I was amused to read Ms. San Miguel's editorial concerning the SXSW conspiracy to stop free parties. I was also amused when I received phone calls asking us not to move SXSW to the new nine-story dome complex we are building in Bastrop.

Both stories are untrue. The dome story was a thinly veiled April Fools joke in the Austin Chronicle and the latest SXSW conspiracy theory is a result of inaccurate reporting.

The day after a group of troublemakers at the Strokes show, refusing to wait for the crowd just inside the gates to thin out, knocked down a fence and led a stampede to get into a free show, I was interviewed by a young TV reporter. I expressed the opinion that the exponentially growing number of free parties with free alcohol are now drawing tens of thousands of people, many of whom care more about the “free” than about the music and creativity that makes up SXSW. Many of these people are Spring Breakers from out of town, and too many of them are ill behaved.

The reporter asked me if anything could be done about this year’s rapid proliferation of free parties and I told him about the new outdoor sound ordinance that was recently passed by the City Council. The City recognized that the permitting process for temporary outdoor events was flawed, and amended the process to create more scrutiny in the planning stages and place a priority on public safety and community harmony. That process began in February and was not fully in effect during SXSW 2011. Next year, the process will be more comprehensive and will create even safer outdoor events.

This was apparently too complex a subject for TV sound bites, and the story was simply reported as "SXSW is working with the City to curb free parties."

Ms. San Miguel (who is hardly an impartial observer) either doesn't know, or doesn’t acknowledge, that SXSW sponsors over one hundred free parties during our event, as well as throwing the biggest free party of them all, three nights of free shows on Lady Bird Lake. SXSW also cooperates with very many of the unofficial parties in various capacities, believing that the unofficial parties add vibrancy to the overall event and because they are enjoyed by Austin locals.

Our critics have long accused SXSW of trying to stop free parties because it's a story that's easy to tell and easy to believe. The truth is we have always advocated that the parties need to be given the same level of scrutiny by the authorities as the official venues that host SXSW showcases. Because of our public position, when unsafe or non-permitted parties were shut down in the past, SXSW took the blame. We're willing to live with that criticism, because even with a high level of scrutiny, as we saw this year, serious problems can occur, especially when people don’t behave with restraint and cooperation.

Roland Swenson is the Managing Director of SXSW.