We love SXSW!

It’s time to vote for the South by Southwest sessions you want to see showcased in 2017. The massive, 10-day conference and festival is held each year in Austin, Texas. Last year, nearly 100,000 thought leaders and innovative companies attended SXSW, including the Bluetooth SIG. For 2017, we submitted four engaging sessions, each exploring a different avenue of how Bluetooth impacts our world. We are asking you to help us by casting your vote by Friday, 2 September.

To vote, simply log in to Panel Picker, and select the “thumbs up” option on the screen. If you have feedback on a session, you can leave a comment for us to see.

Our 2017 SXSW interactive sessions will feature insights from leading industry experts, like Dana Kunz of Avi-on Labs, Michael Wolf of NextMarket Insights, Emmanuel Azih of BeaconGrid, MIchele Skelding of Austin Chamber of Commerce, and more.

Vote, Vote, Vote!

Mesh Networking, Taking IoT Mainstream

Not only will mesh technology transform the way we interact with our devices, but how our devices interact with each other. Mesh will move us beyond the current siloed experiences of a phone connecting with a light bulb and then separately to a door lock. With mesh, we can flip a switch and turn off all the lights in a house, lock all the doors, and turn the temperature to any setting—regardless of who made the device. Mesh isn’t a new technology so why haven’t we seen its potential yet?

This session will dive into what it takes to make mesh possible, the challenges, and how mesh will deliver products and services to revolutionize smart home, smart cities, commercial, and industrial.Cast your vote today.

How to Save 911 and Build the City of the Future

The U.S. makes roughly 240 million 911 calls per year, but 911 call centers are underfunded and full of outdated technology. What many don’t realize, however, is that we already have an affordable solution: beacons. Panelists will look at the issue from a technology, implementation, and city management perspective.

This session will dive into scenarios where contextual awareness is crucial and discuss how beacons impact our lives. It also looks at the practical application of this technology now, and in the near future, when fully connected smart cities will create more effective tools for not only first responders, but public transportation, autonomous cars, and more. Cast your vote today.

Tech for Women Isn’t Pink Headphones

Building tech products and services for women and getting them to buy it goes beyond pink headphones and jewelry. Women, like any consumer, want effortless technology that brings real value to their work, their health, and their lives. And don’t forget, women drive about 80% of consumer purchasing—a huge market to target women buying for themselves, their friends, and their families currently untapped by tech.

This session will dive into the evolution of technology for women, the innovators behind it, the challenges and lessons learned of creating and launching these products and services, and what today’s market is looking for in the technology we bring into our lives. Cast your vote today.

Threading Fashion with Function for Athletes

Connected clothing is at a tipping point to drive true value for athletes and coaches alike. Factors like Bluetooth 5 enabling communication with multiple body sensor points and textile manufacturers specializing in connected designs are propelling the market forward. In this session, experts across textile design and manufacturing will join today’s leaders from Bluetooth and motion recognition software to talk trends in connected textiles, and factors that make it the time for connected clothing to take off. They will also discuss use cases, like analyzing the form of professional athletes, providing remote coaching, enabling telemedicine through physical therapy and more. Cast your vote today.

(Credit: Nanci Taplett)