South By Southwest Panels Now Open For Voting

It’s that time of year again where your Facebook and Twitter feeds fill up with people asking you to vote for their South by Southwest panel. SXSW’s PanelPicker is now live and running through August 31^st. Votes and comments account for 30% of the decision on whether a panel makes it into this year’s showcase, as SXSW uses this crowd-sourcing method to filter out the weak from the great ideas.

The PanelPicker is a two-step online process that allows people to have a voice in programming SXSWedu, SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, and SXSW Music conference activities (presentations, panels, discussions, demonstrations, etc). The first step is to enter proposals for daytime conference programming for all four SXSW events, and then the public browses all of these ideas, leaves comments, and votes for what they think are the best fit for the March event.

SXSW claims to have received over 4,500 entries for 2012 already, and with so many high-quality entries, the selection process is extremely competitive:

“Fully-proofed, narrowly-focused, forward-thinking ideas that emphasize creativity and innovation will have the best chance of successfully navigating SXSW community voting, staff analysis and Advisory Board feedback,” reads the About section of PanelPicker.

Before submitting a panel, be sure to read over their FAQ section to ensure that you follow the guidelines and increase your chances of having your panel selected. 

Check out PanelPicker here and vote for what you want to see at South By Southwest 2013!

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Hisham Dahud is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for Fame House and an independent musician. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud