Don’t forget to consider voting for my session at SXSW, “Brand Ambassadors: Pure Genius or Risky Business.” Click here to vote. 

Took a look at your Twitter stream lately? Just do a nice little search on the #SXSW hash tag on Twitter and you’ll see what I mean. It’s SXSW Panel Picker voting time. Every year thousands of sessions are submitted for SXSW and session panelists, speakers and organizers crowdsource for votes. Which sessions make the cut is determined by three different groups:

• You. The crowdsourced community accounts for 30% of the overall selection. You can vote for sessions through 11:59 PM CST on September 6, 2013. 

• SXSW Staff. Employees of SXSW have a say in which session make the final cut in the 2014 Interactive Media conference and account for 30%. Might I suggest connecting with them on LinkedIn or sending them flowers? Anything for a leg up on the voting, right?

• SXSW Advisory Board. A group of individuals are part of the advisory board and their opinions and votes account for 40%. It’s a lot of work to figure out who is on the advisory board and making them understand how HR and recruiting’s role is important at SXSW. Or you could just submit a killer panel that has great information and fits the ideal attendee of SXSW.

This year there are more HR, workplace and recruiting sessions submitted than ever improving our industry’s chances of increasing our visibility at such a large event like SXSW which had over 35,000 attendees where we can discuss topics such as HR Technology, social recruiting and our growing importance in big data and human capital workplace decisions. It’s the reason I’ve said since 2009, that HR should really be HERE at SXSW.

8 Panel Picker Sessions I’m Voting for #SXSW 2014

And now for the top sessions I’m voting for at SXSW.

• Big Data Meets Recruiting. Finding Talent.  HR knows data from sourcing to employee records and evaluating business trends along side employee productivity, data and it’s correlations are the key in HR and recruiters getting the attention of their senior business leaders. This session is led by Jon Bischke of Entelo, Carl Tsukahara of Evolv, Lisa Kostova Ogata of Bright and Jenny DeVaughn of Randstad Sourceright. Vote HERE. 

• Imperfect Marketing: Why Msitakes are Startup Gold. Mike Carden shares his HR technology success story of Sonar6 and how their unique marketing tactics led to a successful acquisition by Cornerstone on Demand. Vote HERE. 

• You Suck at Social Recruiting. Fix It. Adding the word suck into any SXSW panel pitch is sure to gain some attention. Austin, Texas natives, Will Staney of SuccessFactors and Bryan Chaney of Talent Brand are going to set attendees straight on how recruiting using social media actually works. Vote HERE. 

• Diversity in the Tech Workforce. I think that diversity in the workforce is something most everyone can get behind regardless of if it’s diversity of thought, experiences, sex or the color of our skin. This session led by Ryan Seashore of Code Now focuses on growing diversity in technology and coding. Vote HERE. 

• Leaning In or Falling Over. How to Find Your Lean. Led by Tory Johnson discussing how to hire effectively and get the best out of your workforce, this panel will certainly be interesting especially given all the stories I’ve seen in the media about leaning in and opting out when it comes to families, careers and women. Vote HERE. 

• What the Fuck Do Recruiters Know? Recruiting often times gets a bad rap. The writers of the Fistful of Talent blog are going to set the record straight FOT style. I’ll be attending this one and bringing my booze with me. I’m guaranteed to be entertained.  Vote HERE. 

• Job Search Tips for Geek and Hipsters. This session led by some of the most connected HR and Recruiting professionals, Stacey Zapar and Sarah White are sure to provide insights into passive and active job seekers who are attending SXSW especially with the popular career fair that is held in conjunction but not affiliated with SXSW. Vote HERE. 

And finally. . .

• Brand Ambassadors: Risky Business or Pure Genius? A SXSW panel moderated by me with a great group of individuals including Lars Schmidt of NPR, Tim McDonald of Huffington Post and Mark Babbitt of YouTern. We’ll discuss how brand ambassadors can be used at work to promote your company and enhance as well as hurt as a result of social media whether you are selling a product, service or hiring. I’ve also made promises of tequila Vote HERE. 
  

What session are you most excited about? Leave a comment and pimp your panel below. . .