This word comes to mind based on my limited observation of the SXSW ‘24 conference. I see three buckets of speakers. Success stories shared by industry experts and futurists. The other bucket of speakers are up-and-comer artists or has-been celebrities who have achieved substantial virality in their lives. The third bucket is represented by social activists who are here to galvanize support for their causes. The speakers themselves have tribes to cavort with in this mega-meetup for them. They can also substantially increase their social media footprint.

There’s less presence of tech entrepreneurs or corporate executives than what I’ve experienced at forums like Dreamforce. Sales is not everyone’s end goal here. I see a real hunger in out-of-towners seeking pathways to achieve virality while scaling up their own projects. Those not seeking (especially Austinites) are definitely coming for fun through music, film, and social networking.

Nonetheless, it is a popularity contest. The primary speakers have thousands, if not millions of followers. Startups like Twitter and Foursquare launched here. Podcaster and author Tim Ferris scaled his brand from his Austin keynote years ago. Hyper-scaling is the ultimate goal for most of the influencers here.

There is a healthy confluence of politicians, media tycoons, movie celebrities, and techies exchanging ideas. These ideas get a/b tested by attendees and consumers (like me) looking to explore new products and services.

This Rolling Stones song appropriately represents what SXSW has become and will always be for its fans and attendees for years to come. The game of virality has no end.