Last year was my first year and while I paid for a pass ($425 early) and airfare (I think I found $320 ATL -> AUS last year), I ended up splitting a loft with 5 guys above a bar on 6th street. They were all Internet/hacker types so it wasn't random. We paid about $300 each for the week. This year I'm trying the other side of things and am getting a room for 4 in the Hilton.. should be just shy of $500/person for the week.
Sometimes its worth it: What price do you put on the people you meet, the technology you see, the ideas you may get? I'm heading into my first SXSW this year, I can't wait.
(Funnily enough, my airfares only cost about $600 all up - but then, I'm flying from Sydney, Australia. Thank you Qantas Frequent Flyer!)
I agree. Last year I was all about signing up for all these cool events, panels I wanted to attend and so on.. and none of that happened. I just ended up going to wherever my crowd was going. They all seemed to know about the cooler private stuff anyways.
~$500 ticket + ~$500 airfare + ~$1k hotels = ~$2k of expenses that could let you do a lot of other things?
Even sharing hotels and/or crashing on a friends couch wouldn't work too well...