SXSW Interactive
March 13-17, 2009

The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology. Whether you are a hard-core geek, a dedicated content creator, a new media entrepreneur, or just someone who likes being around an extremely creative community, SXSW Interactive is for you!

2009 Panel Ideas: Online Submission Process Now Open

Do you have a great idea for a panel discussion or a presentation at the 2009 SXSW Interactive Festival? If so, we want to hear about it.

The online application for submitting these ideas has now been launched – and it will remain live through Friday, July 11. Programming ideas submitted via this interface will be posted on the 2009 version of the SXSW Panel Picker, thereby allowing the web community to vote on which ideas they feel are most appropriate for 2009. Click here for more information on getting involved with next year’s event!

2008 Recap: Collecting Your SXSW Interactive Experiences

Check out the online event recap page with day-by-day summaries of keynotes, panels, parties and other fun activities. Got a SXSW-related link that you’d like to see posted on this page? The more the merrier! Send us the link and we will add it to this community archive.

Hear the Brightest Minds in Emerging Technology with SXSW Interactive Podcasts

Quench your thirst for all things SXSW Interactive by checking out the SXSW Podcast Page, which contains tons and tons of FREE audio content. Then make sure you are subscribed to our SXSW Podcast RSS Feed.

2008 Program: Complete List of Panels and Speakers Announced

The SXSW Interactive Festival features forward-thinking new media experts from across the United States and around the world. The bulk of programing for the 2008 has been posted online. Be sure to check out the Panels Schedule, as well as two new features for this year's event; Book Readings and Core Conversations. About 75% of programing for 2008 came via ideas from the online community, as generated by the SXSW Panel Picker.

Pictured above: March 9 keynote speaker Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. Other keynotes for the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival include Frank Warren (March 10) and Jane McGonigal (March 11). Opening Remarks (March 8) will be delivered by Henry Jenkins and Steven Johnson.

Live Chat About Interactive Panel Sessions with meebo

Meebo is a website for instant messaging and synchronous social activity. As the official live chat at SXSW Interactive, meebo allows you to discuss and interact real-time with other attendees at any panel during the festival. Visit www.meebo.com/sxsw to get your feet wet and dive full-force into the platform that is the next phase of instant messaging.

SXSW 101: Watch this Video and Know Where to Go

Where do I go to get my SXSW Interactive badge? How do I find all the panels I want to see? OH NO! I don’t have the slightest idea where to get my Program Book!! If thoughts like these haunt your dreams, send a chill down your spine and turn your stomach upside-down – or if you just want a sneak peek at the Austin Convention Center before the action starts on Friday, then get your own personal video tour of the new room layout for 2008. Whether you are a grizzled veteran of SXSW or this is your first time to the event, watching this video will help minimize onsite confusion.

Special thanks to the great folks at SUPER!ALRIGHT! for helping produce this content.

The Interactive Hub: Be Part of the SXSW Online Community

Event attendees (past, present and future) have a place to talk all things SXSW on the Interactive Hub. This community blog covers whatever you want to cover, from panels to Austin restaurants to ride shares to job openings to SXSW evening events. Posting is easy. Just create a user account, then you are off to the races! Got questions on how this all works? Contact us with any questions or concerns.

Upcoming Events

Below are events of interest to the SXSW crowd, many featuring former and current SXSW speakers:

March 14-15, 2009

2009 ScreenBurn Arcade

ScreenBurn is the portion of SXSW Interactive that focuses on the newest trends in the video game industry. Located on Level One of the Austin Convention Center, the ScreenBurn Arcade enables attendees to play with the coolest new gaming platforms, titles and technologies. Get in on all the fun on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15.

March 13-17, 2009

2009 SXSW Interactive Festival

It is never too early to start planning for next spring! The 2009 SXSW Interactive Festival runs Friday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 17. Stay tuned to this website for complete details.

September 5

dConstruct 2008

Located in Brighton, England, dConstruct is the affordable one-day conference for people designing and building the latest generation of social web applications. The theme for the this year’s event is “designing the social web.” 2008 speakers include Steven Johnson, Daniel Burka, Tantek Celik and Jeremy Keith.

September 1

Web Awards Entry Process Opens

The SXSW Web Awards showcase the hottest new trends in the new media industry. Entries for the 2009 competition will be accepted beginning Monday, September 1. Stay tuned to the Web Awards page for complete information.

June 5

Panel Submission Process Opens

The SXSW interactive Festival is a community driven event. So, if you have a great idea for a panel or a solo presentation for next year, then we want to hear from you. The submission process for the 2009 SXSW Panel Picker will commence on Monday, June 2. Stay tuned to the front page of this website for complete details.

Today's Mantra: Explosions in the Sky

The Latest Bits + Bytes

Happy Independence Day 2008 From SXSW Interactive

With apologies to Dave Alvin and John Doe, “Hey baby, it’s the 4th of July”. Indeed, we extend our wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday weekend to all of the online community. Celebrate the independent spirit by listening to a free podcast from the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival. Or, better yet, propose your own panel topic for the 2009 event. Hurry, Friday, July 11 is the final deadline for sending us your panel ideas.

Posted 07/04/08 in Latest News +

July Listserve: Subscribe to Win a Free Registration for 2009

On Monday, July 7, will release the next edition of the the SXSW Interactive Festival monthly listserve. Subscribing to this newsletter allows you to to keep up-to-date on all the cool stuff that happened at SXSW 2008 – as well as the even cooler stuff that is planned for 2009. Additionally, each listserve also contains an easy-to-answer trivia question that is related to some aspect of SXSW. You are eligible to receive a free registration to the 2009 confab (value = $495) if you answer the question correctly. Sign up now to receive the listserve and get in on all the fun free stuff from South by Southwest.

Posted 07/01/08 in Latest News +

Get Your SXSWclick On: Vote for Your Favorite Finalist

SXSWclick is the year-round initiative created to showcase short-form storytelling via mobile devices and the web, as well as its impact on traditional filmmaking.

The 15 finalists for this year’s competition have now been posted online. Be sure to vote for your favorite finalist in each of the five categories in the Popularity Contest Award. Hurry, the final voting deadline is Friday, July 25.

Posted 06/27/08 in Latest News +

New SXSW Podcasts: Judo Moves, PMOG, Online Adulation and Much More

We have updated the podcast blog with new audio recordings from several popular panels at the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival. New additions to this page include Judo Moves for Defending Your Reputation Online (Thor Muller), PMOG: The Web as a Play Field (Justin Hall and Merci Hammon) and Online Adulation: Use Don’t Abuse Your Fans (as presented by Heather Armstrong, Casey McKinnon, Tom Merritt and Christopher Smith).

Stay tuned to the 2008 Podcast Blog over the next few weeks as even more content from this year’s event is added. Better yet, subscribe to the SXSW Podcast RSS Feed to get instantly notified of new podcasts as they are published.

Posted 06/27/08 in Latest News +

Two More Weeks to Submit Panel Ideas for SXSW 2009

What topics do you want to see covered at the 2009 SXSW Interactive Festival? If you have got a great brainstorm for a panel or a solo presentation for next year’s event, then we want to hear it. Click here for complete directions on on how to submit your idea – but, please hurry as the final deadline for panel submission is Friday, July 11. All proposals will be posted on the SXSW Panel Picker, which allows the online community to vote on which of these ideas they feel are most appropriate for the 2009 event. The Panel Picker is scheduled to go live on Friday, August 8.