What's it like being a SXSW Panel Liaison?

This year will be the first year that I am not volunteering as a crew chief for SXSW. Hard to believe, but making a transition to a new crew last year at the same time I was dealing with a major illness in my family left me wanting to try something new and more fulfilling this year.

I didn't have to look far - SXSW Interactive started a Panel Liaison program for 2009, and so I signed up to be a liaison for moderators for several panels. Duties for a panel liaison involve communicating with the moderators on at least a monthly basis, starting as soon as panels are announced in October. The goal of the program is to ensure that panels are dynamic, diverse, and successful.

It has been a great experience, as I was assigned to the accessibility category and have helped some of the most respected people in their sectors.

Be sure to check out:
Saturday March 14th 10am-11am Making Web Widgets Accessible: Tools and Techniques Michael Cooper of the W3C
Sunday March 15th 10 am-11 am Accessible Flash and Flex Applications Andrew Kirkpatrick from Adobe
Sunday March 15th 11:30 am-12:30 pm AJAX Accessibility: An ARIA Duet Becky Gibson of IBM and Sharron Rush (Executive Director and Founder of Knowbility)