SXSW 2010 Panel Picker

SXSW is still almost 6 months away but you may have noticed a flurry of self-promotion on Twitter as the Panel Picker was launched last week.  The panel picker allows the people to weigh in and tell the organizers what they're interested in seeing at conference, but with over 2200 panel proposals, the prospect of browsing them all can be an overwhelming prospect.  Here's a few recommendations to get you started...

First up, I would be remiss to not mention our own Robert Scales and his panel, Social Media and the Olympics: A Case Study.  This panel is sure to be a very timely and relevant topic with SXSW falling just on the heels of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.  Scales has been an Olympic fanatic, providing social media coverage of the Games in Turnin, Beijing and now Vancouver this winter.  The IOC has been criticized for their posture towards social media and yet this years games is poised to have more social media coverage than ever before.  This panel is sure to be full of stories from the trenches and examine the challenges and opportunities facing social media and sport. 

Another recommendation would be for Dave Olson and his panel, Hitchhiking to the Boardroom.  Olson is a poet, artist, storyteller, traveller, producer, and and all around bon vivant, yet still makes time for his day job helping various tech companies and start-ups.  Dave's unorthodox perspective has brought life many stale meetings and his panel is sure to the same.  Dave's also set to be moderating the Rock and Roll Photography panel with our friend Kris Krug and legendary photographer Bev Davis.  After seeing an early version of this panel at Northern Voice, I can say without hesitation that this one's not to be missed - it's a beautiful and candid exploration of how musicians and bands can work together. 

KK also has a couple other irons in the fire that you should check out.  Listening on the Internet: Online Media Monitoring examines some useful strategies for making the most of all the data that's being produced online and finding out what people are thinking/feeling/saying about your brand.  And beyond just listening, Kris will examine how all of our activities online are actively shaping our online identity in Your Content is You, Your Website is Dead. 

Another Vancouverite with a proposal worth checking out is John Biehler and Do the Cool Kids Leave when the Suits Arrive?  John will examine the tension that can arise between business models and users just wanting to be social and have fun.  This discussion will examine the importance of "co-creating fun and valuable experiences" with your users.  

There's lots more to have look at.  I'd recommend checking out Joy Gugeler's Make Friends with Cannibals: Linking Print and Online Publishers, Hillary Hartley's Building Your Local Open Government Tribe, Sabastian Benthalll's Beyond Google Maps: The Open Source Geospatial Web, Alex Williams' Whuffaoke and the Magic of the Magic Bus, James Chutter's Ubiquitous Participation: Graffiti Streets to Social Networks and Cecily Walker's Can I Reserve this Book with my iPone?  Looking for more?  How about Dries Buytaert's proposal, RIP Content Management Systems (an unexpected title from the creator of Drupal) or Julie Blitzer's Not Just for Obama: New Media Get's Local. 

There's something for everyone so head over to the Panel Picker and have your say.  The people's vote counts for 30% of the decsision, but make sure you get your votes in before the polls close on September 4th.