XP Op-Ed

If Attendance Is Easy, What Are We Measuring?

SXSW 2026 felt like an experiential scavenger hunt. Downtown Austin became a sea of lines as dozens, sometimes hundreds of people, stood outside The Fast Company Grill, Inc. Founders House, Paramount+ Lodge, ADWEEK House and what felt like every country’s board of tourism waited to get inside — shifting their weight, checking their phones and watching others decide if it was worth it.  Once they made it through the door, the pace held, with a drink in hand, a quick scan of the room, maybe a photo and then a turn back toward the street, pulled less by anything inside than by the sense that something else was already happening somewhere else. In, out, on to the next. WHERE SCHEDULES OUTPACE EXPERIENCE Before even touching down in Texas, SXSW attendees’ calendars were already filled with brand houses, media events, panels, dinners and offsites. On the ground, overscheduling turned into constant recalibration, with conversations cut short as people tracked where they were expected next and how to dodge downtown construction to get there. This behavior isn’t contained to SXSW. It shows up anywhere the calendar fills faster than the experience can hold. A guest doesn’t need to engage deeply to get...