created on Tue, 2008-08-12 09:26

Time for Voting!

The crowd-sourcing portion of the panel-selection for SXSW Interactive 2009 (scheduled March 13-17, 2009 in Austin, Texas) is underway.

The SXSW online panel picker is open for voting and commenting and you are invited (indeed encouraged) to sign-up (you know the drill) and vote for your the panels you think are most useful.

You don't have to be an attendee or planning to attend to vote - just be someone who's you know, interested. Questions about all this SXSW panel stuff? Check the SXSW Panel FAQ.

Stepping up

As the risk of shameless promotion, the topics listed here all seek to deliver solid practical skills along with discourse on the fundamental issues and the details.

If you have questions/comments/curiosities about the pitches, please consider leaving a comment on the SXSW panel picker - sure it takes an extra few moments but will help the selected panelists hone their messages if they are indeed picked. Also offering props publicly helps spread the voting goodness.

Do you have an awesome panel in the mix? Drop a comment and let's get the vote out!

Voting cheat sheet

Social Media and the Olympics - Robert Scales + panelists
Coverage of the Olympic Games is dominated by IOC's contracted rights-holder and accredited major media conglomerates however some feel there is a role for grassroots documentation of both sporting events and the cultural context. The related conundrums are discussed by social media makers who covered several Olympics Games.

Using Drupal to Manage, Publish, and Promote Your Content - Robert Scales + panelists
Drupal is a fast-growing content management system built by a loose knit community committed to making a highly usable and infinitely extendable publishing platform ideal for individuals to enterprises. Learn how to use Drupal to organize content, publicize your message, and activate your audience.

International Business in China for Fun and Profit - Kris Krug + panelists
There are myriad misconceptions about doing business in China, but with a massive market, talented workbase and intriguing culture, there are also many compelling reasons for entrepreneurs to consider expanding their enterprises to Asia. Practical questions are answered by a panel of ex-pat entrepreneurs.

Become a Semi-Pro Photographer in 10 Easy Steps - Kris Krug + panelists
Think your shots are good enough to pay the bills? A panel of emerging photographers discuss how they've turned their passion into a paying gig after beginning as (sometime self-trained) amateurs and reveal the tactics they've used to build portfolio, grow audience and increase exposure.

F@ck Stats, Make Art - Dave Olson
Via a pictorial journey through his own career of creating grassroots art and publications, renegade social media producer and writer Dave Olson will extol, encourage and explain the importance of taming the intimidation, solving conundrums and digging deep to muster authentic creative self expression in the digital era.

Social Media for Social Change - Dave Olson + panelists
Tips and case studies on how social change focused groups with limited resources can use the web, and internet tools including mobile technologies, to spread their messages effectively and inexpensively, as well as rapidly activate constituents for campaigns and activities to effectuate local or international change.

The Final Roster

The final roster is chosen by a "special" SXSW Advisory Board with significant input from Staff, and of course due consideration from the vox populi (that's you). Vote until August 29th and look for the first round of speaker announcements in early October.

Here's what the message from Hugh Forrest and Kathryn Lasater says about the final cut:

The Panel Picker will give us a lot of very valuable information in terms of what kind of sessions are most appealing to the SXSW Interactive community. Nonetheless, Panel Picker voting is not the only criteria in putting together the programming lineup for the 2009 event. The SXSW Advisory Board contributes significantly to this process, as does the SXSW Staff. Finally, we strive to have a very diverse selection of programming and some decisions are made to ensure this diversity (that may or may not be reflected in the voting).

Bonus Round

Here's a few more of our pals to investigate while voting - please add other great choices in the comments below and we'll get the vote out.

Booting up your Startup - Danny Robinson + panelists (Boris Mann and Jordan Behan)
Venture Capital is evolving along with the web. Digitally distributed technologies are cheaper and take less time to create, which stresses traditional venture capital models. There are number of firms addressing these problems, but as with any paradigm shift, the incumbents don't always see eye-to-eye with the trail blazers.

How a Brand Grows From Notion to Product - Darren Barefoot, Capulet Communications
How does a web-based product grow from the zygote of a tiny idea into a full-fledged brand? What does the road from conception to birth look like? Who catches the baby? Join a company founder, interactive designer, graphic designer and marketer for birthing tales from the field.

Start to Finish Drupal Redesign - Sarah Davies, ACLU of Washington
This presentation will go through the technical details of a start to finish Drupal redesign, including theming, plugins, coding, testing, and cost. A basic knowledge of php and css is highly recommended for this panel to make sense to you.

Rebuilding the World with Free Everything - Doc Searls, Linux Journal, Harvard Berkman Center
"Free" is the future of business. Steve Larsen says the world has more than 500,000 open source code bases now -- all free. That's a tall challenge for a huge pile of building material. Linux Journal presents a panel of creative hackers and business crafters to discuss constructing the future.

Making Whuffie: Raising Social Capital in Online Communities - Tara Hunt, Citizen Agency
This talk gets to the heart of how people interact and exchange information in online communities: through social capital, or as Cory Doctorow calls it, Whuffie. The key to growing customers in online communities is through growing your social capital. You will learn the 5 lessons of raising Whuffie through online communities in this presentation.

Micromafia: Building a Local Small Business Support Network - Susannah Gardner, Hop Studios
No small business is an island. When your business is only a couple of people, you desperately need advice and support, but most networking groups are too big. Explore an easy-to-implement, innovative way to collaborate with local entrepreneurs in a focused, how-we-built-it presentation based on chapters in Vancouver and Seattle.

Creativesoulchristchurch.com - The Follow on Effect of SXSW 2008 - Jolene Parker, Style Counsel Ltd.
An introduction to the SXSW event 2 years ago by Event Planner Cary Caldwell + a subsequent chance encounter with online community legend Kris Krug at SXSW 2008 were enough to kick start a chain reaction of inspiration for Christchurch, New Zealand based ‘creative’ Jolene Parker. Upon returning to New Zealand Jolene set about making change happen.

Wither Panels?

The panels are a key part of some SXSW attendee's Interactive experience - other attendees, not so much. Indeed, at least one SXSW panel review suggests the panelists are sometimes under-prepared, not really bringing anything new to the table, or aren't speaking with enuf geek-i-tude.

Other anecdotal grumbling suggests that because the accepted panelists score a "Gold pass," some industry "big shots" submit a pitch to get into the event gratis ... and then perhaps consider the actual presentation as an afterthought to the wicked parties, hallway conversations and biz networking. But that's part of the routine, as Hugh Forrest commented on Tod's rant:

As for the assertion that “no one goes to panels at SXSW,” I have to say that this really isn’t an accurate assessment. If panel rooms were not full, then we would not have to keep adding more space year after year in response to perennial overcrowding issues. Am I implying that daytime programming at SXSW is the end all and be all of the event? Absolutely not. Panels and presentations are merely the starting point to a conversation which typically reaches much greater depth in the hallway, or at a party, or in some kind of online forum.

The SXSW folks diligently gathered the opinions with a dense post-event survey and observed reviews in the wild. This year, they are specifically seeking more technical and expert level sessions. As such, expect to see more panelists/presenters with the heavy knowledge and the ability to disseminate the wisdom in a compelling manner.

As for me and panels ... I was working the trade show booth (educational in itself) and didn't see any presentations except for the intro to Kris Krug's Blame Canada panel - but have listened to many via podcast (note to SXSW staff: step up the recording quality please ;-).

Photo Credits:

Teh Panelz (CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com

Scales rocking the mic by Roland

KK Blaming Canada by Peter Andersen

The DaveO show at Studio SX by KK

Panel at SXSW08 (CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com

Dave and Utttez at SXSW2008 (CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com

John Beihler at SXNW party (CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com