SXSW Sessions You Don’t Want to Miss

Kira M. Newman Feb 26, 2013 Tweet

If you’re attending SXSW Interactive, the mega-festival that takes place from March 8-12, you’ll have over 1,000 sessions to choose from (not to mention the parties). We scoured through them to find the 15 sessions you don’t want to miss.

Keynotes

Elon Musk

When: Saturday, March 9, 2-3 pm
Where: Exhibit Hall 5, Austin Convention Center
Why: Musk is the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, the first commercial company to bring cargo up to the International Space Station. Now, they’re working to build reusable, low-cost rockets that will revolutionize space travel. As if that weren’t enough, Musk is also the CEO of Tesla and the cofounder of PayPal.

Matthew Inman

When: Tuesday, March 12, 2-3 pm
Where: Exhibit Hall 5, Austin Convention Center
Why: Inman is the author of The Oatmeal, a comics site that includes such gems as “how to suck at your religion,” “how to pet a kitty,” and “why I believe printers were sent from Hell to make us miserable.” Inman will discuss “how you can use crowdfunding, comedy, and creativity to combat douchebaggery on the Internet.”

Featured Sessions

Shaq Goes Social: The Big Interview

When: March 11, 12:30-1:30 pm
Where: Long Center, Dell Hall
Why: “Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal gives his opinions on social media, startups, online comedy, as well as all things hoops in a revealing one-on-one interview with best-selling author Brian Solis.”

Esther Dyson, Release 0.9

When: March 12, 12:30-1:30 pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Ballroom D
Why: “Esther Dyson always seems to get interested in things before they become popular.” This will be “an interactive discussion on what’s intriguing right now to this always-curious, always-challenging, angel investor. Her enthusiasms include space travel, the quantified self, and Russia.”

Change the Ratio: Conversations with Rachel Sklar

When: March 12, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Ballroom D
Why: Sklar, founder of Change The Ratio, will be talking to tech leaders about diversity, meritocracy, and privilege in the tech industry.

Forbes 30 Under 30: Meet Spotify’s Daniel Ek

When: March 12, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: Long Center, Dell Hall
Why: As CEO and cofounder of Spotify, Ek has an insight or two about the way we listen to music and how that will change in the future.

Peter Thiel: You Are Not a Lottery Ticket

When: March 12, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 5
Why: Thiel, partner of Founders Fund, will explain why succeeding at a startup is not a matter of luck. He’ll cover how to find “secret truths” and make the most of them.

Other Sessions

Tales of US Entrepreneurship Beyond Silicon Valley

When: March 8, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 5
Why: Alexis Ohanian, cofounder of Reddit, will tell stories of entrepreneurship that he collected in the “American heartland” while on the Internet 2012 Bus Tour.

Steve Blank: Advice for Today’s Startup Entrepreneurs

When: March 9, 12:30-1:15 pm
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon ABC
Why: Blank is a customer development expert who taught the “Lean LaunchPad” class at Stanford (now available online for free). His talk is part of a day of lean startup learnings with guests like Eric Ries, Dave McClure, and Travis Kalanick of Uber.

Matt Mullenweg: The State of Blogging in 2013

When: March 9, 12:30-1:30 pm
Where: Hyatt Regency Austin, Texas Ballroom 5-7
Why: Social media tools might make blogging seem obsolete. Mullenweg, the cofounder of WordPress, will discuss what blogging of the future will look like.

Insights about Innovation: David Sacks Fireside Chat

When: March 9, 12:30-1:30 pm
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon FGH
Why: Sacks was the COO of PayPal and the founder of Yammer, both acquired for over $1 billion. He will chat with Jason Calacanis, founder of the LAUNCH conference, about advice for startups and the future of Silicon Valley

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Talks with Fortune

When: March 10, 11 am-12 pm
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon ABC
Why: Chesky, the cofounder and CEO of Airbnb, will talk about Airbnb and his challenges in scaling the company.

Ben Huh: The Art of Making Fun of Yourself

When: March 11, 3:30-4:30 pm
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon FGH
Why: Ben Huh is the CEO of the Cheezburger Network. This session will teach companies how to use the “humor bomb” to gain a strategic advantage.

From Tech Cocktail

Asian Entrepreneurs Struggle with Fear of Failure

When: March 11, 11 am-12 pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Room 5ABC
Why: This panel discusses where fear of failure comes from, how it affects Asian startups today, and what it means for the future of Asian innovation – including the ability to compete globally.

Not All Startup Accelerators Are Created Equal

When: March 12, 11 am-12 pm
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon C
Why: Learn about the landscape of startup accelerators and how to choose the best one for you.