by Trevor Baca, VP Software Engineering

Curious about the interactive parts of SXSW? Looks like 2008 will be the year to check it out.

Of the many excellent music, film and interaction festivals Austin hosts each year, SXSW tops the list each spring (together with ACL Fest each fall, it should be mentioned). Originally a smaller gathering of music industry insiders, SXSW has grown enormously in recent years. Fans, musicians, producers and the press travel to Austin each spring from around the US and the world for a week of shows and networking. SWSX organizers added the interactive part of the festival some years back to showcase graphics design, web and game development, and the interactive arts. And interactive attendance has grown ever since.

Confirmed panelists for this year's interactive sessions include Bryan Caplan (author of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies), Jason Fried of 37signals, Kelly Goto of Goto Media, and Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress). I've written elsewhere about Kelly Goto and her approach to design and the workflow of design. And, in fact, all the panelists lined up so far sound right on.

The 2008 interactive part runs from Friday 7 March to Tuesday 11 March. Music runs after from Wednesday 12 March to Sunday 16 March. And film runs the whole week. More information on SXSW is here.

Another excuse to visit Austin. Come check us out.