Latina Lista to appear at SXSW — if there are enough votes

LatinaLista — If you think South by Southwest (SXSW) is just a compass direction then chances are you haven’t heard of the annual Austin event that seems to grow bigger every year and brings together some of the most imaginative, innovative visionaries in the country to discuss a whole host of issues related to film, music and technology.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to serve on two panels at the next SXSW conference to be held in March 2010. I agreed because I am curious enough to want to know what will result from each discussion.
The first panel is titled Is Technology the Great Equalizer?
I, along with, Kety Esquivel, Manuel Guzman, Dee Perez Scott and Amaury Nora will explore:

Is technology the great equalizer or is said meme disguising another truth? This panel will explore said question and reflect on the experience, perspective and vision of the panelists and the community who comes willing to grapple with the question and its relevance in our current digital world.

If that question wasn’t deep enough, the same group of us are willing to examine another issue — What is Possible?

New media is our new frontier. The possibilities for what we can create online are endless. As humans it is ultimately up to us what we decide to invent, imagine and make possible. This panel will explore the possibilities for innovation, collaboration and transformation that become possible through New Media

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For me, both panels have the potential to not only generate a good discussion but could possibly lead to real-world applications — that’s the most exciting part.
As I said, a lot of visionaries attend this event and some are people who can actually help take the abstract and turn it into concrete form.
Unfortunately, neither panel may get beyond the web page if they don’t garner enough votes. This is a competition where it’s not enough to have a good idea. The competition is fierce and people have to vote on whether or not they think your panel idea sounds interesting enough. Organizers do take the public’s votes into consideration when finalizing their picks.
So …if you’re so inclined, and have the patience to fill out the online registration form, to be able to vote for the two panels mentioned, and any other panels that catch your eye, my colleagues and I would greatly appreciate a vote of confidence.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t attend in person. Most panels are either tweeted, filmed or blogged and you can be sure that Latina Lista will keep you in the loop — starting with whether or not either panel earned enough votes to be included and Latina Lista will be visiting Austin come spring!
Gracias!