Despite of its ups and downs, as of 2018 it is still clear that the SxSw conference in Austin, Texas is one of the most important – if not the most important – media conference that exists in the world. Split into three main categories (Film, Music and Interactive) as well as several other subcategories (Education, Fashion, Gaming, Wellness etc), every March the conference blazes into Texas' capital city with the force and intensity of a freight train carrying a huge and insane circus, delighting audiences and terrorizing locals with its carnival like atmosphere.

Italy has been part of SxSw for many years, thanks to dedicated music professionals such as Mark Gartenberg, Francesco Del Maro and different maverick Italian musicians who took the risk of traveling to Austin to be part of the famous media conference. That said, somewhere around 2013, Italy started having a bigger presence, as increased Italian government funding was made available for different initiatives such as setting up a sizable booth in the SXSW trade show, promoting showcases and throwing private events.