SXSW, Making Your PanelPicker Vote Matter

On Tuesday, we opened PanelPicker® Community Voting, which empowers everyone to have their say on who and what we’ll host at the 2025 SXSW Conference. Voting remains open until the end of the day on Sunday, August 18.

Get involved by logging in to your PanelPicker account (or creating a new one). Once you’re in, use the search bar at the top of the page to find the kinds of topics that interest you. If you like a proposal give it a thumbs up (and use the comment section to tell the world why). If you don’t care for a proposal, then a downvote is in order.

Five tips on the kind of speaking proposals that we encourage you to vote for as you browse through this year’s PanelPicker:

1. Fresh Forward-Focused Ideas: New, ahead-of-the-curve ideas tend to work best at SXSW. Proposals that rehash older concepts (particularly older concepts that haven’t been successful in the past) don’t tend to produce rewarding sessions.
2. Diversity: The speaker lineup for panel proposals should reflect the diverse world we live in. All-male sessions are not accepted for the event, so use your votes wisely.
3. International Perspective: We love to hear how different parts of the world are solving today’s challenges. Sessions featuring speakers from outside the US are often incredibly insightful.
4. Morals and Ethics: Proposals that reflect a strong sense of morals and ethics also lend themselves to great experiences — particularly proposals that push for higher standards from business and political leaders.
5. Energy and Inspiration: Lastly, SXSW always loves speakers who can inspire our attendees with their energy and enthusiasm. Check out the the videos in the proposals to find out who’s on your wavelength.

In addition to PanelPicker voting, SXSW 2025 badges are now on sale. Buy early for the best rates and the best hotel options. And don’t forget, you can connect with us for info for groups and students and early career discounts.

And, If you need your fix of creative overload before March, then attend SXSW Sydney scheduled October 14-20 in Australia.

Are you ready?