Session Spotlight
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Why Little Houses Are So Awesome"
Tumbleweed Tiny Houses founder Jay Shafer says that smaller is much better (particularly when it comes to the structures where we live). Recently profiled in The New Yorker, he will deliver a solo presentation about the value and charm of tiny residential spaces at the SXSW Interactive Festival at 5:00 pm on Friday, March 9. Shafer's talk will occur at the programming themed as "New Business" at the Hilton Garden Inn. Browse the full panel schedule to learn more about all the exciting content coming to Austin in March!
Interactive Session Spotlight: Datatainment: Soccer Sexes Up Spreadsheets
The data movement is everywhere. It sure hasn't missed sports. Soccer is one of those sports beginning to embrace the data and analytical movement. SXSW Interactive attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about it at the upcoming session "Datatainment: Soccer Sexes Up Spreadsheets". This presentation will occur on Saturday, March 10 in the Maximilian Room at the Driskill Hotel. This solo presentation will be lead by Richard Ayers of the Manchester City Football Club.
Interactive Session Spotlight: "SXSW Stories Open Mic"
As event producers, we'd like to think we provide attendees with a pretty cool playground for experiencing all that SXSW has to offer. And because everyone's experience is unique and different than the next, we love to hear about it! Join Thom Singer for his session, "SXSW Stories Open Mic" on Tuesday, March 13 at 3:30pm at the Austin Convention Center and share your experiences from the 2012 SXSW Interactive Festival. Did you learn something new? Establish a new business connection? Eat at a cool restaurant or meet your soul-mate? We want to hear about it! Use the hashtag #SXStories to join the conversation.
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Tweeting Osama’s Death: From Citizen to Journalist"
“Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM,” tweeted Sohaib Athar one night, unaware that he was tweeting about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Join Steve Myers of the Poynter Institute and Sohaib Athar to discuss why these tweets constituted citizen journalism and Athar will describe what happened that night and how the event changed his perception of the media and his use of Twitter.
Danah Boyd Talks "Power of Fear" on Saturday, March 10
SXSW is extremely excited that acclaimed researcher and accomplished speaker danah boyd will return to the programming lineup in 2012. At this year's SXSW Interactive Festival, her solo presentation will cover "The Power of Fear in Networked Publics". This speech will "weave together the predator panic and bullying phenomenon with the socio-political dynamics around otherness, the rise of fear alongside the increased ability to connect with others around the globe, the empowering rhetoric of the Arab Spring along the rise of local networks of power." Sounds amazing! boyd's often-quoted Opening Remarks at SXSW 2010 tackled the topic of "Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity". Don't miss her talk at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 10!
Interactive Session Spotlight: "When IT Says No: How to Create Fast Feature Flow"
Few things frustrate designers and the business more than when we know what needs to be built, but it still takes quarters or even years for features to finally be deployed into production. And then during deployment, massive chaos and disruption is created for the customer… and the business.
Learn how to create a “super-tribe,” of designers, development and IT operations who genuinely work together. Join award-winning CTO, entrepreneur, researcher and author Gene Kim for his session, "When IT Says No: How to Create Fast Feature Flow", taking place at the Courtyard Marriott - Downtown. Use the hashtag #SXdevops to join the conversation.
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Open Innovation: Millions of Us Solving Problems"
Can a crowdsourced group of gamers solve scientific problems if given the proper platform? Adrien Treuille thought so and created the game Foldit. Users design and fold real biomolecules revealing better ways for drugs to treat diseases. The future is bright for this kind of thinking. Come here about it and more during "Crowdsourcing Science." This session will happen Saturday, March 10 at the Hyatt. Click here for a full panel schedule for the 2012 SXSW Interactive Festival.
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Your Technology and the Conflict in Congo"
We all love the latest technology. Getting the latest version of your smartphone or a fancy new computer can be a huge thrill. But are we aware of the true cost? In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), there is a war being waged for access to mineral-rich land that is directly linked to our technology consumption. The sale of minerals for our electronics – tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold – fuels the fighting in the DRC. Women and girls are the ones paying the highest price.
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Customers Are Irrational: Stop Fighting It"
Discover how to design and build an emotionally engaging customer experience with Colin Shaw, Founder and CEO of
Interactive Session Spotlight: "Top Chef: How Transmedia is Changing TV"
Andy Cohen has the 411. And we couldn't be more excited to literally Watch What Happens Live with him & his Bravo team of on and off-screen digital mavens at SXSW Interactive. In his SXSW Clubhouse, Cohen (above), Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio (left), Lisa Hsia, Aimee Viles and Dave Serwatka illustrate how Top Chef 9 brought multi-platform storytelling beyond the linear screen. Psssst...we geeked out over the Twitter "Quickfire Challenge" during this season's Top Chef: Texas.
