Something new always seems to come out of the SXSW event in Austin each year. The music/film/technology conference has attracted lots of folks in the technology field over the past 3-4 years. Last year the big story was how everyone was using Twitter to communicate and organize impromptu meetups.

This year the big story seems to be how Twitter is enabling attendees to interrupt sessions they don’t like, voice their displeasure, and direct it into a different discussion. It’s a phenomenon that seems limited to the technology events at this point, but it’s interesting to read this article on Fortune Online and how social media technology is enabling attendees to “discuss” the session while it’s happening and even quickly and quietly organize a way to change the direction if they are bored. Except, when the time comes, it’s not so quiet as attendees simply stand up and begin yelling their thoughts and questions to the speakers and moderators.

Moderators are also now getting very publicly critiqued. Jeff Jarvis has long been a proponent of a shake-up in the conference industry – and rightly gets very upset when organizers don’t treat their speakers with respect.

Gone are the days when folks would sit quietly and endure the boring one hour sales pitch – and it’s for the best. The early adopters of technology are starting to take action immediately when a conference isn’t meeting their needs. Your industry is next! Consider yourself warned!