Order soon for cheaper prices
The high price of staying connected: Ticket prices up for SXSW Interactive 2012
SXSW 2012 Interactive Keynote Speaker Baratunde Thurston
Big news from SXSW, some great and some... not-so-great for your wallet.
Registration is now open for the entire 2012 Conference that consumes Austin and the attention of much of the rest of the nation. A Platinum badge now costs $995 and provides free access to all the festival's events: Film, Music and Interactive panels, Awards and Pre-parties, Screen Burn Arcade and Expos.
This year's Interctive badge now costs the same as a Music badge at a hefty $595. While this is the same price as last year for Music, it's a 30 percent increase for Interactive. This is surely due to the overwhelming growth of this portion of SXSW. Perhaps this will keep the numbers down? But most likely, folks will still keep paying the steeper price.
Film badges increased by only $20 from last year, resting at a comfortable $395. All of these prices are determinant upon ordering them in September. As the months tick by, prices steadily increase.
If you were quick on your feet, one way to bypass the cost of a badge would have been to become a panelist yourself. The 2012 PanelPicker website accepted submissions for potential panels through yesterday. Accepted panelists receive complimentary badges to the Festival. Just make sure you're ready to hang with the big dogs in your field: The number of submissions are expected to double this year from last year.
Then, starting Aug. 15, SXSW will open up PanelPicker to community voting and dialogue to help narrow down which panels will be accepted. You'll be able to weigh in on which panels you want to see at SXSW 2012 until Sept. 2.
SXSW Interactive announced last week that The Onion's Digital Director Baratunde Thurston will be the opening keynote speaker for the 2012 Interactive Festival. Thurston is the co-founder of the black political blog Jack & Jill Politics, a cable news correspondent, a comedian and the author of the upcoming book How To Be Black. His keynote address will occur March 10 at 2 p.m.
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SXSW 2012 Schedule:
Interactive: March 9–13
Film: March 9–17
Music: March 13–18
