Last week was an exciting time for those who support mainstream and underground arts. Whether your life revolves around music, film, technology, pop-culture or a variation of all the above, SXSW is an exciting time to discover something new and rediscover something classic. See what Brandon had to say about this year's South by Southwest Festival here. 

Every year around the beginning of March, I receive personalized e-mails from friends and acquaintances across the country inviting me to catch up and meet at a conference, concert or film premier. It is sometimes a project someone is associated with but often times it is just an event the invitee will be attending and a chance to connect again. Companies, consider definitely taking a page out of this book and be more personable with meeting your clients.

This post has more to do with two of the east coast's answers to SXSW.

Then first, appropriately called North by Northeast (NXNE) is a week long festival of music, film and much more in Toronto, Canada. Although NXNE does not have the prominence that SXSW has, it has everything that is offered - great new and famous forms of art with a unique place for visual arts, gallery art, art spaces and even comedies. I have worked with the NXNE festival and planning team before and I can tell you from first-hand experience that there is plenty of opportunity to network with bright and creative minds. 

Can't make it to Canada? College Music Journal hosts a week long festival on the streets of one of the largest year-round Meccas for entertainment - New York City. The CMJ Music Marathon is more than just tunes and musicians - it includes debut films at famed Tribeca film theatres, special events at bars and restaurants throughout the city, seminars at NYU (and others) and much more. My last year attending CMJ Marathon was in 2008 and included such events as the national premier for Zach and Miri Make A Porno, an intimate in-studio performance sitting with Broken Social Scene, a small Crystal Castles concert at Webster Hall and a meet-and-greet opportunity with Donovan Frankenreiter just to name a few.

Didn't get a chance to find great talent for your business or find the new best thing in music or film? NXNE takes place June 10-16 and offers something very unique: huge student discounts (over 50% off standard badge prices) and single day bracelets for those who want to experience what is offered without breaking the bank. Details are forthcoming but the initial music lineup includes The National, Buke & Gass, Flag, Mickey Avalon, Joey Bada$$ and much more. College Music Journal's Music Marathon takes place later in the year from October 15-19 and is currently taking submissions for artists, films and art along with other business opportunities. Stay tuned to this website for more details. Both of these will have plenty of opportunities for promotional product hand-outs and informal meetings with industry elite.

How do you begin to describe South by Southwest (SXSW)? First off, it's a trade show -- one of the biggest in the world -- that takes place in Austin, Texas each year. Exhibitors include everything from big media companies to small software startups.

According to its website, SXSW is broken down into three segments: interactive, film and music. This year's event began March 8 and will run through March 17.

So which music, films and technologies have stood out so far? Let's take a look:

1. Music

The music portion of SXSW has really only just started, but certain acts have already made a big impression. The Los Angeles Times raved about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' performance of "Sacrilege," the lead single off of the band's new album. Paramore also delivered a powerful performance, including the band's single out now, "Now."

Other big acts scheduled to perform this week include Green Day, Andrew W.K. and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

2. Movies

A few highly-anticipated films premiered at SXSW. MTV reports that some of the better flicks included "Evil Dead," "I Give It a Year" and "Spring Breakers," which stars Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens.

3. Tech

The technology portion of SXSW, dubbed SXSWi (interactive), officially wrapped on Tuesday. Which products made the biggest impression? According to Time, favorite items included a pair of talking shoes from Google and the MakerBot Digitizer, which allows users to scan objects to be printed in 3D. Awesome!

Oh, and of course the always-fabulous Grumpy Cat made an appearance (photo courtesy of @iansomerhalder on Twitter): 

Typically, when referring to Austin festival South by Southwest (SXSW) we refer to its prestigious film festival or the up-and-coming bands expected to grace the many stages in Austin. But the impact of this year's festival may stretch further than just film and music.

As reported by Michelle Bruno on the Tradeshow News Network website, South by Southwest is being opposed by a renegade group called the Badgeless. The Badgeless is a group of social media users who refused to pay the price of the SXSW festival. This group, rather than seeing the official films, concerts and keynote speeches of the SXSW festival, put the element of gathering together at top priority. As described by Michelle Bruno, "Badgeless participants didn't get to see the Al Gore or Ray Kurzweil keynotes...but they did get a lot of free tacos and beer and themselves, which is apparently the main attraction for them."

So how might it affect other tradeshows? It is possible that other festivals known for exclusivity or steep pricing could be outpaced by the spread of social media groups. The result could continue to wear at waning participation and pull tradeshow veterans away from the original tradeshow.

Organizers seemed not to be threatened by the Badgeless, acknowledging the group and explaining how each year of the festival has been more successful than the last. With over two decades of success, it'll be some time until the Badgeless can cause a reasonable dent in the participation.