South By Southwest has opened up voting on a number user submitted panels and speakers for the 2009 Interactive Festival with their Interactive Panel Picker.
The number and types of submissions portray an interesting yet not entirely surprising picture of new media trends.
Users can search through the 1,223 total entries by various filters, and SXSW claims that social media is the most prominent thread across the board. So far, there are 185 suggestions in the “Advertising/Marketing” category, followed by "Business/Entrepreneurial," with 176.
According to SXSW blog “The number of proposals that reference this buzzword in one form or another indicate that (for better or for worse) we are still at the tip of the iceberg of this trend.”
And how are they pimping up their panels? Social media of course. Techies from across the country are reaching out in Tweets to get votes as well as in Facebook groups.
Some interesting submissions from a wide variety of promising topics:
Who Will Check My Email After I Die?
Evan Carroll, Capstrat
"Ever wondered what will happen to your digital existence after you die? E-mail, domain names, social networking content - do you want to leave it behind, "bequeath" it, or delete it? This in-depth discussion will provide technical, philosophical and legal insights on how to articulate your final online wishes."
Social Media Lessons From Election '08
Clinton Schaff, M80
"As web geeks, entrepreneurs and marketers, we all want to move people to act. So do political candidates. Now that we know who won (we will before March '09), there is a lot we can learn from them to help our own projects. Get the real inside scoop on what worked and what didn't. Ask the political experts how crowdsourcing, video, broadband, UGC, social networks and more changed THEIR business and how they will change YOURS too."
William Burdette, The University of Texas at Austin
"We introduce a framework for understanding information overload by reflecting on and updating ancient communicative traditions. Aristotle was an information maven and Cicero a communication connoisseur. These classical communicators designed their speeches around five principles: invention, style, arrangement, memory, and delivery. Contemporary communicators build on this tradition with Web-based technologies."
As for the keynote speaker... maybe SXSW should put that up to a vote too. But they'll need to choose him or her soon so Sarah Lacy has time to prepare some questions.
