While at South By, it is clear who the “celebrities” are, because people constantly gossip about them, they appear on panels and give keynotes, and they all seem to know each other. This inclusivity is compounded by the practice of waiving the registration fee for SXSW if an attendee organizes or speaks on a panel: many repeat attendees arrange to speak on their friends’ panels not only to obtain speaker status, but also to save money.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 199