The Latest Bits & Bytes from SXSW Interactive

With upward of 400 panels, solo presentations, workshops, Core Conversations, and book readings planned for SXSW Interactive 2010, simply scrolling through our list of confirmed programming can be a daunting experience. If you can't attend everything from March 12 through March 16, you want the next best thing: attending as much of it as you can. Part of our job is to overload our registrants with information and opportunities, but we don't want any of our speakers and sessions lost in the shuffle.

The deadline to submit your website for consideration in the SXSW Interactive 2010 Web Awards is today, Friday, Dec. 18, 11:59pm (CST)! The ceremony will take place on March 14, 2010 at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

To enter, click here.

Ribbit, which emerged as the winner of the Innovative Web Technologies category during the inaugural Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW Interactive 2009, has only increased its development after gaining major recognition at the festival a year ago. As a company that provides cloud telephone service, Ribbit has remained at the forefront of innovation in the communications industry, while also upping its game with advancements like the ability to pull information about inbound callers from such social media sites as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

There is no better example of how a start-up can emerge as an industry leader than what happened to Twitter during SXSW 2007. As a sales client, the company took full advantage of their opportunity by positioning themselves around the tech-savvy early adopters present during the SXSW Interactive conference. Twitter, which at the time carried upward of 20,000 tweets a day, broke 60,000 a day during the festival which helped them immediately create a strong base of permanent users.

As part of our ongoing Speaker Spotlight feature, we continue to sing the praises of the amazing assemblage of speakers that we’ve confirmed for SXSW Interactive 2010. This week, we focus on Skylar Woodward, Director of the Kiva Developer Program and overall trailblazer in non-profit innovation.

As we've hopefully made clear by now, the deadline to enter the SXSW Interactive Web Awards is this Friday, Dec. 18. What might not be quite so clear is in which category to enter your website for consideration. Below, we've listed all of them, along with the 2009 winner in each, to provide some guidance. Before we get started, keep in mind that you can enter your site into multiple categories. Please see our Web Awards FAQ for more details or e-mail webawards@sxsw.com.

If you're not at ScreenBurn at SXSW this year, then you're missing out on a grand opportunity to capture new audiences for your business. With thousands in attendance and the gaming press at your fingertips, you can make a huge splash through the trade show exhibition, print advertising, or a branded insert. Just look at what Senior Producer and Senior Director of Entertainment Production at GMR Marketing Scott Troxel, who produced Mountain Dew's activation in the 2009 ScreenBurn Arcade, said about his ScreenBurn experience:

SXSW Interactive is excited to announce approximately 40 more confirmed sessions for the 2010 event. Many of the sessions in today's release fall into the all-new workshop program (marked with the letter "W" after the title), which will feature more in-depth, advanced, and technical programming. The sessions listed after the jump add to the more that 300 hundred titles already confirmed. To find the content that most appeals to your particular interest, you can browse the confirmed sessions by theme.

We're going to keep this short, because you shouldn't waste time reading blog posts when you could be submitting your website for consideration in the 2010 SXSW Interactive Web Awards, presented by Adobe with supporting sponsorship by Convio. You have until Friday, Dec. 18, 11:59pm (CST) to enter!

On Saturday, Dec. 12, at BookPeople, SXSW Interactive co-sponsored an appearance by Frank Warren, who was supporting his new book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God. Warren spoke at SXSW Interactive 2008 and delivered one of the festival’s most memorable keynote speeches, not least because it ended in an onstage marriage proposal.

Gamers everywhere have just received an FREE 1up to the next level. ScreenBurn at SXSW, the video game element of the SXSW Interactive festival, invites game industry players, gamers, and game enthusiasts alike to check out the latest product demos and launches from both indie and corporate video game producers in the ScreenBurn at SXSW Arcade. SXSW registration is not required, and the event is open to the public!

Don't get us wrong: It'll be a blast just to attend the SXSW Interactive Web Awards (presented by Adobe with supporting sponsorship by Convio) on March 14 at the Hilton Austin Downtown. But you could also be among those taking home some hardware, prizes (including Interactive 2011 registrations), and serious cachet if you'd take a few minutes to enter your site for consideration by the Friday, Dec. 18, deadline.