BitMethod is looking forward to the 2011 SXSW Interactive festival. SXSW is a multi-day, multi-industry conference held in March in Austin, Texas. There are Music, Film and Interactive components. The speakers, panels, and presentations of SXSW are submitted and selected via something called the PanelPicker. We have three team members with presentations up for voting, and voting just started today!
If you already know what SXSW is, love BitMethod and have a PanelPicker account, you can vote for our proposals here, here, and here. Otherwise, read on!
From the SXSW website:
SXSW is a community-driven event. So, knowing what kinds of topics you want to hear at the event next March is extremely important to us. Your voting accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for any given programming slot.
Applicants are encouraged to tap their networks and ask friends and colleagues to vote for their presentation via the PanelPicker.
BitMethod has three team members on deck for SXSW Interactive and we need your votes to help get them there! Check out our presentation descriptions below as well as some HAQs (Highly Anticipated Questions) that you might have about the PanelPicker.
I’m not going to SXSW, should I still vote?
Your votes are still valuable and appreciated! Applicants are encouraged to tap their network to solicit votes. Organizing a strong showing in the PanelPicker helps show SXSW that we’re connected, well-organized, and will pull together a good presentation.
How do I vote in the PanelPicker?
Unfortunately, you have to make an account. Luckily, it’s very simple! Follow the links to our presentations and look for this at the bottom:

Create an account and log-in. Once you’re signed in, you have to click this big thumbs-up button:

Why don’t I see your names listed on the panel?
We’ve opted to submit Dual Presentations for each of our applications. Unfortunately, the SXSW system only allows one speaker to be listed. We’re adding information on additional speakers to the comments area.
Following are the three presentations we have up for voting.
Real-Time Streams Need Real-Time Feedback
Our CEO Dan Shipton and Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb will co-present on the topic of feedback and filtering systems for real-time streams. Here’s a choice bit from the description:
This presentation will explore what the future of Real-Time information filtering, curation and feedback will look like for developers, publishers, and consumers. We will examine where real-time distribution is now, where it’s going, and how consumers can give “Real-Time Feedback” to passively and intelligently customize the data streams they receive – no settings required.
Rich Browser-Based Templating Through Open Source Collaboration
BitMethod’s senior software engineer Neil Roberts along with Shane O’Sullivan will lead a technical presentation about using open-source collaboration to develop a browser-based templating solution.
Implementating a browser-based rich templating language requires solving many problems: identifying the most flexible syntax, turning a template into a set of instructions for modifying the document, and drawing and redrawing the template blazingly fast. This presentation will demonstrate how two programmers used the open source community to develop solutions for browser-based templating.
How Can Artists Turn Web Hits Into Dollars?
Finally, our Creative Strategist Scott Kubie and his wife Cat Rocketship, representing their business make\break, have proposed a dual presentation exploring how analog artists can monetize their work in a digital world.
We want to move past The Threadless Problem: most existing web services build brand equity for the service provider, not the artist. It might be a great way to make a few bucks, but is not a reliable way to build a career. This presentation will explore using web products and services to build a NEW arts industry, leveraging tools that techies use best: UX, iteration and experimentation.
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Thanks for taking the time to check this out and a huge thank you if you’ve voted. We’ll be sharing links to other great panels and presentations via this blog, our Twitter, and our Tumblr as the weeks go on. Voting continues until Friday, August 27.
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SXSW is a community-driven event. So, knowing what kinds of topics you want to hear at the event next March is extremely important to us. Your voting accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process for any given programming slot.