Party All Night, Deal All Day: the Money Behind SXSW

Daytime panels and nighttime parties form the public-facing portion of SXSW with plenty of money spent on badges and open bars.

Behind the closed doors of restaurants and hotels, there is another monetary ecosystem that keeps companies coming back and spending on events, restaurant buyouts and hotel suites.

“What we see at [SXSW] is the above water ... then there’s a whole economy and marketplace that isn’t being advertised,” said Joe Ciarallo, a senior director of public relations for Salesforce Marketing Cloud who has attended SXSW interactive five times. Read more...