SXSW PanelPicker Trends: Austin on Top
The Forrest Four-Cast: August 28, 2018
The number of hours until the 2019 SXSW PanelPicker closes has decreased from the triple digits to the double digits. That’s right, you only have until 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Thursday evening, August 30 to vote and comment on your favorite of the 5000+ speaking proposals in this interface.
Log in now so you don’t miss out on the voting and comment process. If you don’t have a SXSW account yet, then setting one up is quick and easy.
We are also down to our last three installments of this trends and themes series in which we analyze top keywords from the 2019 PanelPicker interface (and compare these findings to the interface from a year ago).
For August 28, let’s focus on the host city for SXSW: Austin. A longtime hotbed of creativity, innovation and alternative culture, Austin serves as the root for the March Magic experience. So its hardly surprising that this city dominates 2019 PanelPicker entries. In fact, a total of 775 speaking proposals were entered in this interface by individuals with Austin-based addresses. This number is almost exactly the same as last year’s PanelPicker interface, when the number of Austin-entered proposals was 762.
Other US and international cities with a particularly strong representation in the 2019 SXSW PanelPicker include New York (610), San Francisco (350), Washington DC (272), Los Angeles (215), Chicago (124), London (117), Brooklyn (144), Boston (85), Toronto (67), Houston (65), Dallas (56), Seattle (53), Denver (48), Atlanta (42), Cambridge, MA (32), Sao Paulo (31), Vancouver (30), San Antonio (30), San Diego (29), Portland (26), Berlin (20), Boulder, CO (21), Montreal (20), Miami (20), Columbus (17), San Jose (16), Munich (9), Tokyo (7), Paris (7), Stockholm (6).
Use the “Search” button on the left side of the interface to find other thought-provoking trends and theme in the 2019 SXSW PanelPicker. Or just click on this page to read about the ideas that we see bubbling to the top.
About 10–20% of the 5000+ speaking proposals in the PanelPicker will be accepted as sessions for the 2019 event. These accepted sessions will be announced via the SXSW website in mid-October. Buy your badge now so you can be part of all the massive learning, discovery, cross-industry networking and creativity that is March Magic in Austin.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
Deadline to register to vote in Texas for the November 2018 general election is Tuesday, October 9.
