South by Southwest is three conferences all rolled into one. First there is South by Southwest Interactive. It is focused on web and web development. It is the biggest geek party on earth. Mouth-breathers, neck beard-ers, and the socially inept let their hair down for a week of partying and passing out business cards. If you are a web startup…you have to be there. I wish I could have gone. Judging by all the twitters and blog entries, it was a lot of fun.

SXSWi lasts for a week. After that the South by Southwest turns into a music and film festival. The people there are a lot more mainstream, and the contrast in the atmosphere is quite funny. Justine Ezarik has been there during both phases of the festival and did a man on the street that is entertaining.

To listen to the Web 2.0 crowd, you would think that everyone is into this, but apparently that couldn’t be further from the truth.