Speakers in the News »

11/18/05
BRUCE STERLING

Congrats to frequent SXSW speaker Bruce Sterling, who will be married to fellow futuristic writer Jasmina Tesanovic tomorrow in Los Angeles. Sterling and Alex Steffen of Worldchanging.net participated in a captivating keynote conversation at the 2005 event. His "come to my house" Tuesday night parties have also been a legendary aspect of the SXSW Interactive Festival.

12:43pm CST | +

11/17/05
KEITH ROBINSON

Keith Robinson

A recent post on lifehacker.com covers "Tips for the Small Business Blogger". According to the post, "One of the best things about a small business blog is the ability to solicit feedback about your product, services or what-have-you. Opening your blog to comments provides this feedback loop and can be a great way to learn how customers view your products and gain valuable insight about your business in general." This essay is written by Keith Robinson (pictured above), who is leading the "Design Eye for the List Guy" panel at the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival. Meanwhile, lifehacker.com is edited by Gina Trapani, a speaker on the "DIY Now More Than Ever" at this spring's event.

12:09pm CST | +

11/16/05
MITCH RATCLIFFE

2005 SXSW Interactive Festival panelist Mitch Ratcliffe has stirred up quite a firestorm on the web with an essay titled "More on the Future of Podcasting". His company Internet / Media Strategies is now working with Audible, one of the leading sources of online audio content and the inventor of the .aa file format. Responding to critics' charges that Audible is trying to establish a proprietary edge in the podcasting game, Ratcliffe responds: "Audible is contributing something new. Despite what people may think, because Audible offers audio in the .aa format (because MP3 does not support auditing of listenership), this is a determined effort to embrace the very best of what the market has to offer while adding services and capabilities that simply aren't available anywhere else." Ratcliffe participated in the "How to Think About Democracy and Technology" session at last year's event.

10:16am CST | +

11/15/05
GRACE DAVIS

Grace Davis

A November 14 story published in the New York Times reflects on how the Internet has shaped ongoing hurricane relief efforts. According to staff writer Pamela O'Connell, "Scores of Americans . . have pioneered a new kind of philanthropy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Spurred to do something more personal than writing a check, they turned to the Internet, which linked people who wanted to help with those who needed it, often with no relief agency acting as a middleman. Established sites like Craigslist and Yahoo Groups took on new purposes, while charity neophytes created dozens of new sites." In addition to craigslist (founded by 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival keynote speaker Craig Newmark), the article specifically mentions the work of Grace Davis (pictured above). In the aftermath of Katrina, Davis set up a weblog to help people communicate about basic needs. As she notes in the story, "I got ice to Bay St. Louis before FEMA did." At SXSW 2006, Davis is speaking on the "Us and Them: A Blog Conversation Survival Guide" session.

10:27am CST | +

11/14/05
MALCOLM GLADWELL

Author and 2005 keynote speaker Malcolm Gladwell is now heading to the big screen. Gladwell's recent best-seller "Blink: Thin-Slicing, Snap Judgments and the Power of Thinking Without Thinking" is reportedly being adapted into a film version by Stephen Gaghan (best-known for his Oscar-winning work on "Traffic"). Heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio is allegedly involved in the project as well.