(L-R) Juan Tornoe, Rob Stefaniak and Teresa Van Deusen

The SXSW Interactive Festival Advisory Board consists of industry experts, as well as veteran members of the community that come together in Austin each spring. Advisory Board members are very involved in helping select the best of the best proposals, which SXSW receives each year through the SXSW PanelPicker. We asked Advisory Board members Teresa Van Deusen, Rob Stefaniak and Juan Tornoe the following question...

"What are you most excited about for SXSW Interactive 2013?"

Keynotes

Teresa Van Deusen: Matthew Inman – He embraces my core philosophies and amplifies them 1000x. By Tuesday I will thoroughly appreciate the inspiration and affirmation that anything is possible from a kindred spirit.

Rob Stefaniak: Elon Musk is an intriguing blend of Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Tony Stark. Probably the most inspiring entrepreneur on the planet right now, his 60 minutes feature was fascinating and I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

Juan Tornoe: Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal. Extremely creative, turning lemons into lemonade in a blink of an eye, a poster boy for the saying, "The Risk of Insult is the Price of Clarity".

Featured Sessions

Teresa: New Standards For A New Era of Journalism! If Craig Newmark has been collecting expert opinions I want to hear about it! The current state and future of journalism are important to me AND this is sure to be one of those sessions where you can see the world improving even as they speak.

Juan: Spreadable Media: Value, Meaning & Network Culture. Looking for new insights on influence and message distribution.

Panels

Teresa: Can't wait to get to Selling Free: The Porn Industry's New Economy – a core conversation. I consider porn to be a sentinel industry – as they thrive, so do others – and I am curious to see who is getting the shaft as things shift. LOVE the core conversation format because the room is full of people with similar interests and my natural curiosity is always happily satiated by the time it's all done.

Rob: I am super excited for the MLB.com Hits Home Run with Cloud Collaboration panel on Sunday March 11. I think MLB.com and their associated mobile content channels really produce a top-shelf product in comparison to other major sports leagues, and I imagine it has a lot to do with how they innovated in the cloud.

Juan: A Better Measure: Health Engagement & higi Score. Interesting combination of Health and Gamification.

Workshops, Book Readings, Meet Ups

Teresa: How To Handle Suicidal Users Without Freaking Out – I am happy to see this issue being addressed from all angles, by experts, with eyes wide open. There is not a single cyber-community unaffected by suicide and I hope this is widely attended. Sh#t Happens – I have more than 2 decades of disaster relief experience and look forward to hearing / sharing ideas with others who are hoping to improve disaster response.

Juan: Touch Me Now: Accessibility on Mobile Screens. Understanding the impact of design in touch screen devices. How to Sell Shit That Doesn't Yet Exist. The title says it all :-)

Diversity

Juan: Cultivating the New Minority Entrepreneur. It explores the Gen Y minority entrepreneurship paradigm.

By Date: Friday, March 8 sessions

Teresa: Toward the Unification of Physics with Steve Weinberg – I prefer my physics unified and Steve says we are now one step closer. Half the fun of this presentation will be watching the geeks light up in the room as they listen and ponder and extrapolate.....

Juan: Latinos y Mobile: A Silver Bullet? Interesting insights into Mobile Marketing and Latinos.

By Date: Saturday, March 9 sessions

Teresa: Breaking Out of Prison: The Future of Incarceration – IMHO our prison system is a broken, profit fueled, nightmare. This is the first SXSW panel I have seen on the issue of incarceration, the presenters appear to be at the hub of change, and I am curious to see what they have to say. Should be a lively debate about privacy and human rights in the Q&A.

Juan: Contagious Content: Making Healthy Behavior Stick. It will explore how digital content can transform health, healthy attitudes and behaviors.

By Date: Sunday, March 10 sessions

Teresa: Redefining Political Tech & Civic Participation – I might end up banging my head against the wall after listening to this panel, but I have to go listen to the phenomenal line up and see what they are up to.

Juan: The Community Manager: Enter the C-Suite. An in-depth look at the Community Manager today and where they are heading in the future.

By Date: Monday, March 11 sessions

Teresa: Sexy, Safe & Smart Highways – FINALLY glow in the dark roads (and other things I dreamed of as a child). It's one thing to read about this type of innovation in an article, and a whole other experience to hear the creators talk about it in person.

Juan: Death by Demographics: Killing Off Your Ad Budgets. A look at purchase data information as a way to allocate an advertising budget.

By Date: Tuesday, March 12 sessions

Teresa: New Technology for Conflict Prevention – First of all WOW for the panel assembled here and how cool that it's "prevention" (a step beyond "resolution") and who wouldn't want to know how to grow more peace in the world! Seems like there will be a few ideas worth growing here. Can't wait to hear what is already working and how it is being implemented today.

Juan: Advanced Social Media Monitoring. Assessing the current and future state of social media monitoring.

Venue where I am most likely to hang out

Teresa: I plan to get a taste of most of these venues using a "zone" strategy (morning in the convention center, afternoon at the Hyatt, etc) If my Plan A is too full or too far (in the moment), my Plan B is always an option, and Plan C (C=CHILL) is sure to result in an interesting conversation or new friend no matter what venue I am in.

What trend / meme / idea / product will emerge from SXSW 2013?

Teresa: I think space is the hot hot trend. Everybody wants to go! Everybody wants to explore! What is NASA doing? Among the many space related panels I think @NASA: The User Experience of a Space Station will be particularly interesting.

Rob: I think this question might be better answered by Nate Silver, so I am going to make sure to see his featured session The Signal & The Noise on Sunday, March 10.

Juan: Gamification - there are 10 sessions on the subject.

People I am most excited to connect with at SXSW 2013

Teresa: My fellow redditors! (and someone owes me dinner!) So much online interaction, so little f2f!

Rob: Anyone who wants to give me free beer.

Juan: Fellow Latinos involved in technology, advertising and social media.

Venue where I am most likely to hang out

Lounges

Teresa: I find inner peace at the Beacon Lounge – quiet, but not too quiet, full of great causes and ideas and positive thoughts about improving the world. Ah, yes, just the recharge I need and it never fails!

Most memorable serendipitous encounter at SXSW

Teresa: "We met in the bathroom. She told me she was here for the party." It sounds so dirty (but it's not) and every word is true! That's exactly how I met one of my favorite SXSW Brits three years ago and we have been having fun ever since!

Thanks to Teresa, Rob and Juan for contributing to this post. Stay tuned to the blog, follow us, friend us, or add us for more Advisory Board recommendations in the coming days...