The opening day of South by Southwest (SXSW) is a more than seven months away, but preparations for this 10-day event featuring an interactive, film and music festival are well underway. A good majority of the planning is taking place in Austin, Texas, the location of the event since its inception in 1987, while across the U.S. thousands of individuals and companies are vying to earn a speaking spot via the PanelPicker.
The SXSW PanelPicker is an online system that gives the community a 30 percent say in which panels and presentations will be selected – SXSW staff and advisory board account for the other 30 and 40 percent, respectively. Last year, SXSW Interactive had over 300 panels, solo presentations, Core Conversations, Salons, book readings, and more.
Needless to say, with more than a thousand submissions received, the PanelPicker can help make or break the selection of a speaker.
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So, now it’s time for action. Visit panelpicker.sxsw.com, sign up for a free account and vote – a “thumbs up” – for the panels listed below, those that have representation from the Silicon Prairie.
Voting opened yesterday and runs through Friday, August 27. Anyone is allowed to vote, from those who have attended or will be attending SXSW to those who just like to watch from the sidelines. The first round of panels is expected be announced in late September.
Interactive
- Conference Startups: Grassroots Innovation Rocking the Event World. – Chris Schultz, Voodoo Ventures, LLC (New Orleans); Jeff Slobotski, Silicon Prairie News & Big Omaha; and others (Omaha)
- How Can Artists Turn Web Hits Into Dollars? – Cat Rocketship & Scott (Kubie) Rocketship, makebreak (Des Moines)
- How Farmers Get Serious Business Done With Mobile – Jeff Caldwell, Meredith Corporation (Des Moines)
- Hyperlocal Multimedia Journalism on a Shoestring Budget – Emily Farris, MidtownKCPost.com (Kansas City)
- Nerds, Jocks, & Cheerleaders: Avoid Social Media “Cliques” – Chase Hawkins, Swindlr LLC (Kansas City)
- Real-Time Streams Need Real-Time Feedback – Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb (Portland, Oregon) & Daniel Shipton, BitMethod (Des Moines)
- Rich Browser-Based Templating Through Open Source Collaboration – Neil Roberts, BitMethod (Des Moines)
- Social marketing lessons learned on the farm – Nathan Wright, Lava Row (Des Moines)
- The Legalities Behind APIs and Mashups – Brett Trout, Brett J. Trout, P.C. (Des Moines)
Music
- Landing A Music Career In Flyover Country – Hillary Brown & Jill Haverkamp, On Pitch (Des Moines)
- Socially Awkward: The Art of Social Media Transparency – Shannon Schlappi, Locker Partner / Rockdex (Kansas City / Omaha)
Film
- In the Future, Everyone Will Be a Filmmaker – Scott W. Smith, River Run Productions (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
- Screenwriting from Iowa (and Other Unlikely Places) – Scott W. Smith, River Run Productions (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
To learn more about the PanelPicker, visit sxsw.com/panelpicker_faq. To learn more about SXSW, visit sxsw.com/about.
Note: List constantly updated when we learn about new Panels from the Prairie.
