It’s that time of year again when the voting begins for panels/presentations submitted from the community for SXSW Interactive. While most of the conference industry took a big hit last year due to the economy, SXSW Interactive was one of the few events that was actually up in terms of attendees! I have now spoken at the conference for the past four years and have to say it’s one of my favorite events to attend (great people, great parties, great town – Austin).

For 2010 Ypulse has submitted two proposals to vote on. The first is a reprise of the youth panel I have now moderated for the past two years. This year we’ll be mixing it up with a combination of high school and college students. It’s a great opportunity for attendees to ask questions about their websites and apps and get candid answers from regular teens and young adults. Each year the room has been full and the Q&A line long. Check out the full description and vote (and leave a comment on the SXSW page encouraging others to supports this panel).

Our second panel proposal is from Jacqueline Lane, VP of the new Ypulse Insights part of the business. She is ready to field a study specifically geared to SXSW attendees based on suggested questions from YOU. Her full description is here. We would love your support to get us to Austin for a 5th year!

Just as we did last year, I actually attempted to read through all 2000+ panel/presentation submissions to highlight those that felt especially youth-y for Ypulse readers to check out and vote on as well. If I missed one, feel free to leave it in the comments!

Education-oriented panels

Why Tech in Schools Fails Kids
Kids in US schools are guaranteed free appropriate public education (FAPE). Technology makes FAPE more possible than ever. Why then, are so many schools and kids failing? This panel invites you to participate: help identify policy, budget and training barriers; chart a path out of failure into success for millions of struggling kids.

Crash Course: Is E-ducation Making the Classroom Obsolete?
Are Web-based learning applications supplementing or supplanting the traditional classroom, and what does the learning curve tell us? As more and more companies offer personalized learning experiences across any number of subjects, both with and without professional teachers, this panel calls upon some innovative startups to chalk out the future.

How Educational Technology Will Change the World
Advances in educational technology will turn the traditional educational system upside down and ultimately render it obsolete. This panel will introduce what is wrong with the current educational model and discuss what the future holds.

Sparking Kids’ Interest: Gaming as Innovative Education
Hear how AMD’s Changing the Game program is evolving digital games from pure entertainment to a means of inspiring young people – especially those between the ages of 13 and 18 – to learn critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills, and develop a sense of current social issues.

What Higher Education Can Learn From Consumer Brands
In an annual ritual, baffled 17-year-olds (and their equally befuddled parents) are faced with a $100k+ decision that will change the course of their lives-while most of the more than 4,000 schools spend billions to market themselves exactly like one another. Hear how some agencies are changing the game.

Education 3.0: Mapping New Connections
Social media offers rich educational opportunities to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally. Social media also disrupts disciplinary boundaries and challenges traditional teaching and research strategies. This panel maps the new educational landscape, and rethinks the role of the university in a remixed public sphere.

The Web in Higher Education: What’s Next?
As universities and colleges begin to catch up with the social web boom, where do we go from here and what is the next wave? Join thought leaders from higher education and discuss the future of the social web.

Preparing Students for the Workplace Using Social Media
The jobs of the 21st century require constant connectivity and digital literacy. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t exist. Social media has the potential to engage and prepare tomorrow’s workforce. Discuss the fundamental role that social media/technology will play in preparing students to succeed and the effect on the education system.

Youth tech entrepreneurs

Student Startups: Entreprenurship in the University
While student startups are not a new phenomenon, universities and venture capitalists are beginning to see the advantages in supporting them. Join a panel of student entrepreneurs in a discussion on finding funding, incorporating a company and balancing homework, work and life, all while attending school full-time.

The Age of Micro Business and Teen Entrepreneurs
This panel discusses the evolutionary phenomenon that comes from the power of the Internet and how it will transform from the Information Age, to the Creative Age and then the Age of Micro Business. While it takes 15 years for something to become a movement, given the circumstances of the economy teens are already taking on their role.

Social issues

Sex Education in a Web 3.0 World
This will be a discussion with podcasters, internet based and college sex educators, on the present and future of sex education, the internet and digital technology. The panel will address issues such as countering misinformation, appropriate information for teens and younger, availability of resources, proper and improper use of technology and their own experiences with sex education and social networks.

Sexting+Nudie Pics = Digital Violence Among Teens
Pressure to send nude photos. Incessant text messages. Invasion of social networking accounts. All qualify as digital dating abuse, a growing problem in teen relationships. Find out how R/GA and the Ad Council have empowered teens to recognize and put an end to the abuse.

Gaming

Games for Good vs. We Wanna Blow S*** Up
MTV and Sandra Day O’Connor, among others, think games can make people care about tough issues, like genocide, politics, and cancer. Others believe games – good ones at least – should be dessert, not vegetables. Champions of each side dissect case studies to decide if developers should just shut up and play.

Games and Media: Playing and Learning, Together
Who says you can’t play SingStar on the radio? Games and the media have always had a difficult relationship but Public Service Broadcasters the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK have broken new ground in the convergence of games with TV and Radio. Find out how.

Virtual Worlds and MMOS: Sinners or Saviors? (Sulake/Habbo)
Should the entertainment industry love or loathe virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games? Do they take viewers and money away from traditional entertainment, or do they increase audience numbers and encourage revenue? In “Sinners or Saviors?” panelists discuss how MMOs and virtual worlds work to everyone’s advantage.

Bringing Games To Life With Collectible Toys
History shows that video games typically come as standalone products, without the accompaniment of accessories, such as collectible toys. However, games of late have taken a new direction by adding tangible items to the gaming package, i.e. Rock Band. Abandon Interactive Entertainment has embraced this trend by incorporating collectible action figures with their online video game in Freaky Creatures. Abandon can shed light into this successful new venture and educate attendees of the remarkable trend that is taking shape in the gaming industry.

Game Development for Kids
Letting kids develop computer games is a great way to teach them how to program, and how to think. This panel will explore systems that children can use to make their own games. If you’re an educator, programmer, tinkerer, or a kid, this panel should appeal to you.

Parent/child marketing

Pass it Back! Kid Apps on Grown-up Devices (PBS Kids)
The “pass-back effect” — when parents hand their mobile device to kids in the backseat or whenever they’re on-the-go — creates unique challenges to optimize kid-friendly mobile apps within the constraints of devices designed for grown-ups. Kids’ media industry pros discuss challenges & solutions for this diverse & growing niche audience.

Negotiating the Parent/Teen Divide Over Social Networking
Parents are often at odds with their teenagers being on social networking sites. Can these sites please parents and appeal to teens simultaneously? This panel brings parents, teens, and experts together to address this digital divide and offer suggestions on how social networking sites can build a workable bridge.

Teens and tech

Creative Youth: Organic, Collaborative, and Throw-Away Media
Youth are approaching digital self-expression from a more organic, collaborative angle than previous generations. They jump right in when the creative urge strikes, collaborate with others, and publish an ongoing stream of momentary, mashed-up, disposable media. We discuss our research on youth and the future of creative products.

Child Labor: Building Community for Kids With Kids
A detailed case study with step by step processes of how to build a niche film community for kids with kids. Learn how this no name, low budget ($10k) idea got us Fortune 100 sponsors, thousands of kids and tangible Angel/VC development monies for the real community launch.

Connected Youth: Austin Public Library Teens Get Mobile
In 2009, the Austin Public Library’ Teen Services launched a new mobile technology initiative called Connected Youth. Along with the core ideal of bridging the digital divide, Connected Youth fosters creative collaboration in digital media, encourages mobility, and cultivates teen involvement at the library. We’ll cover origins, start-up, and direction.

Money for Millennials: Personal Finance for Web 2.0
A recent poll by the American Payroll Association said 70% of Americans today live paycheck-to-paycheck. For Americans under the age of 30, that number is even higher. For the Millennial, personal finance is a different animal in the Web 2.0 world. The panel will discuss how Millennials treat money different than any other generation alive today and how they look to manage their cash. Today’s young adult looks to the web to track their spending and savings. What are they using and what are their needs? How is technology helping them spend wisely and save more?

Monetizing Social Media in Action Sports
How to effectively monetize social media in extreme sports. Discover how to both engage with and monitor your brand across all social platforms.

Youth marketing/research

Teens, Tweens and Tech: Keeping up With the Jonases
With a portfolio chock full of digital campaigns geared towards teens and tweens, we’ve learned a thing or two about reaching this target audience online. Millennials will soon define your strategic marketing plans, if they haven’t already as future decision makers and purchasers. They expect, prefer and embrace Digital like no other generation has before.

Blogosphere Report: Gen Y Market Trends to Watch
Gen Y’s attitudes and product preferences can leave marketers scratching their heads, yet this demographic wields $150 billion in buying power and weighty peer influence. Learn through research findings what the candid social media conversations of Gen Y reveal about their underlying interests, behaviors and needs.

Categorized under: Web

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