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Local Tech Companies, Musicians, Filmmakers Ready For Highly Anticipated SXSW

By Melony Roy

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals offer a unique blend of music, film, and emerging technologies. The annual event not only attracts people from all over the world, but also from here in Philadelphia.

SXSW is known as a launch pad for innovative content with new media presentations, music showcases and film screenings.

Apu Gupta, co-founder of local tech company Curalate, says a lot of business gets done there:

"It's also a great place to build and grow relationships. This will be our third year in a row now, and every single year that we have gone has been incredibly rewarding for our business."

Curalate helps companies use visual analytics to "identify trends, track visual conversations and engage consumers" through social media.

"Curalate elects to take the hangover shift," he explains. "We host an event at a coffee house every single morning where we provide drinks and food and people come in and chat with us. This will be the second year we've done this and last year was a hit."

The interactive portion of the conference starts today. Follow @MelonyRoy on Twitter for updates.

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