Innovators across North Texas have come up with great ideas for panels at the 2024 SXSW Conference and SXSW Edu Conference. But with thousands of ideas being submitted, only the best will go live in Austin next March. Luckily, your vote could be just the thing to help a local panel snag a spot.

Now through August 20, SXSW’s Panel Picker website is live and accepting “community voting”—which counts for a full 30% of the panel selection decisions.

To see the panels, go the main SXSW Panel Picker page and click on either the SXSW Conference, which runs from March 8 to 16 2024, or the SXSW EDU conference, which runs from March 4 to March 7 2024.

If you click the main SXSW Conference, you’ll see there are over 4,500 panels already submitted. You can narrow that down to local proposals by searching for “Dallas,” etc., in the search field. (If you already know of a local panel you support, enter a search term that will bring it up).

For instance, doing that “Dallas” search brings up local panel ideas like “How Sports Content Creators Are Impacting Fan Culture,” organized by Jazzelynn Daigle, a staff writer at the Dallas Cowboys-focused Inside the Star. You’ll also spot “The Truth: How to Get Your Screenplay or Idea Made,” featuring speaker Tony Armer, film commissioner of the Dallas Film Commission, and several other panels.

Trying this broad a search can be hit and miss. (It also brings up panels featuring a guy named Dallas.) So your best bet is having knowledge of a local company, startup, founder, or educator who you think may be aiming for SXSW. Then see if they have a panel in the system up for a vote.

Clicking over to the SXSW Edu Conference panels, searching for “Dallas” pops up “The Newcomer Experience in Dallas ISD,” about how the school district meets the challenge of enrolling “several thousand newcomer immigrant students each year.” You’ll also find panels like “Movements: Musicians & Animators in Sync,” about a UT Dallas project that brings students “from music and experimental animation together to create original work and performance.” 

Click around in both conference tabs—you never know what you may find, including things in various categories under the “Track” pulldown menus. If you land on an intriguing local panel idea, your vote could help a North Texas team ride down I-35 next March with an SXSW showcase ready to rock the world.

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