2005 SXSW Interactive Press Releases

February 28, 2005
February 25, 2005
February 1, 2005

Al Franken to Speak at South by Southwest

Comedian and political satire writer to participate in an interview with Texas Monthly at SXSW Interactive and SXSW Film

February 28, 2005, Austin, Texas -- The South by Southwest Interactive Festival and Film Conference are pleased to announce author, talk radio pundit, comedian, actor, and potential U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken’s live one-on-one interview with Evan Smith of Texas Monthly from 3:30 - 4:15 pm on Monday afternoon, March 14, at the Austin Convention Center.

In the 1970s, Franken helped transform the face of modern comedy and more recently, he has helped change the face of modern political commentary via his best-selling books and the Air America broadcast network. Franken boasts five Emmy’s for his writing and producing, two Grammy’s for audio versions of his books, and four New York Times best-sellers for Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot; Why Not Me?; Oh, the Things I know: A Guide to Success, Or, Failing That, Happiness; and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

Franken launched “The O’Franken Factor” with co-host Katherine Lanpher on Air America Radio March 31, 2004, which airs weekdays from 12 to 3 pm. “The O’Franken Factor” is in its first year and astoundingly, more listeners tune in to his show on the Internet than they do on the radio.

In his interview with Evan Smith, Franken will offer his perspectives on the future of Internet radio, American politics, and life in the Lone Star State. At 4:30, Franken will conduct a brief book-signing in the SXSW Interactive/Film Trade Show.

"We're very excited that Al Franken will be participating at SXSW. Given his experiences with Air America, he's got a lot of unique perspectives on the power of Internet radio versus more traditional broadcasting paradigms,” says Hugh Forrest, SXSW Interactive Event Director. “Moreover, my understanding is that he has a very dynamic stage presence, so I'm sure he'll be a popular speaker."

This session will be open to SXSW Film and Interactive conference registrants, as well as Gold and Platinum badge wearers. To register for the SXSW Interactive, click to http://www.sxsw.com/attend/. For more information or to request press credentials for SXSW Interactive, e-mail Amy Kugali at interpress@sxsw.com

SXSW Interactive Festival Scheduled March 11-15, the SXSW Interactive Festival brings together uber-geeks and digital creatives from around the world for four days of keynote speeches, panels, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, and numerous exciting evening activities. Other speakers this year include Malcolm Gladwell (author), Ana Maria Cox (Wonkette), Bram Cohen (Bit Torrent), Michael Robertson (mp3tunes.com), and hundreds of other innovative industry leaders.

SXSW Film Festival Now in its 12th year, the SXSW Film Festival is an annual celebration of film - a weeklong opportunity to view, discuss, and explore all aspects of film creation and production, from screenwriting through distribution. Special events this year include the world premier of The Wendell Baker Story starring Luke and Owen Wilson and Directed by Andrew and Luke Wilson.

###

South by Southwest Interactive Hosts Annual Web Awards

Last chance to vote for the People's Choice Web award – poll closes March 4th

February 25, 2005 - Austin, TX – South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, one of the world's leading conferences targeted toward cutting-edge web designers, developers and innovators, announced they will host the conference's annual Web Awards. Scheduled for Sunday evening, March 13 at the Downtown Austin Hilton, the event is the highlight evening event of the five-day conference.

The Web Awards honors the year's most innovative Web designs and the digital artists who developed them. Winners in all categories will be announced at the ceremony, which will be hosted by tech-savvy comedian Laura Swisher of "Unscrewed with Martin Sargent" on G4techTV and NBC's "Last Comic Standing."

"I'm psyched to emcee the Web Awards Ceremony this year," states Laura Swisher. "It's truly an honor to be involved with SXSW Interactive and the incredible talent that attends this event. I can only hope I'm geek enough to do them justice. The nominees will be simply amazing and blow you away with their creativity."

Judges will select the best of the best of this year's Web pages across 16 categories including Humor/Satire, Weblog, and Animation. The Web Awards judges aren't the only people with a vote. Web users from across the nation and around the world are invited to vote for their favorite site from amongst the finalists via the People's Choice Award. Votes can be cast once a day at http://www.sxsw.com/peoples_choice. Voting for this award ends at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 4. Finalists for the Web Awards have been posted online at http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/web_awards/finalists.

"SXSW Interactive brings together the Web's most creative and innovative thinkers -- and the Web Awards is the night where these people honor the best of the best on the Internet, says SXSW Web Awards Coordinator Shawn O'Keefe. "The quality of sites we see in this competition continues to soar. We've got some of the hottest developers from across the globe involved in this event, and these are the people who are shaping tomorrow's Internet."

The Web Awards ceremony is the cornerstone event of the annual SXSW Interactive Festival, a five-day technology-fest, March 11-15. For more information on the conference, visit http://2005.sxsw.com/interactive/.

SXSW Interactive Festival Scheduled March 11-15, the SXSW Interactive Festival brings together uber-geeks and digital creatives from around the world for four days of keynote speeches, panels, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, and numerous exciting evening activities. Confirmed speakers at the 2005 event include best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Marie Cox of wonkette, Bit Torrent's Bram Cohen, Michael Robertson of MP3tunes.com and talk radio host Al Franken. For complete list of speakers, see http://www.sxsw.com/interactive.

Now in its twelfth year, this unique event brings together top-notch developers, cutting-edge designers and out-of-the-box thinkers to share their ideas about how interactive technology will shape our future.

###

New York Times #1 Best Selling Author, Malcolm Gladwell, Leads Keynote Lineup at SXSW Interactive Festival

Event brings digital innovators and the most creative minds on the Web together to shape the future of interactive technologies

Austin, TX - February 1, 2005 - Today, South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, one of the world's leading conferences targeted toward cutting-edge web designers, developers and innovators, announced its entire lineup of keynote presenters and panels, including: best selling author Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Marie Cox, the voice behind Wonkette, Alex Steffen, WorldChanging Editor, and Bruce Sterling, Wired Columnist. SXSW Interactive Festival and Conference welcomes bloggers, digital entrepreneurs, gamers and innovative thinkers from around the world to the Austin Convention Center, March 11-15 2005, to discuss the tech trends of tomorrow.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference," kicks off the festival with his keynote address on his newly released New York Times #1 bestseller, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" on Sunday, March 13. "The Tipping Point" remains tremendously influential among uber-geeks and bloggers as a reference for analyzing underlying trends in the web world, and "Blink" looks to be every bit as influential.

"It is a privilege for me to provide the opening keynote at this year's SXSW Interactive Festival," said Gladwell. "The bloggers and Web heads have always been some of my most avid readers, and I'm a big fan of theirs as well. 'The Tipping Point' talks about social epidemics in all walks of life and how and why change happens. I think it's especially relevant to the SXSW audience as blogging starts to reach critical mass."

Ana Marie Cox, whose off-color genius has propelled Wonkette into one of the nation's most popular political weblogs, will be the keynote interview on Monday, March 14. Formerly a contributor at the late great satirical site suck.com, Cox has also written for Feed, Inside, Mother Jones and The American Prospect. She has served as the razor-sharp voice behind Wonkette since its January 2004 launch.

The March 15 keynote will feature a lively dialogue between WorldChanging editor Alex Steffen and Wired columnist Bruce Sterling. Steffen edits the award-winning site Worldchanging.com and consults to a wide range of business and non-profit groups on environmental, technological and design issues. Sterling is considered "one of America's best-known science fiction writers and perhaps the sharpest observer of our media-choked culture working today," according to Time Magazine.

"Over the past decade, interactive technologies – many of which were introduced at SXSW – have had a profound impact on our lives," said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. "As the Interactive Festival celebrates its twelfth year as an Austin institution, we're looking forward to once again hosting the best and brightest in Web design, Flash, multimedia and more."

In addition to keynotes, the SXSW Interactive Festival will feature more than 70 panels, "How to" sessions and distinguished speakers covering big-picture technology issues from bridging the digital divide to designing Flash for mobile devices. At its heart, the SXSW Interactive Festival is a four-day conference and exhibition showcasing the products and services of top regional, national and international technology companies.

One of the most popular events at the SXSW Interactive Festival is the Web Awards. The ceremony highlights the best in Web development during the past year in a variety of categories. Comedian Laura Swisher from G4TechTV and NBC's "Last Comic Standing" will emcee the 2005 Web Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 13 at the Hilton Austin.

SXSW Interactive Festival
Scheduled March 11-15, the SXSW Interactive Festival brings together uber-geeks and digital creatives from around the world for four days of keynote speeches, panels, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, and numerous exciting evening activities. Confirmed speakers at this year's event include prominent industry leaders and authors who will address topics ranging from web design standards to social networks to the state of convergent media in today's economy and beyond.

Now in its twelfth year, this unique event brings together top-notch developers, cutting-edge designers and out-of-the-box thinkers to share their ideas about how interactive technology will shape our future. Also featured at the festival are the SXSW Web Awards, one of the web's leading interactive media competitions.

###

 

 

 

TECHNOLOGY PARTNER