SXSW Interactive 2012 Panel Submission Breakdown (NOTE: All numbers are approximate)

You may be hearing and seeing lots of buzz about this social nerd (yes, we exist!) convention known as SXSW Interactive. Even though the conference is in March 2012, the conference session submissions were due in June, and the final program selection process is quite extensive. For example, only 30% of the selection criteria is public voting. The other 70% includes 30% SXSW staff, and 40% SXSW advisory board selections. No wonder it takes months to go through over 3,000 panel submissions AND conduct a public voting campaign.

I wanted to take a look at the 3,164 (at the time of calculation) interactive panel session topics that were submitted and dissect them to find:

• out-of-the-box ideas
• what’s on peoples’ minds
• what industries people are working in and passionate about, and
• how we can learn from this cross-section of go-getters about where technology is headed.

What did I find?

1. 1. SXSW interactive has a big emphasis on marketing, branding, and advertising industries. (The category with the most panels submitted).
2. 2. Social media is a dominant force in this generation and this conference. (Over 400 panels in this category were submitted! Social media is an exponentially growing profession.)
3. 3. Nearly 400 sessions were submitted in the Emerging Tech and Mobile category. (It proves to be true that many new technologies are announced, dissected, predicted, and explained at SXSW Interactive every year.)
4. 4. Design and Development is the fourth largest category of sessions submitted. (We’ve become a visual world and a big part of interactive technologies is bridging the technical and the creative.)
5. 5. Business, Startups, and Funding takes up the 5th largest category of panels submitted. (SXSW Interactive has become a launching pad for ideas, partnerships, and new companies. Investors and ideators alike come together at this annual event to make it happen. After all, this is where the Startup Bus lands and why it is possible. See last year’s winner announcement (Walkin and TripMedi).
6. 6. Gaming, Government and Tech, Greater Good, Charity, Nonprofit, and Global and International Issues (my panel‘s category) all get attention for having a significant piece of the topic pie.

So, now onto some panels that stand out to me (there are over 3,000 this is just on first glance):

• Tech + the Evolution of the In-Store Experience- by GiantNoise
• Visualize to Innovate and Get Things Done- by Michael Deutch
• How to Lose Cofounders and Alienate Startups- by Orian Marx, Siftee
• Connecting Living Rooms, Contentious Networks- by VentureBeat, Bigfoot Networks, Netflix, Qualcomm Atheros, Gaikai
• Shopper Technologies, Sexy or Substantive?- by G2 USA
• Social Media and Young Children: Our Kids’ Futures- Scoot & Doodle, Georgia Institute of Technology, Google

Okay, there are so many that I’m drawn to, that I can’t spend all day telling you which panels I like! Take a look and vote for those you think can shape our landscape and future!

*Note: You’ll need to create an account to vote.

Related posts:

1. Peter Piper Picked a Panel – SXSW 2012
2. Peter Piper, Pick Our Panel: The Google Next Door!