What to Expect from South by Southwest

South by Southwest begins tomorrow in Austin, TX. This annual festival and conference brings together independent films, interactive media and emerging technology, and music for one of the largest events of the year. SXSW has continued to grow in both scope and size every year. Expectations have risen because artists like Hanson, John Mayer, Imagine Dragons and the Alabama Shakes were discovered at SXSW and brands like Twitter and Foursquare have gained global recognition at SXSW.

This year President Obama will give the keynote at the beginning of the music portion of SXSW. Many are criticizing him for attending SXSW and skipping Nancy Reagan's funeral, so we expect him to give some respect to the Reagan family and their accomplishments. Virtual reality will be a focus for many of the conference sessions, which is no surprise after CES and Mobile World Congress this year. Other themes we expect out of SXSW are wearables, privacy and security, fashion in tech, women in tech, sports technology, and food tech.

What predictions do you have for SXSW this year? We collected a few predictions from Sage users, click to agree or disagree and make your own on Sage!