SXSW Accelerator Announces Selection of the 2012 Judges Lineup and Event Emcees

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive today announced the first round of judges and event emcees for the 2012 SXSW Accelerator, presented by Microsoft BizSpark, premiere sponsor for the fourth year. As the marquee event of SXSW Interactive’s Startup Village, SXSW Accelerator will take place March 12–14 in front of a live audience, providing an outlet for finalist companies to demonstrate advancements in social media, mobile applications, web entertainment and news, health and music-related technologies to a judging panel of industry experts, early adopters and representatives from the venture capital community. In addition to Microsoft BizSpark, SXSW Accelerator categories are also sponsored by the following: HTC for the Mobile Technologies category, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the News category, Turner Broadcasting for the Innovative Web and Entertainment categories and VeriSign for the Social Media category. 

This year's event boasts a selection of emcees who encompass all aspects of the industry – from entrepreneurship to venture capital – including:

• Brad King, Ball State University
• Christine Herron, Intel Capital
• Jim Schachter, New York Times
• Lynn Luckow, Craigslist Foundation
• MC Hammer, WIREDoo
• Sean Moriarity, Triton Media
• Scott Weiss, Andreessen Horowitz
• Tim Draper, DFJ Mercury

Judges for the 2012 SXSW Accelerator include industry luminaries such as:

• Adam Koopersmith, Partner, New World Ventures
• Adam Ostrow, SVP Content & Executive Editor, Mashable
• Andrew McCollum, EIR at NEA and Flybridge Capital
• Andy Sack, Co-Founder, Lighter Capital
• Arun Rajan, Chief Technology Officer, Zappos.com, Inc.
• Ben Huh, CEO, Cheezeburger Network
• Benjamin Vedrenne-Cloquet, VP, Strategy and New Ventures, EMEA, Turner Broadcasting 
• Blair Garrou, Managing Director, DFJ Mercury
• Bob Metcalfe, Professor of Innovation, The University of Texas at Austin
• Brad Burnham, Partner, Union Square Ventures
• Charlie O'Donnell, Principal, First Round Capital
• Chris Shipley, CEO, Guidewire Group
• David Aronoff, General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners
• David Rose, CEO, Gust
• Doug Ulman, President & CEO, LiveStrong
• Dr. Geeta Nayyar, Chief Medical Information Officer, AT&T
• Ellen Miller, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation
• Erick Schonfeld, Editor, TechCrunch
• Frank Moss, Co-Founder & Director, Bluefin, Labs, Inc.
• Hany Nada, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, GGV Capital
• Ian Rogers, CEO, Topspin
• Isaac Ciechanover, Investing Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Jed Carlson, Co-Founder, RevebNation
• John Malloy, General Partner, BlueRun Ventures
• Kraig Swensrud, CMO, Salesforce.com
• Kristen Hersh, Artist, Co-Founder, Cash Music
• Larry Marcus, Managing Director, Walden Venture Capital
• Laura Kilcrease, Founder & Managing Director, Triton Ventures, LLC
• Maria Thomas, Axios Ventures
• Mark Hindsbo, Vice President, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft
• Matt Marshall, Founder, CEO & Editor, VentureBeat
• Michael Franti, Artist, Michael Franti and Spearhead
• Oren Michels, CEO, Mashery
• Paige Craig, CEO, BetterWorks
• Rebecca Lynn, Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures
• Rich Barton, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Zillow Business
• Richard  MacManus, Founder and CEO, ReadWriteWeb
• Steve Downs, Chief Technology & Information Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Tim O'Reilly, Founder, O'Reilly Media
• Tom Ball, Partner, Austin Ventures
• Tom Conrad, Chief Technology Officer & EVP of Product, Pandora
• Tony Conrad, CEO, about.me; Venture Partner, True Ventures;  CEO, Sphere
• Wesley Chan, Partner, Google Ventures

"We are thrilled to again bring a stellar mix of industry leaders, venture capitalists and media to serve as the judging panel for the fourth annual SXSW Accelerator competition," said Chris Valentine, SXSW Startup Village Coordinator. "The continued high quality of both the SXSW Accelerator presenters and judges is a testament to the impact of SXSW Accelerator and its value for startups and their respective industries."

To request press credentials for SXSW Interactive, please visit: http://www.sxsw.com/press.

About SXSW Interactive

The 19th annual SXSW Interactive Festival will take place March 9-13, 2012 in Austin, Texas. An incubator of cutting-edge technologies, the event features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas. From hands-on training to big-picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to experience a preview of what is unfolding in the world of technology. Join us March 2012 for the panels, the parties, the 15th Annual Interactive Awards, Startup Village, ScreenBurn at SXSW, the SXSW Trade Show and, of course, the inspirational experience that only SXSW can deliver. SXSW Interactive 2012 is sponsored by Miller Lite, Chevrolet, IFC, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Monster Energy, Samsung, Freecreditscore.com, Microsoft, Isis and The Austin Chronicle.
 

For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/interactive.

Kelly Krause
SXSW Interactive
[email protected]

SOURCE SXSW Interactive