The 'Interactive' part of the annual South by South West conference in Austin, Texas kicks off this Friday.
Known as SXSWi, and running through until Tuesday 16 March, the event brings together web designers, developers, content creators and more, to share ideas, network, announce new products and services, and then hang out in the evenings over barbeque and beer.
The conference features around 200 panels and evening events covering subjects such as social media, interface design, real-time web and much more. The evenings see parties such as the Bigg Digg Shindigg, events hosted by Microsoft, Mozilla and Mashable, and a tonne of film showings, since the SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs at the same time.
TechRadar will be reporting from SXSWi, bringing you the latest news, and in-depth interviews with the web's biggest players.
Here are some of the events to get excited about, but there are many more. The full schedule is on the SXSWi site.
Friday 12 March
The UX of Mobile – 2pm
This panel examines design principles for the creation of apps for iPhone, Android, and mobile websites.
Long Distance UX – 3:30pm
Alex Cook and Lisa Camm from Google explain how Google works with teams split across multiple locations.
Securing Web Behemoths – 5pm
Security engineers from Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter talk about the challenge of securing web apps.
Saturday 13 March
Can the Real-Time Web be Realised? – 11am
A panel including spokespeople from Microsoft, Google and ReadWriteWeb discuss what is needed to make the real-time web achievable.
iPad: New Opportunities for Content Creators – 11am
Experts in the interactive, book publishing, magazine, and videogaming industries talk about the impact of the iPad in regards to design and distribution of content.
Is WordPress Killing Web Design? - 3:30pm
Join magneticNorth's Brendan Dawes, Shane Mielke of 2Advanced Studios and others for a lively discussion hosted by our colleagues on .net magazine.
Mozilla party - 6pm
Mozilla is getting some attendee love this year – the Mozilla happy hour, which kicks off at 6pm at Cedar Door, is limited to the first 250 guests, and over 5,000 people have confirmed their attendance on the Facebook group.
Bigg Digg Shindigg – 7pm
Free to attend (you don't even need a SXSW badge), which means it'll be packed, so get to Stubbs BBQ early and expect to queue. Hosted by Digg and Revision 3.
Sun 14 March
Trials and Tribulations of the Pirate Bay – 12:30pm
The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde reflects on the Pirate Bay's recent trial, its $7.8 million acquisition and looks to the future of peer to peer.
Gmail: Behind the Scenes – 5pm
Gmail engineers, user experience designers and product managers talk about how they work together and how they see online communication evolving.
Mashable's MashBash – 10pm
Mashable, Cliqset and Sony host the second MashBash SXSWi.
Mon 15 March
Evan Williams Keynote Interview – 2pm
Hear from Evan Williams, co-founder of Pyra Labs (creator of Blogger) and web 2.0 darlings Twitter. Follow the hashtag #evwilliams if you want to join in remotely.
Android: What We've Learned About Mobile in the Last Two Months – 3:30pm
In January 2010, Google launched the Nexus One in the US. This phone marked the first time Google had started selling its own consumer electronics. Senior Product Manager Erick Tseng talks about what Google has learned from the experience.
UPDATE: We have been informed that this panel has been cancelled.
Tues 16 March
Is Canvas the End of Flash? – 12:30pm
HTML5 Canvas-based graphics, animation and interaction have some people claiming that it's a Flash killer. But is it really? Panel members include spokespeople from Palm and Adobe. We can pretty much guess what Adobe's response will be…
Daniel Ek Keynote Interview – 2pm
Now why would 26-year-old CEO and co-founder of online music service Spotify be in the US? Could it be that Spotify is announcing its US launch at this very time? Ek has previously said that a US launch is on the cards: "A Spotify launch in the US is absolutely part of our plans," Ek told TechRadar in February 2009.
SXSW Interactive Closing Party – 8pm
After a busy week, we'll be heading over to The Mohawk for the official closing party.
