SXSW gets interactive

AUSTIN (KXAN) - South by Southwest is wrapping up its first weekend in Austin. Thousands are attending the five day Interactive Festival, highlighting the latest in new media.

"I'm totally overexcited to be here at SXSW," said Chris Basey, answerjam.com founder.

Video cameras caught all the action at the SXSW Interactive Festival. It was a packed house at several panels including the seminar "A Journey to the Center of Design." The guest speaker was Jared Spool. He has been in the software business for 34 years, and is now the Founding Principal of User Interface Engineering, a premier design research company.

Throughout the Austin Convention Center, new media innovators were sharing their secrets to success.

"It's something I've been meaning to do for years," said Basey. "I get to go to a lot of panels and meet people who are kind of like the gods of the industry."

SXSW Interactive is all about celebrating emerging technologies.

"It is a little overwhelming, people with a lot of ideas, people sharing, networking," said Christi Day, Southwest Airlines. "It's just a lot to take in, but it's also extremely enjoyable."

People from around the country and around the world are learning all that new media has to offer, especially for those who are just starting a business.

"This is our first year as a business," Jessica Parmerlee, Rich Girls Records. "We came last year and this year we came down as a business, and now we're trying to figure out how this whole thing works for the business side of things."

SXSW Interactive Festival ends Tuesday.