FWIW- My thoughts are similar on SXSW interactive. I have been going for several years, always finding that there was some amount of serendipity to putting so many nerds and vc-types in a very small space (see PG's essay on SV: <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html</a>). This year I found it too chaotic. It's a nightmare to get in anywhere or know what's going on, even if you are "VIP." I had the good fortune to be on several groupme groups which helped though - people can tell you what's hot at a given time. There aught to be an app...<p>This year I found less interesting people and more corporate schtick. sxsw is so mainstream that Jimmy Kimmel hosted his late night show from sxsw this year. 5 years ago startups were actually using sxsw as successful launching pads, now it's Cottonelle vs. Charmin (actually 2 products that had expensive booths at sxsw this year).<p>That being said, I'll probably still go next year because I love Austin and many of my friends go.<p>It's similar to burning man though - every year people complain that it's jumped the shark because it got too corporate, and every year more people go.