SXSWORLD

Second Day Added to Accelerator Showcase! Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator at SXSW returns for its second edition to showcase some of the web's most exciting innovations. This event provides an outlet for companies to present their new online entertainment products, latest ideas in social networking applications or innovative web-based technology ser- vices to a panel of industry experts, early adapters and representatives from the venture capitalist community. This year's event will be held at the Hilton Austin Downtown and has been expanded to two days, March 15-16 from 10 am to 6 pm. We have increased the number of companies participating from 20 to 32. Join us for this incredible event as we highlight the technology market's most impressive new innovations. New Daytime Programming Added, Including Google's Marissa Mayer New Future15 Programming Gives Experts Their 15 Minutes of Fame New media technology constantly evolves and re-adapts 15 future itself. Similarly, we try to continu- ally evolve and re-adapt the SXSW Interactive Festival programming format. One of the new additions for the 2010 schedule is a series of short talks called Future15. As the title implies, these are 15-minute solo presentations curated from proposals submitted to the PanelPicker. We grouped these Future15 presen- tations into two-hour blocks of programming related to a single theme. For 2010, Future15 themes range from "connected business" to "government and technology" to "wireless innovation." The heart of the SXSW Interactive Festival is the incredible diversity of daytime programming and dynamic speakers who share their expertise. We are continuing to add more great speakers to the 2010 lineup. Recently announced speakers include Douglas Rushkoff (media theorist, author, cyberpunk, soothsayer and cultural force), Jaron Lanier (computer scientist, visual artist, author), Marissa Mayer (VP of Search Product and UX at Google) and Josh Koenig (Partner/CTO of Chapter Three, blogger, author, Drupal expert). To see more speaker and daytime programming announcements as they happen, check out the SXSW Interactive website: sxsw.com/ interactive. Marissa Mayer Douglas Rushkoff Location Changes for 2010: Registration Moves Downstairs, Keynotes Move Upstairs SXSW Interactive has made several logistical changes for the 2010 event: Returning attendees should take note that registration, badge check-in and panelist check-in have all moved from the fourth floor of the Austin Convention Center to Exhibit Hall 3 on the first floor in order to accommodate the growing number of registrants. The Film + Interactive Trade Show has also moved from Ballroom D on the fourth floor to Exhibit Hall 4 on the first floor. The panel room that hosted Interactive Keynotes and other panel programming has moved 12 SXSW ORLD / F EBRUAR Y 2010 from Ballroom A on the first floor to Ballroom D on the fourth floor. This move creates more space for attendees to check out this year's keynote presentations. We also added several rooms of programming for 2010: The sixth floor of the Hilton Austin Downtown Hotel will contain panels, Core Conversations and other daytime programming in addition to the Web Awards Ceremony and Accelerator show- case. We also added the Courtyard Marriott Hotel to host some Core Conversation sessions. In the convention center, Ballrooms E and F on the fourth floor have been added to host our new Workshop program. All in all, we have more than doubled our capacity for programming in 2010. Still, even with this additional space, we expect panel rooms to fill up quickly, so please plan on arriving to your chosen panel rooms at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time to ensure yourself a seat. Stay tuned to the SXSW Interactive website for maps of the 2010 event, which will give you a visual representation of this year's location changes. JOHANNES KROEMER

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