20 things people at SXSW were grumpy about

Digiday is at SXSW giving you the latest industry news out of the festival at Austin, Texas. More from the series →

Dstillery_edit_sponsoredDigiday’s coverage of SXSW, which runs March 7-11 in Austin, Texas, is sponsored by Dstillery, the pioneer in audience targeting for brands.


South by Southwest is, on its face, a pretty nice event to attend. There are great speakers, free food and drink wherever you turn, great bands and interesting people. You’d think attendees would thank their creator for putting them in a position where it’s possible for them to do something like this — and, more often than not, have their employers foot the bill. You’d be wrong. The unofficial sport of SXSW is complaining about SXSW. Here’s what the people of SXSW complain about:

Wonky Wifi

 

Hangovers

Crowds and drunks

 

Marketing jargon

 

Ad agencies and their clients

 

The dearth of real nerds

 

The presence of hip people and hip things

 

Google Glass wearers

 

All the brands here

 

Having to walk

Parties they voluntarily went to where they were provided free food and drink

Not constantly eating

 

Bad beards

 

Inaccurate GPS on shuttle buses

 

Waiting in line for sessions

Men with poor aim

Having to wait for a taxi at the airport

The weather

 

Uber surge pricing

 

People who leave sessions early

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