Customer stories


South by Southwest

Coming and Going

Who's coming and who's going? Who's going to perform, to speak, to display -- and who's coming to see them?

For organizers of first-class festivals, exhibitions, and shows, those are the key questions. And for Texas-based event promoters South by Southwest, the answers lie in FileMaker Pro -- the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.

Headquartered at the Austin Convention Center, South by Southwest is well known for its Music and Media Conference and Festival, a popular event for media industry professionals every March since 1987. The annual SXSW Film Conference is a magnet for independent filmmakers and actors from all over the world. And each year the SXSW Interactive Festival brings together experts from the cutting edge of New Media. A similar event is held in Toronto, Ontario under the North by Northeast banner.

What do all of these events have in common? A dedicated team of backstage professionals -- and the power of FileMaker Pro.

'South by Southwest has been using FileMaker Pro since it graduated from 3x5 cards,' observes Database Manager Richard Fenno. FileMaker tracks registrations, manages mailing lists, helps oversee the thousands of little details that go into every successful event. And it's Richard's job to ensure that the system is being used as efficiently and effectively as possible. FileMaker's flexibility makes it easy to streamline, easy to look at a particular application and figure out how it can work even better.

Conference registration is one example. Richard has streamlined a system that was formerly split into five databases into a single registration database. 'We rearranged the way registrants approached the registration counter to gain the most from the time spent in line,' he explains. 'When the registrant was called to a volunteer running one of the registration computers -- and they were all iMacs which Apple donated for our use, hooked to our G4 server -- a single layout had all of the information required to transact the business of getting the badge. The registrant, while weaving through the line, had a filled-in card which we traded at the badge library for a badge. Net result is, last year at the worst the line was taking more than an hour. This year, same day, same line, never more than 21 minutes. It's easy. THINK VERBS. Define what's to be done in verbs and design layouts that do the doing.'

Richard is always looking for ways to increase efficiency -- and FileMaker makes it happen. In another example, a new FileMaker-based online system for verifying pre-registrations is proving to be a real time-saver for everyone. Making arrangements for guest performers and scheduling films is just as easy with FileMaker -- as is making this information available over the web. 'Not content to sit on our laurels, we pushed HTML translations of all of this stuff onto our website from FileMaker. All of it. Over a thousand showcasing bands, for example. In fact there's hardly a page in our website which doesn't have some data feeding into it from our FileMaker files.'

So far, South by Southwest runs about eighty databases, with the largest -- the contact database -- containing over 88,000 records. Through effective consolidation, Richard is hoping to reduce the number of databases down to about sixty -- with no loss in efficiency or data-management power.

Well-planned and well-organized, FileMaker Pro has South by Southwest's information-management needs under control -- coming and going!



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Richard Fenno
Database Manager
South by Southwest
512-467-7979
rfenno@sxsw.com
http://www.sxsw.com


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • outh by Southwest, organizer of first-class festivals, exhibitions and shows, relies on FileMaker Pro to track registrations, manage mailing lists, and help oversee the thousands of other details that to into planning a successful event. FileMaker Pro is also the power behind South by Southwest's Web site, with nearly every web page containing information drawn from databases.
Industry
  • Information Technology
  • Small Business
  • Travel/Hospitality