Is SXSW valuable as an experience? Yes – it is always good to take your online relationships offline, and it’s a breeding ground for collaboration down there in Austin, Texas.

It’s also a popularity contest. Some folks think it “turned into” one, but the way voting is structured, it’s always promoted, well, self promotion.

What this means is that some great panel ideas get overlooked in favor of panels proposed by folks that are “known” already. Endless blog posts are written about how to get your panel into SXSW, endless backchannel bargaining goes on to get votes, and then there is the incredibly obnoxious constant stream of “vote for me” status updates, blog posts and in person conversations. As more and more panels or proposed, this is partially a problem of sheer numbers as well. There are 2346 SXSW interactive panels alone, not even counting Film and Music. (And don’t think Film and Music are immune to the popularity contest aspect, folks. Thanks to the weight given the various aspects of panel selection, last year’s SXSW Film mirrored Sundance in both screenings and panel topics- hardly a representation of true user driven panels and films.)

What I am encouraging you to do is “take back” your conference. It took me 45 minutes yesterday to use the SXSW Panel Picker, page by page, to vote yes or no to every Interactive panel. Granted, I have FIOS internet, so YMMV (your mileage may vary). I’ll go back and do Film and Music this weekend. Being able to look at multiple panels on a page, hover my cursor for a longer description and then click thumbs up or thumbs down was a huge time saver. I made a short note to myself about any I wanted to go back and leave a comment on (we’ll go into why that’s important in a minute). I completely ignored the name and company of each panel organizer. I voted only using two criteria: 1) Do I think the topic is relevant and interesting 2) Would I go to this panel. That’s it. I was more likely to vote no if your panel title was worded like link bait, I was more likely to vote yes if the title made it immediately apparent to me that it was going to be useful, but in each case I read the pop up description before clicking.

Some people will think that voting on all panels will not make a difference. It will if everyone does it, but you are right – our vote is not all that matters in the SXSW selection process. Our collective vote is only 30%. This is where comments come in – thoughtful comments, and lots of them, can push a good panel over the edge and into the selection committee’s consciousness, regardless of who proposed it. Throwaway comments just to get a comment, like “Rad panel, man!” are less helpful. The rest of the vote is 30% SXSW Staff and 40% Advisory Board. This doesn’t help in getting some of the up and coming thought leaders heard! The fact that folks are more likely to be picked if they have had a panel at SXSW before or have been published or otherwise are “known” is too bad, but if we start to let the organizers of SXSW know it’s time for a change by how much and how we vote, it can make a difference.

So, what happens if thousands and thousands of the 12,000 or so who attend each year vote differently and completely, and we still can’t effect change?

Start your own conference. You can always effect change.

The basis for the book is the simple yet heady premise that your online profile will become your greatest asset as we march toward the future. It will be worth more than your house, your car, the status of your parents, your race, your gender, your monetary background, and more. Because of the way the online world (not just social media) works as aliving breathing resume, an extension of your whole life experience, it can be leveraged continually to direct the path of your life.

Some of the things we touch on in the book:

• Why we will have more online friends than offline friends
• Why we will give money to strangers and date people we’ve never met
• Why having a strong online presence will be critical to ones social and financial survival
• The value of eliminating traditional expectations
• The diminishing emphasis of the handshake and face to face interaction
• The decline of the traditional resume in favor of the living resume
• How it’s no longer about “First Impressions” but “Lasting Impressions”
• The expectation that any online activity could be a contribution to society and your future
• Why providing information on a “need to know” basis will no longer be acceptable
• The shift to a global economy and the need for an online presence to compete
• Why social media will be at the core of our daily lives
• Online presence as validation
• Wisdom and peril of the crowd
• Industry and technology trends and how they will affect you
• So much more… I’d have to disclose too much of the proprietary information in the book to list everything here, though.

SXSW Interactive: “Online Presence: Asset of the Future“

Leslie Poston (Uptown Uncorked, Film POP!, Twitter for Dummies Co-Author) and Jim Keenan (Avaya, A Sales Guy) will be talking about the near future, and how your online social presence will become a must-have asset, a life-long living resume that will determine your success in relationships, careers, education and more. It will break down barriers and create unheard of opportunities – if you leverage it well. This panel is based on our upcoming book: “Online Presence: Asset Of The Future” and will involve statistics, case studies, methodologies and a lively Q&A component. VOTE FOR THIS ONE HERE. Get others to vote by sharing this URL: http://bit.ly/sxswasset – THANK YOU

SXSW Interactive: “Self Hate Isn’t Sexy: Gender, Race & Tech“

Leslie Poston (Uptown Uncorked, Twitter for Dummies Co-Author) is joined by Rakiesha Chase (Social Butterfly Experiment) and other panelists TBA to discuss how gender and race opportunities are two recurring themes in technology. Are we part of the problem, or part of the solution? This panel is about moving beyond the usual “we’re oppressed” quagmire discussion and into real, workable solutions, starting with ourselves as individuals to effect change in tech and social media. VOTE FOR THIS ONE HERE. Get others to vote by sharing this URL: http://bit.ly/sxswsexy – THANK YOU

SXSW Film: “Social & New Media: The Cheaper Film Promotion Alternative“

Leslie Poston (Uptown Uncorked, Film POP!, Twitter for Dummies Co-Author), Amy Greenlaw (Film POP!), Chase Bailey (“The Libertine”, “Crooked Lane”) and Mark Constance (“Terminator 3″, “Being John Malkovich”, “Losing Jerry”) will discuss promoting independent film. Long gone are the days of small budget Independent films toiling in obscurity. Just like small businesses, Independent Films are embracing Social Media and New Media technology as a low cost way to promote their films. Come listen to our experienced panel discuss new ways to grab eyeballs for your project. VOTE FOR THIS ONE HERE. Get others to vote by sharing this URL: http://bit.ly/sxswindie

Please note: we are competing against nearly 3000 other panels for votes. SXSW is a popularity and interest driven contest. Every vote really does matter. Please feel free to tell your friends, your colleagues and the universe about this post and about these panels, and get out the vote. We are excited to go to SXSW with these bright ideas, but we can’t do it without YOUR help!

I’m also nervous. I have always wanted to present at SXSW, and this year I finally bit the bullet and submitted a panel idea for SXSW 2009. If you are a member of the SXSW community, and you’d like to hear a panel on “Can Social Media Save The World?” offering concrete solutions to real world problems using social media, please go vote it up. Voting is open until August 29th, 2008.

I have several posts and reviews on the way for Uptown Uncorked this weekend as well, and also will be at NH Media Makers on Sunday if you want to talk about social media with me in person (sorry to have to miss TechSet, Boston. I need two of me sometimes, I swear.)

Also, in the spirit of housekeeping, I don’t mind getting pitched by PR people, it’s your job after all (we’ve been getting a lot of pitches this week), just please make sure it is social media relevant. Hey, I can dream, right? The email for PR pitches and other press contacts is here.