Career-enhancing connections make the SXSW Interactive Festival so special to so many digital creatives. Come to Austin in March to connect yourself (or your company) to the new ideas, new technologies and new business opportunities that will shape the future, as well as game-changing insights from the world's most innovative thought-leaders. Registration for the 2014 SXSW Interactive Festival opens the first week of August 2013 -- buy your badge early to take advantage of the lowest prices and the best selection of lodging.
The entry process for the 2014 SXSW PanelPicker begins Monday, July 1. Based on our numbers from last year, SXSW Interactive expects to receive more than 3000 speaking proposals before this entry process closes at the end of the day on Friday, July 26. So, how to make your idea stand out from the crowd? One important aspect of the PanelPicker process is the video component. In other words, be sure to include a compelling video of the presenter (or, the main speaker) as part of your PanelPicker application. Ideally this video explains the proposal in greater depth and lets viewers understand how great a public speaker you are. Remember that we value passion and energy at SXSW – so make sure these attributes shine through in the video that accompanies your application. For more info on this process, please refer to the PanelPicker FAQ.
Making new media content more accessible to more people has always been a popular programming topic at the SXSW Interactive Festival. To this end, we are excited about the upcoming John Slatin AccessU event at St. Edwards University in Austin. Scheduled May 14-16, this event is organized by our friends at Knowbility (who you may have visited with at the SXSW Trade Show).
Are you a startup that launched at (or just before) SXSW Interactive? If so, then we would love to hear your story. Please contact us and tell us about your experience.
What is your product? How did you market your launch at SXSW? What kind of launch goals did you have going into the event? Did you meet your goals? What were the rewards / challenges of launching at (or just before) SXSW Interactive? The more (and the more detail) you can tell us, the more we work on methods to improve the success of launches at SXSW.
Now help us keep the memories alive by sharing photos of your favorite moments from SXSW 2013. Freecreditscore.com is still adding SXSW pics to their Facebook gallery and you can be a part of it, too. Did you catch their Divine Fits showcase at the IFC Crossroads House? Did you run into Eric and score a free band t-shirt? Let's see it! Just tag your pics with #faceinthecrowd or #freecreditscore and they'll do the rest.
Did you know that SXSW V2V Housing has rooms held for our registrants at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas? We have secured several room type options, all at the lowest publicly-available rates. These fabulous rooms and rates are available to you as soon as you register for the inaugural SXSW V2V in August.
Credit: Amy Price
Making new media content more accessible to more people has always been a popular programming topic at the SXSW Interactive Festival. To this end, we are excited about the upcoming 
Are you a startup that launched at (or just before) SXSW Interactive? If so, then we would love to hear your story. Please 
Photo Courtesy of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
