I was in the hotel room getting ready for the day when I heard the newscast on local station KXAN.  They reported that attendance for SXSW interactive was up 40% over last year.  Additionally they reported that nearly every hotel room in downtown Austin was occupied.

I did a little digging and found a link that states this.  It is a really good article about the whole SXSW event and some history. 

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/top-stories/sxsw-stays-course-continues-growth-1.2189966

Key quote from the Daily Texan Online link about is:
“Beth Krauss, spokeswoman for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, said registration for the interactive conference is up almost 40 percent from 2009, surpassing the 10-percent increase from 2008 to 2009.”