Elon Musk courtesy SpaceXLooking for the hottest trends at the 2013 SXSW Interactive Festival? A good bet for a topic that will gain lots of traction at this year's event is space exploration. This topic will gain a quick jumpstart on the agenda with the Elon Musk Keynote on Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 pm in Exhibit Hall 5 (and simulcast at numerous other SXSW Interactive venues). The founder / CEO of the company SpaceX, Musk oversees development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets. Fans of the movie Iron Man will remember that the Tony Stark character played by Robert Downey Jr. is patterned after this dynamic South African entrepreneur.

Auditorium Shores Courtesty of Extreme Air ShotsThe Market, a new addition to SXSW’s annual Auditorium Shores music series, is the best place to find clothing, jewelry and art during SXSW Music. This year, The Market will feature a curated selection of stands by vintage and independent vendors from across the country, including:

(L-R) Kathryn E. Irwin, Sarah N. Garcia and Todd Hansen

The SXSW Staff has worked very hard to bring the 2013 event to fruition. We represent all walks of life from within the community that comes together in Austin each spring. Staff have the extremely difficult task of combing through and curating community entries from the SXSW PanelPicker as well as seeking out additional programming that reflects the state of creativity and tech today. We asked three staff members who primarily work on the programming team, Kathryn E. Irwin, Sarah Nichole Garcia and Todd Hansen the following question...

"What are you most excited about for SXSW Interactive 2013?"

2013 SXSW Showcasing Band f(x).

While some say the term K-Pop specifically pertains to what Koreans refer to as “idol” acts (Psy, Hyuna and 2NE1), others say it’s actually a term used for popular South Korean music in general. Honestly, we’re a bit confused.

This year, KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency) brings their K-Pop Night Out to SXSW with a diverse group of acts which takes the latter theory to heart. The bill's eclectic lineup includes the undeniably catchy electro K-Pop idol act f(x), SXSW alumni garage rockers Galaxy Express, Korean punk legends No Brain, epic rock experimentalist Jeong Cha Sik, hardcore punk act The Geeks, singer-songwriter Yi Sung Yol, and alt-rockers Guckkasten.