In past years, The SXSW Trade Show has been a great place to network, try the latest gadgets, take a break from the never ending sessions and score free swag. This year’s edition looks to be no different.
Rather than breaking down each vendor, we’ll provide you with a list of all the vendors, highlight our picks and then some essential tips to make your trek through the Vendor minefield a little more enjoyable.
The Vendor section runs from:
- Saturday, March 14 (Noon to 6:00 pm)
- Sunday, March 15 (Noon to 6:00 pm)
- Monday, March 16 (Noon to 4:00 pm)
List of Vendors
A to Z Media, Acquia Inc, Advantage West Midlands, Advermotion LLC, 
Animoto, Apress, Associated Content, Audio-Technica, Austin Chronicle, Austin Film Society, Axiom Software Inc., Barnes and Noble, Blellow, Blue Microphones, Blurb Inc, Brown Paper Tickets ,CanadaConnects, Chinwag, City of Austin, Closed Loop Marketing, CoDe Magazine, Creative Commons, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Discoveries From Down Under, Eastman Kodak, Ektron, Empressr, Entertainment Partners, Eureka Software, Film Florida, Film North Carolina, Global Collect, Google, HostMySite.com/Code Project, HourVille, HUGE, Ideas To Go, IdN Magazine, Iron Mountain, iStockphoto Inc, Jakprints Inc, KickApps, Knowbility.org, LightCMS, Linkworth, LUNARR, Massify LLC, McSweeney’s, Media Tech Institute, Mimoco, Montana Film Office, Moving Pictures Magazine, MusicSkins, MyRockstar Inc, Myxer.com, Net2NO, Creative Krewe, Nevada Film Office, New Riders, NutshellMail.com, ooVoo, Opera Software, OrgSync, OtherInbox, Overlay.TV, PacketVideo, PeoplePond, Pixton Comics Inc, Podcast Ready, Pond5.com, Porter Novelli/Porter Novelli, Present.ly, Raincity Studios Inc, Roundarch, SAGIndie, Sapient, Savannah College of Art and Design, Searchme, ServerBeach, Shutterstock, Silverlight/Microsoft Corporation, Small World Labs, St. Edward’s University, StandardAnswer.com, Star Nine Marketing, Sun Microsystems, TechSmith Corporation, Texas Film Commission, The Connextion, TileStack, Trustworthy, Tucson Film Office, Vancouver Film School, Verb CMS, Virtual Law Partners LLP, Wacom Technology, WebbChange, WorldSound
Trade Show Essentials
Bring some cash – The Trade show is a great way to get some cool products. Most vendors will have a bit of discount, especially from book publishers. You can usually get that solid coding book that you’ve been looking for for at least 20% than Amazon. Plus you might even get the author to sign it.
Try out the new Block Party Function this year. Drinks, food and vendors, what more could you ask for? (Just be sure to not drink too much and start throwing down your expense account).
Swag wise– Some of the service companies (iStockphotos, JakPrints and Shutterstock) hand out special discount codes. If you use any of these services on a regular basis, make sure to stop by and score a nice discount on your next purchase.
Adobe Day Stage Café
The Adobe Day Stage Café is a staple of the SXSWi, stop in for a small break from the seamless stream of sessions or catch one of Adobe’s showcase events. On occasion other vendors like Expression Engine and WordPress will have special showcase events.
If anything it’s a good reliable place to grab a coffee and a quick bite as you trek between the different floors.
South by Bookstore Hosted by Barnes & Noble
As previous mentioned the SXSW Bookstore is a very good place to pick discounted books. Find books from your favorite Web Celebrities to the key tutorial books for Ruby Designers or Flash developers. If you work in the industry you will find a tool to help you learn and grow.
It is open:
- Saturday, March 14 (Noon to 6:00 pm)
- Sunday, March 15 (Noon to 6:00 pm)
- Monday, March 16 (Noon to 4:00 pm)
Check the Bookstore page on the main SXSW site for time slots of author signings.
