It would crush the Austin economy, there are businesses in the downtown which rent out their "space" for the 2/3 weeks of SXSW and make more money in this period of time, than they would otherwise do all year long!

"The annual festival increased its economic impact to the City of Austin to $355.9 million in 2019, according to an analysis by Greyhill Advisors and South by Southwest." [1]

[1] https://www.kxan.com/news/coronavirus/austin-business-owners...

Yes! It's not a surprise that the cloud companies like Google or Amazon or Salesforce want to cancel events. They don't lose much -- and might even gain by encouraging more digital interaction.

It's the waiters, hotel workers, cab drivers etc. who are really going to be squeezed. It's going to be rough for them.

Would be reckless to still go ahead with it.

As of today around 3pm Pacific, they've announced they're still going forward with it: https://www.sxsw.com/covid-19-attendee-information/

> Regarding the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: SXSW is working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event. As a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, we are proceeding with the 2020 event with the health and safety of our attendees, staff, and volunteers as our top priority.

I don’t think they’ve fully faced the emerging danger of COVID-19 for an event like this. It’s not just the 400,000 attendees, it’s the 2.2 million people in greater Austin.

COVID-19 can render a victim contagious within 12-24 hours after contact. That person can be asymptomatic for 5-7 days, even longer.

Attendees either start to get sick near the end, or on the trip back home. Or bring it to home and their workplace.

There are no vaccines, no one has any immunity. It is NOT the flu.

I’d bet it will be cancelled, when the promoters realize how many people have bailed already and the massive public health risk it poses.

In Italy they are playing soccer games to empty stadiums.

Bunch of companies pulled out today.

Even if it’s not cancelled, there’s no way it’s as big as normal. Major sponsors already dropping out, some speakers the same... it would probably end up being a pretty tame event though. Might even be more fun for introverts!