Help Pick the Panels for SXSW 2016

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals bring people from around the world to Dell’s hometown of Austin. Last year, 33,825 people from 85 countries attended SXSW Interactive. And for those who couldn’t attend SXSW Music, Dell brought them to town virtually with the first-ever concert streamed live in 4K.

And while the 2016 events are still six months away, community voting on the proposed panels for them opened this week via their Panel Picker. It’s your opportunity to help determine the programming for this unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies.

“From gender equality to the role of art, trans-humanism, and privacy issues, SXSW each and every year brings together (a few of) the best minds in the world to further our industry,” said Havas Senior VP of Strategy and Innovation Tom Goodwin after last year’s event.

So what role does the SXSW Panel Picker play in bringing those minds together? Well, SXSW has an Advisory Board that judges proposals and gives a score that counts for 40 percent of an overall composite score. Public voting on panel proposals accounts for 30 percent. SXSW staff voting counts for the final 30 percent.

Having three separate inputs for this composite score is meant to keep the Panel Picker selection process from becoming an online popularity contest. But, that doesn’t stop everyone from campaigning for their submissions. Even the NBA’s Sacramento Kings are getting in on it!

So here are the proposed panels that include Dell team members. Topics range from healthcare to social media, security to sustainability, and entrepreneurship to government:

The breadth of the topics speaks to the end-to-end view of technology solutions Dell team members have. And we love to share what we've learned! Let SXSW know you're interested in hearing from us by giving these panels the thumbs up. Voting closes Friday, Sept. 4 at 9:59 p.m. PDT.

And if you’re still considering whether or not to attend, AlleyWatch recently compiled a list of the things they still think were awesome about SXSW 2015.

About the Author: Laura Pevehouse

Laura Pevehouse was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has been part of the Dell organization for more than 15 years in various corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, marketing, branding, social media and online communication roles. From 2014-2018, Laura was Chief Blogger/Editor-in-Chief for Direct2DellEMC and Direct2Dell, Dell’s official corporate blog that she help launch in 2007. She is now a member of the Dell Technologies Chairman Communications team. Earlier in her Dell career she focused on Global Commercial Channels and US Small and Medium Business public relations as part of the Global Communications team. Prior to that, she was responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Global SMB Marketing, Brand and Creative team. When she was part of Dell’s Global Online group, Laura provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She managed the home page of Dell.com, one of the top 500 global web sites in Alexa traffic rank, and first brought web feeds and podcasts to the ecommerce site. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in the virtual world Second Life. Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.