SXSW Interactive attracts a plethora of bright minds, and more importantly (in some cases), a group that knows how to spread a message perhaps better than any other group on Earth. That’s because social media is a (if not THE) focal point of SXSWi.

With that, Cause Vox Founder Rob Wu and Live Path’s Leigh Durst got together to start a SXSW-based initiative to help Japan in the wake of the mega-earthquake the country has endured.

A website has been set up at SXSW4Japan.org, complete with a logo designed on the fly by an artist named Hugh Macleod from GapingVoid.com.

Wu and Durst have been approaching speakers and panelists to help spread the word (which has also reached the local newspaper in Austin).  By the time SXSWi wraps up, I can only imagine how widespread the message will be.

To help cultivate that message, Twitter has of course been very instrumental. In fact, the campaign was announced by SXSWi event director Hugh Forrest on Twitter, despite it not being an official part of the event (it’s not as if they could have planned for this).

The goal is o raise at least $10,000, and by the end of the event’s first day, they had already raised $2,600. As word continues to travel, and at SXSW, it does fast, there should be no problem hitting that goal and then some. There are some deep pockets out here.