SXSW 2012 Interactive, featuring among the largest digital marketing and media conferences all over the world, with thousands of participants and a not lesser number of sessions, is also a testimony to the strong impact that print media have on this type of events, enabling the showcasing of messages at panels, trade show booths, branded events, meet-ups, etc. by means of attractive, creatively designed supplementing printed materials to aid the successful communication of business messages from the printed materials available.
Among the issues that have drawn the greatest attention at SXSW 2012 were the combinations of print media with technological innovations which enable the engagement of consumers and carry out efficient advertising, for rewarding ROI. There was one more important trend that was strongly felt throughout the conference: print media are equally in the media foreground, not leaving the field for digital media and stepping back to second place. At a large scale event like SXSW 2012, where technological innovations were harnessed to discuss the employment of a cross platform strategy in order to achieve the highest ROI possible, the presence of print media at the different events, such as the exhibitions and marketing and communication collaterals, was strongly felt as a vehicle through which attendees were engaged by means of the familiar method of presenting printed content for everyone to learn information and enhance their interest. At SXSW 2012, printed media was invariably present in the form of copious attractively designed printed materials. The impact of brochures, newsletters, press releases, etc. was well known to attendees who benefited from the available printed content to supplement their information and establish new contacts.
The attendees who enjoyed their participation in SXSW 2012 did not only delight in the demonstrations of the power of modern digital media which enable delivery of content via numerous mobile devices. The experienced digital marketers, digital publishing employees, programmers, etc. were continuously exposed to the equally powerful and communicative impact of print media at trade show booths and exhibitions held within the SXSW 2012 framework. The shift from printed to digital form is a natural development, but as was demonstrated at the conference, print media continues to have its rightful place in the media field, where the perennial presence of printed content leaves truly lasting impressions which invite attendees to think and take action in the field of media development and personalization.
Print media has had its role for the delivery of magazine content, and it continues to have its deserved place at events of high interest related to digital media, like SXSW 2012. The holding of a number of events within the conference framework would have been incomplete without the presence of a number of printed materials available for the attendees to take and use as sources of information. By employing printed content centered around cohesive and comprehensive business themes, at trade show displays, banner stands, table covers, floor graphics, the message of significance of the products featured on printed matter was effectively and powerfully conveyed.