An incubator of cutting-edge technologies, the SXSW Interactive Festival offers five days of captivating keynote presentations, panel sessions, book readings, Salons and Core Conversations that provide hands-on training as well as big-picture analysis. In addition to the business opportunities at the Trade Show & Exhibition and the hands-on gaming fun at the ScreenBurn Arcade, SXSW Interactive provides an array of exciting evening events including the SXSW Interactive Awards Ceremony. More to the point, coming to SXSW Interactive is a great way to recharge your creativity.

Visit the Talks section of the website to see brief descriptions of the different types of sessions offered at SXSW Interactive. To see video excerpts from various 2009 sessions visit the "Talks" section of the SXSW YouTube Channel.

The 2011 SXSW Interactive Festival will take place Friday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 15. Check back with the website throughout the year for information about other important dates. You can also subscribe to the SXSW Interactive monthly e-mail newsletter to keep up to date on all the latest news and important deadlines.

Daytime panel programming, the SXSW Trade Show and the SXSW ScreenBurn Arcade take place at the Austin Convention Center located at 500 E. Cesar Chavez. Additional panel programming and special events also take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown, which is located right across the street from the Austin Convention Center at 500 East 4th Street. Evening events will occur at the Hilton and at various nightspots around the city.

The variety of programming offered at SXSW Interactive means that the event focuses as much on creativity as it does on technology. This focus is augmented by SXSW Film, which runs concurrently with SXSW Interactive and SXSW Music. Moreover, a full slate of parties and receptions during the evening hours help to accelerate the social aspect of the event.

Running Friday, March 11 through Sunday, March 20, 2011, SXSWeek is the nine-day stretch that encompasses the SXSW Interactive Festival, SXSW Film Conference and Festival and SXSW Music and Media Conference.

Online registration for the 2011 SXSW Interactive Festival will begin with our website launch in early August 2010. Registering early is the best way to ensure the widest choice of accommodations in Austin during the event.

When you register to attend SXSW you are purchasing your admittance to the event. Your level of access to particular portions of the event (Interactive, Music, Film) is contingent on the type of registration you purchase: Interactive, Film, Music, Gold (Interactive and Film) or Platinum (all three events). Once you are registered to attend you will receive the appropriate Badge when you arrive at the Austin Convention Center. While you can also register on site, it is to your advantage to complete this process through our website BEFORE the event.

Unfortunately, we do not sell single session or single day passes to the event. As compared to other technology events, the low registration price of the SXSW Interactive Festival makes for an extraordinary value. Even if you are only able to attend for one or two days, the amount of information and networking opportunities afforded by the event make the registration price a bargain.

The SXSW Interactive Festival badge covers admission to all events affiliated with SXSW Interactive. If you want to attend both SXSW Interactive and SXSW Film, then you should purchase a Gold badge. If you want to attend SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film and SXSW Music, then you should purchase a Platinum Badge. If you have already purchased a SXSW Interactive Badge and you wish to upgrade to Gold or Platinum, contact the registration department for pricing details.

If you are currently a high school or college student and you are interested in attending the 2011 SXSW Interactive Festival, please contact us for information on discount rates. You must have a valid student ID to be eligible for reduced admission fee.

Proposals for the 2011 event were accepted via the PanelPicker interface June 14, 2010 through July 9, 2010. However, beginning August 9, you can still cast your vote for the proposals you like to see at SXSW Interactive. Stay updated on all SXSW Interactive news, including important deadlines, by subscribing to the monthly SXSW Interactive e-mail newsletter.

Getting your product or service in front of the cutting-edge crowd of digital creatives that attends SXSW Interactive is a great way to build buzz. We offer all sorts of opportunities for this -- from a booth at the Trade Show to advertising in the Program Book to hosting a party or reception. For information on all the available marketing opportunities, please contact Katie King.

When you register for SXSW via the website, you will be taken to a page where you can book lodging via the SXSW Housing Desk.

SXSW Interactive appeals to uber-geeks and digital creatives who push the cutting edge of technological change. The event appeals to web developers, designers, bloggers, wireless innovators, content producers, programmers, inventors, tech and new media entrepreneurs, gamers and game developers, investors and educators. Even if you are not a technical person, you will benefit from the outside-the-box thinking that thrives at SXSW.

Panel topics cover everything from web design, usability, and blogging to wireless innovation and new technology business models. Other panels focus on more general topics that are nonetheless relevant to the digital creatives who attend SXSW Interactive. Discovering new ideas that lead us to a better future is the underlying theme of all of this programming. Stay tuned to the Talks section of the website for information on 2010 sessions as they are added to the lineup.

2010 was the biggest year yet for the SXSW Interactive festival. Numbers notwithstanding, the core of the SXSW Interactive experience remains unchanged. This is a great place to be inspired by amazing people who are doing incredible things to change the future.

Thousands of cutting-edge new media industry experts have spoken at SXSW Interactive over the last 15 years. Some of the bigger names to participate in the event include Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Jenkins, Steven Johnson, Frank Warren, Jane McGonigal, Heather Armstrong, Jaron Lanier, danah boyd, Stewart Brand, Po Bronson, Denise Caruso, Ana Marie Cox, Mark Cuban, Cory Doctorow, Thomas Dolby, Richard Florida, Al Franken, Malcolm Gladwell, Philip Glass, Molly Holzschlag, Craig Newmark, Steven Johnson, Jaron Lanier, Brenda Laurel, Dan Rather, Howard Rheingold, Todd Rundgren, Douglas Rushkoff, DJ Spooky, Bruce Sterling, James Suroweicki, Joe Trippi, Mena Trott, Jimmy Wales, Will Wright, and Jeffrey Zeldman, Tony Heish, Chris Anderson, Guy Kawasaki, Virginia Heffernan, James Powderly, Gary Vaynerchuk, Kathy Sierra, and Charlene Li.

In 2011, look for improvements to many of our already popular programs, as well a few new surprises. As always, stay tuned to the website or subscribe to the SXSW Interactive monthly e-mail newsletter, for all the latest news and developments.

The SXSW Music Conference and Festival debuted in Austin in March 1987. The event now known as the SXSW Interactive Festival began in 1994 (at that point, it was called the SXSW Film and Multimedia Conference). Beginning in 1995, SXSW Film and Multimedia became their own unique and separate events. Four years later, the name Multimedia had morphed into Interactive. SXSW ScreenBurn, which is focused on video game technology, was added to the mix in 2006 and SXSW Accelerator came on board in 2009.

Registrants will have the opportunity to attend gaming-related panels as part of the SXSW Interactive Festival. The fifth annual ScreenBurn Arcade will enable consumers and game developers to preview the future of this industry, hear about soon-to-be-released titles, learn fascinating insights from thought-provoking experts, plus meet up-and-coming new talent whose innovations are powering the next generation of play.

Admission to attend the ScreenBurn at SXSW panels comes with your SXSW Interactive, Gold, or Platinum Badge. Admission to the ScreenBurn Arcade is free to the public.

The ScreenBurn Arcade is an open platform of exhibitors and game tournaments. Free and open to the public, this space offers a hands-on environment for consumers, independents, developers, and soon to be masters of the game world. Come here to sample the newest game developments or other gaming-related innovations.

The ScreenBurn Arcade will take place at the Austin Convention Center during the SXSW Interactive Festival.

To exhibit your video game company at the ScreenBurn Arcade, contact Justin Burnham, SXSW ScreenBurn Account Executive.

In 2009 a new program called Accelerator at SXSW joined the SXSW Interactive lineup. This event showcases some of the web's most exciting new innovations, enabling the entrepreneurial visionaries behind these new products to demo their creations in front of a live audience of industry professionals and technology trendsetters. This year's music-related technologies category will present their demos during the SXSW Music Conference. Visit the SXSW Accelerator page under Interactive or Music for more information.

We will begin accepting Accelerator at SXSW entries in early August when the new 2011 SXSW website launches. Stay updated on all SXSW Interactive news, including important deadlines, by subscribing to the monthly SXSW Interactive e-mail newsletter.

Look for an extensive schedule of evening events geared to allow attendees to share the new ideas that they learned during the daytime programming. The informal nature of these evening events also make them conducive to forming new connections or just relaxing with people whose energy will inspire you.

Most official evening events are restricted to SXSW Interactive, Gold and Platinum badge holders. Check out individual party or event listings for more information.

Contact Katie King for complete details on how to have an official evening event.

E-mail us with your questions and we can direct you to the appropriate person to provide the answer.

E-mail us with all your ideas and brainstorms. We're all ears!