newrenowhore

We were just "accepted" into SXSW's Startup Spotlight (different than the accelerator): http://sxsw.com/interactive/engage/startup-spotlight

It's a hefty cost to participate, and having never been to SXSW, I was wondering if anyone here familiar with the program (or SXSW's startup scene in general) could make a recommendation.

We're a niche product for musicians that wouldn't necessarily benefit from the large audience, but the notoriety of SXSW could make it worth the trip. Plus, the timing falls neatly into our fundraising schedule.

Is it worth incurring the cost, time, and effort for two hours at a table at SXSW Interactive?

Our business is attracting a number of interested affiliates (revenue share, etc) as we grow. So far we've been handling them manually (track sales with a custom coupon code + internal referral tracking), but it's cumbersome to dig through every month. Plus, there's no verification on the affiliate's side - they're more or less taking us at our word when it comes to the number of sales their referrals generate. This won't fly with some of the bigger affiliates we're talking to.

While I'm aware of some of the larger marketplace-ish services (cj, etc) in this space, I was wondering if there was a product or service out there we could use to track and pay our affiliates. Ideally it would be very simple to set up on the affiliate side, and offer tracking & payment.