems finding lodging | Yes – it’s all about where. | Yes – it’s all about whom with. |
| Pictures | Yes- Lots of awkward pictures floating around online community. | Yes – Lots of awkward pictures floating around the school community. |
| Large focus on who will be buying your alcohol for you? | Yes | Yes |
| Parental supervision? | Apparently none. | Apparently none. |
| Nervous your first time? | Yes | Yes |
To the prom kings & queens who have been, did I miss anything, or are you bringing flowers for your date?
