SXSW PanelPicker Success: Alignment

The Forrest Four-Cast: July 15, 2017

Only a few more days remain until the Friday, July 21 entry deadline for SXSW 2018 speaking proposals via the SXSW PanelPicker interface. If you don’t get your proposal in before this deadline, then you miss out on showcasing your ideas, your creativity and your innovation to one of the world’s most forward-thinking communities.

Previously we mentioned that your proposal should explore your topic in as much depth as possible — and that focusing on one small aspect of your topic is the best way to achieve this depth.

Its also important that all aspects of your proposal are in alignment. Does the title of your idea match what you have written in your description? Do the three takeaways that we ask you to provide in the PanelPicker interface also reflect this description? If any of these aspects of your proposal don’t align, then you have a problem and you should probably re-write it to better accomplish this goal. Tight organizational structure is one of the things that the Advisory Board and Staff rating pay a lot of attention to in the PanelPicker scoring system.

You can spend as much time as possible on your re-write as long as you enter your idea by 11:59 pm CDT on Friday, July 21, Also, while we are talking important SXSW dates, remember that badge sales for 2018 begin on Tuesday, August 1. Buy early for the best hotel options!

Hugh Forrest tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often (but not always) cover technology-related trends. When not attempting to wordsmith or meditating, he serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW in Austin