SXSW Interactive starts later this week. The question for business owners is whether this event or any other is worth the expense in this economy.Music fans have long been familiar with South by Southwest, or SXSW, the legendary Austin, Texas music festival that propelled many an aspiring rock god from all-but-localized anonymity to big label largess. But the event has long since evolved beyond tunes to encompass film and interactive.

Last year's event made headlines for the dust up between Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and BusinessWeek's ValleyGirl columnist Sarah Lacey. The incident was a brief YouTube sensation and figures prominently in Juliette Powell's new tome on Social Networking, "33 Million People In The Room." No telling if fireworks will again ignite at SXSW Interactive (March 13-17), but the speaker roster should attract attention regardless. Among the notable names on the dizzying list of panelists and speakers are Chris Anderson, Guy Kawaksaki, Chris Brogan, Tony Hsieh, Jeff Jarvis, Lawrence Lessig, Robert Scoble, Peter Shankman, and Werner Vogels.

But star power isn't the issues here for business owners watching every penny. It's one thing for a large enterprise to cut back on the herd it sends to these things, but for small and midsize businesess, the question is instead. Go or no go. According to the Austin American Statesman, attendance this year is projected to top the 2008 event despite the economy. For the "fake" startups, there's nothing but upside to the event and there's the argument to be made of the usual event networking opportunities, but how does your business justify the ROI. In that vein, the Business Pundit has taken a hard look at how to justify the entry costs ($495 for the interactive track). Despite a bit of boosterism for this particular event, these arguments could be applied to almost any other event.

Do trade shows and conferences pencil out for your business (either live events or virtual events)? Unfortunately, there's no right answer, but these points are worth considering. Here are the Business Pundit's 5 Reasons SXSW Can Help Your Business (click through for detail on each point):

Going to SXSW or any other upcoming event? Tell us why and comment on this post.

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