One of the advantages of blogging is that you can make public service-type announcements without the nasal speaker voice. Of course, some folks have said I blog as if I speak with a nasal tone, so no change there! Anyhoo…

I just wanted to update you with a few little tidbits of information that you may (or may not) be interested in. So, feel free to class this post as useful, semi-useful, not really useful or useless – the choice, as always, is yours. So… off we go.

SxSW 2010 Panel Nomination

The South By South West festival (SxSW) in Austin, Texas, has undergone several changes over the years. Starting out as a music festival back in 1987, it added film and interactive elements to the line-up in 1994. The interactive aspect (SxSWi) has seen the annual event become one of the most influential for all things web, social media and more.

Next year could see yours truly speaking at SxSWi. Joined by Amy Sample Ward, Danielle Brigida, John Haydon, Rob Reed and Stacey Monk and hosted by Mark Lovett, we’ve suggested a panel to discuss the following question: Can Social Media Change Global Consciousness? While social media has been used for great individual causes, can it actually help effect a global and long-term change in mindset?

The suggestion has been accepted by the SxSWi planners and now it’s the voting period. This is where you can come in (if you wish).

Although you could say I’m biased, I think it could be a great panel with a very timely discussion. If you agree, and would like to find out more, you can pop over to the SxSWi Panel Picker page for our panel and offer it a thumbs up (although you do have to register to do so). Voting is open until September 4 – we’d love to see you there and your vote would mean a lot (if you like the idea).

Coming to a City Near You (Well, Maybe!)

Speaking of Stacey Monk and her Epic Change team, if you’re in Orlando, Florida on the weekend of September 5-6 (the day after SxSWi voting closes, ha!), maybe we can hang out for some beers on Saturday night?

I’ll be in Orlando to meet up with Stacey and Epic Change to discuss the 12for12k and Tweetsgiving collaboration this November. There are some very special plans taking shape to make this an amazing global event and that September weekend will see these plans start to take shape. So, if you’re in Orlando and want to hook up, leave a comment (or connect on Twitter if we aren’t already) – be great to chat and chill in the flesh, so to speak.

And that’s the end of the announcements – hope I didn’t bore you too much, and here’s to SxSWi and Orlando!

photo credit: huggingthecoast.com food blog