The fallout out from the cancellation of SXSW continued Monday. One third of the organization's full-time staff has been laid off, organizers confirmed.
That translates to about 58 people.
— Elizabeth Findell (@efindell) March 9, 2020The move shows how devastating the festival's cancellation was, and that organizers don't appear to have hopes for any major insurance coverage to backfill for lost income. And the layoffs are also likely just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall local impact of the cancellation, which was announced at a city hall news conference on Friday afternoon -- just a week before the festival was slated to kick off. That decision was followed on Monday the city banning all events with more than 2,500 people -- unless approved by health officials, the Statesman reported.
In addition to year-round SXSW staff, hundreds of service industry workers, artists and events companies plan on the spike in business generated by the 10-day festival and the throngs of domestic and international visitors it brings to town.
#StandwithAustin by supporting these funds started to help our creatives and small businesses that rely so heavily on the increased revenue that SXSW brings. @atxcommunityfdn, @HeardPresents, and @SouthernSmokeTX #SXSW https://t.co/SUNC2Zduaf
— SXSW (@sxsw) March 8, 2020
Reports of the layoffs come as several organizations have quickly formed in efforts to maintain smaller non-official SXSW events and to raise money for nonprofits to distribute to workers who depend on festival-related income.
We noted a few of those efforts in our daily newsletter, the Beat. Here's a quick look:
- A rallying cry: A few local startup and business leaders are joining forces in an effort to make the most of things after SXSW’s official event was canceled. The group, co-led by MediaTech Ventures co-founder John Zozzaro, includes about 20 business leaders who met over the weekend and developed a website. They’re looking to develop micro-events and have partnered with Logictry to help develop the schedule.
- Meanwhile, the Austin Community Foundation launched its “Stand with Austin Fund,” which will channel donations through nonprofits to people and small businesses hurt by the cancellation of SXSW.
- Austin digital design and ad firm T3 launched a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising $10K+ that will all be given away through surprise tips to service industry workers, bands and others hard hit by SX’s cancellation.
Learn about those efforts and more in this ABJ article.
