A lot of Chicago tech companies are making an appearance at SXSW this year. In addition to the city’s finalists at the SXSW Accelerator pitch competition and BLUE1647 founder Emile Cambry’s reception of the conference’s annual community service award, representatives from over a dozen Chicago companies are appearing on panels throughout the week.
In order to help you navigate the scene, here’s a list of where and when to check out your fellow Chicagoans’ at this year’s conference.
The SXSW Accelerator pitch competition
On Saturday and Sunday March 12–13, three Chicago startups will be pitching their ideas to expert panels in hopes of becoming part of the SXSW Accelerator program.
The contest will be taking place at the Hilton Austin Downtown, and the categories in which Chicago companies are participating start pitching at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
— Entertainment and content technologies
Co-founded by WBEZ Curious City creator Jennifer Brandel, Hearken is a platform that helps newsrooms connect with their audiences through community-driven journalism.
Despite incredible advances in sensor and tracking technologies, many shipping companies still operate with incredibly inefficient supply chains. project44’s software helps companies discover these inefficiencies and fix them.
— Enterprise and smart data
Parknav provides real-time suggestions for drivers looking for open street parking. These predictions are made possible by a predictive algorithm that constantly learns from its users’ parking experiences.
In addition to these finalists,
— a Chicago nonprofit that provides financial education for urban 11th- and 12th-graders — was selected as an alternate. They’ll be competing in the One-Minute Speed Pitch at the Accelerator Awards Ceremony on Sunday March 13 at 7 p.m.
For more info on the pitch competition, see the SXSW Accelerator information page.
Awards
founder Emile Cambry, Jr. will be a recipient of the Dewey Winburne Community Service Award. That ceremony will take place on Sunday March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the JW Marriott in meeting rooms 201/202. For more info, see here.
Workshops and panels
Friday March 11
Big Data and AI: Sci-Fi vs Everyday Applications
Kris Hammond,
11 a.m. @ Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater
Saturday March 12
Yes, Designer, You CAN Be a Product Leader
Shay Howe,
9:30 a.m. @ JW Marriott — Salon 6
Search Camp: Converting SEO into ROI
Andy Crestodina,
9:30 a.m. @ Hilton Austin Downtown — Room 616AB
Can Incubators Make Universities Relevant Again?
Mike McGee,
12:30 p.m. @ JW Marriott — Salon 7
Everything you think about A/B testing is wrong
Dan Chuparkoff,
3:30 p.m. @ Hilton Austin Downtown — Salon G
The Automated Future of Sports Analysis
Darryl Lewis,
3:30 p.m. @ Four Seasons — Ballroom CD
Sunday March 13
Wrist UX: What Works in Smartwatch Apps?
Christian Nam & Jen Quinlan,
11 a.m. @ JW Mariott — Salon D
Everything on Demand
Dan Roarty,
3:30 p.m. @ Hilton Austin Downtown — Room 408
Finding a Job in an Automated Future
Gabe Greenbaum,
5 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 6AB
Monday March 14
Ignite SXSW: Lie/Cheat/Steal
Mike McAvoy,
11 a.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 10AB
What you can learn from data science in politics
Dan Wagner,
12:30 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 9ABC
Tuesday March 15
SXgood Lab: Redesigning Media
Jennifer Brandel,
3:45 p.m. @ Palm Door on Sixth
Wednesday March 16
Engaging Fan Communities Using Data
Tom Giles,
2 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 10A
Pop Music Production
Mark Rose, Downwrite
3:30 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Artist Central in Ballroom E
Thursday March 17
NOFX: 30 Years of F-ckin’ Up
Kyle Ryan,
3:30 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 12AB
Saturday March 19
When the World Becomes a Gaming Platform
Mark Ladd,
2 p.m. @ Austin Convention Center — Room 5ABC
Exhibitions
A couple of Chicago companies also have exhibitions at SXSW.
lib*interactive: Stand 438 — lib*interactive is a group of passionate librarians that attends SXSW to gain inspiration to bring their industry forward and show off libraries’ potential as spaces for connectivity and innovation.
Images via Shutterstock and SXSW.
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