South by Southwest Announces Panel Picker Interface Now Open for Music, Film, and Interactive Panel Submissions

New for 2010, online application expands to all three events

AUSTIN, Texas, June 1 -- South by Southwest (SXSW) will kick off the 2010 season by extending the popular "Panel Picker" online voting application to include panel submission ideas for all three annual industry events (Music, Film, and Interactive).

The Panel Picker interface, which was launched by the Interactive Festival in 2006, received 350 entries in its inaugural year. Last season was the biggest yet, with over 1,400 submissions for the Interactive event alone. SXSW will maximize its impact by integrating the Panel Picker interface across the board, further enabling the unique SXSW opportunity for the intersection of creative and professional minds throughout all three events.

"The Panel Picker interface is a natural extension of the creative intermingling that takes place during the festival itself," says Roland Swenson, SXSW's Managing Director. "We are excited that we can provide a forum for new ideas to debut and flourish year-round."

The Panel Picker interface is essentially a two-step online application that allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming. The first step is an open submission process starting June 1 and running through July 10, where we encourage the community to upload proposals for panels, discussions, mentors, demonstrations, etc. Step two, starting August 10 and running through August 28, allows the community to review all of the proposed ideas and rate the submissions they think are the best fit for the March event.

The system is accessible to all, whether a past attendee or engaged consumer, and participants will have the opportunity to submit and vote on proposals for any and all three of the events. Vote totals from the community, along with feedback from SXSW Advisory Boards and the SXSW staff, will determine the bulk of panel programming for the 2010 event. Participants who have a proposal selected will work with SXSW staff to help bring their panel to fruition.

"Our experience has proved that the Panel Picker interface is an invaluable way to connect with the thousands of professionals and informed consumers that make up the worldwide SXSW community," says SXSW Interactive Festival director, Hugh Forrest. "Not only does it help generate fresh ideas, it gives our participants an outlet to share with us what is most exciting, timely and relevant to them."

Participants can submit ideas through the Panel Picker interface at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ beginning June 1, 2009 and ending July 10, 2009. Additional information can be found on the Panel Picker FAQ at http://sxsw.com/panel_picker_faq.

About SXSW Conferences & Festivals

SXSW Conferences & Festivals (March 12-21, 2010) offers the unique convergence of top-quality music, independent films, and emerging technologies. SXSW 2010 is sponsored by Miller Lite and The Austin Chronicle. For more information, visit www.sxsw.com.

SXSW Music Conference & Festival showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. By day, conference registrants do business in the SXSW Trade Show in the Austin Convention Center and partake of a full agenda of informative, provocative panel discussions featuring hundreds of speakers of international stature.

SXSW Film Conference & Festival explores all aspects of the art and business of independent filmmaking. The Conference hosts a five-day adventure in the latest filmmaking trends and new technology, featuring distinguished speakers and mentors. The internationally-acclaimed, nine-day Festival boasts some of the most wide ranging programming of any US event of its kind, from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies, with a special focus on emerging talents.

SXSW Interactive Festival provides practical how-to information as well as unparalleled career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology's most creative thinkers. The event features five days of keynote sessions, more than 200 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the Interactive and Film Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW, and dozens of exciting evening events. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.