and parties that pop up like mushrooms. Bring your business cards and get ready to network, even while standing in line for drinks or lunch. SXSW Conferences have always had innovation as their driving force. 1992 saw the first outdoor stage performances at SXSW Music, with conference programming at the Austin Convention Center starting the following year. For SXSW ’94, often remembered for the Johnny Cash keynote speech and intimate performance at punk rock club Emo’s, two new events — Multimedia and Film — were introduced. The following year the SXSW Film and Media Conference split into two separate events, SXSW Film and SXSW Multimedia. In 1997, Multimedia became SXSW Interactive. That same year brought legendary performers Carl Perkins and Tony Bennett, as well as a Film panel featuring Mike Judge, Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and George Huang. By 1998 the total number of film submissions had grown from 638 to 1,015. This was also the first year for the SXSW Web Awards, honoring the best in websites and digital work. SWSW also offers a window to the world, with countries such as Great Britain, Germany, Canada, France and Spain hosting weeklong events at designated “houses,” most of which are open to the public during daytime hours. In 2014, thanks to the growing interest and participation from Latin American countries, SXAméricas was launched to curate and showcase music, film and tech companies from Mexico and beyond. Through this initiative, SXSW presented the 2016 Cuban music showcase, as well as panels featuring artists and innovators from Cuba. Registration is still open to participants in various levels. Visit www.sxsw.com/attend/ to register and see the schedule of panels, shows and events.
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1: Film Screening 2017 SXSW Conference & Festivals | Photo by Nicky G. Hernandez Jr. 2: Actress Charlize Theron attends the “Atomic Blonde” premiere | Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for SXSW 3: The Urgency Of Now: Launching The Biden Cancer Initiative | Photo by Mindy Best/ Getty Images for SXSW
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4: A Conversation with Buzz Aldrin and Jeff Kluger | Photo by Hubert Vestil/Getty Images for SXSW 5: Texas native Khalid performs on stage | Photo by Phil Nacionales 6: Film Keynote: Lee Daniels | Photo by Errich Petersen 7: Featured Speaker: John Cena | Photo by Katrina Barber/Getty Images for SXSW
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