A field guide on how to survive the SXSW PanelPicker from Amanda Drum, VP of Press Kitchen.
Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash
Congratulations: you submitted your SXSW panel proposal on time. As much as you might want to dust off your hands and consider it done, the real work begins now. Or, more specifically, on August 5, 2026.
The next phase of selection is called PanelPicker, and if you’re a first-timer, you might not have noticed that the name begets the process: future attendees and involved denizens of the internet pick their panels at SXSW. According to the organizers, public voting counts for 30% of the final selection process. The rest of the decision comes from the Advisory Board (40%) and SXSW staff review (30%).
Almost ⅓ of the entire vote is certainly nothing to ignore. Public voting runs from August 5-23, 2026, and it’s up to submitters to make the most of that time to fight through the noise and persuade as many voters as possible to “click here” and vote for your panel.
Read on for our best practices for maximizing SXSW PanelPicker, as well as some temptations to avoid:
Over-Prepare and Avoid Panic
The most acceptable and rule-abiding ways to appeal to the voting public include: heartfelt outreach to your company teams, polite requests to the speakers included in your submission to do the same, and lastly, an earned (not paid or boosted) social media campaign.
However, it’s on the submitter to do the legwork and send panelists the materials they need to post, and when. Speakers shouldn’t do the heavy lifting; by participating at all, they’re doing you, the curator, a favor.
Before this Wednesday, August 5, make sure you have:
- Multiple posts’ worth of social media copy for multiple platforms: Instagram and LinkedIn definitely, X and Facebook potentially, depending on your panelists and their audiences
- Versions of posts for day one voting, last-day voting, and everything in between; see below for more
- Graphics and headshots for speakers and partner organizations: one panel graphic for everyone to use should suffice (which Canva hosts templates for in spades)
- Email copy that each speaker can personalize
- Your direct PanelPicker link and simple voting instructions
Make Voting Friction-Free
The hurdle: every voter has to sign up to SXSW with a free account to vote. Warn participants ahead of time to minimize them clicking off.
Every email and social media post should include:
- A direct link to your PanelPicker proposal: If you can’t find the email, you can look these up in the PanelPicker index
- Instructions on how to create (or log into) a free SXSW account
- A reminder to click the heart icon
- An invitation to leave a thoughtful comment if they have something meaningful to add; this is the unsung hero of voting impact
Keep It Up!
You posted on August 5 as told, and everyone loves it. Yay. Now do it again. At least 3-4 times throughout the voting period.
Busy people can be forgetful, or, more often than not, procrastinators. Work comes first, which means votes might come on August 23. Don’t lay off the gas for 15 days; prepare social media posts and reminder emails to fill August 5, at least two weekdays before August 23, and August 23.
That said, don’t post too many reminders; annoyed people won’t vote. We recommend 1-2 posts between a first and last-day post, but no more than that. Emails should be even less frequent: a day-one email, one follow-up, and a last-day, brief email.
Finally, thank the voters frequently and profusely. They don’t owe you their vote, which means every heart and note comes from their own interest in seeing you succeed. Embrace their assistance in any form!
Understandably, SXSW wants to ensure their panels pique audience interest, which means unjustly solicited votes—paid votes, primarily, or votes acquired through paid means, like advertisements—are both disingenuous and could risk your panel being disqualified completely. Stick to your own hard work and futuristic ideas.
Treat voting like the last mini-marathon before the long wait begins, but spend the time enjoying it, too. Connect with the panelists you assembled, help them get to know each other if they don’t already, and build camaraderie while you still can. If your panel is ultimately not accepted, at least you and the panelists can walk away with new connections and ideas, and maybe a fresh plan for next year. Good luck!