SXSW: the secret festival gathering for 20 US mayors with tech agendas

The country's most forward-thinking mayors want to attract tech money and jobs to their cities - and much of that happens through networking at the event

Very quietly, and a little secretly, an unprecedented gathering of American mayors has arrived in Austin, Texas.

Twenty mayors, from Kansas City, Sacramento, Portland, Albuquerque, Baltimore and elsewhere, have been drawn here to the SXSW festival, though most have a packed schedule that is closed to journalists and the public. Amazon; Google; Austin's HomeAway vacation rentals firm; and Maven, General Motors' ride-sharing service, have been privately pitching to them. They've held a little startup shark tank. They're touring new designs for space-efficient housing and hearing about surveillance technology.