One of the world’s biggest and best tech conferences is South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) held every March in Austin, Texas.
I recommend it for anyone who wants to be immersed in the future of communications as it is happening right now.
Remember….Twitter was first truly introduced (hyped?) at SXSWi. Cutting edge shows up there first.
I spoke with fellow writer Pam Mandel at SXSWi 2009 about travel blogging; our panel was livestreamed on Qik by Todd Lucier and got some favorable coverage from UpTake, the Austin American-Statesman, attendees in the room and those watching the hashtag on Twitter.
This year, I proposed two different panels to be considered for inclusion in the conference schedule.
At SXSWi, response from the community-based Panel Picker voting public “….accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for 2010 SXSW panel programming,” according to the SXSWi Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs.)
So, if you’re interested in my ideas, particularly if you might attend SXSWi, please register for free on the Panel Picker site and take a look at these possible panels (and any others that interest you….)
- Can They Buy Your Voice? Blog Disclosure Ethics: We’ll talk about “best practices” for disclosing sponsor help in a blog post and how companies can reach out to bloggers ethically with products and service demos, among other knotty questions. Will include a discussion of press trips.
- Drawing the Line Between Free and Paid: Are there some “rules of thumb” to know when it’s smart business to let one’s brain be picked for free, and when it’s smart to announce rate sheet fees? How can you turn the conversation from a free discussion to a paid consultation without being “that guy?” Content DOES have value.
Thanks for your support, and hope to see you in Austin in March 2010.