texas

Heading out to Austin for this year's SXSW extravaganza? Or you'll be in the neighbourhood? Interested in meeting startups from around the globe and spending time at Dell's HQ, then take a gander at this event our friends at Dell are putting together the day before SXSW kicks off.

Centered on their HQ campus at Round Rock a few miles from Austin, Dell are  hosting a full day Unconference March 8th, 2012 (the day before SXSW), on social and technology trends in small businesses- a fast-paced, intense and fun event environment that allows participants to control the agenda.

I'm pretty sure it happens earlier each year, but maybe it's age. Policemen are all looking younger, too. The annual 'vote for me' fest that is the SXSW Panelpicker has opened its doors.

This year sees over 80 panels submitted from this side of the Atlantic from organisations big and small including the BBC, Iris Worldwide, FutureGov, TechHub, BBC, PeerIndex, mydeco, Somethin' Else, Madgex, Clearleft, The Economist and heaps more.

Plans are afoot for next year's trip out to South by South West Interactive, and we hope, a Digital Mission that's even better than last year.

Due to factors beyond our control the details are still being confirmed but we wanted to make sure that this trip was on your radar as early as possible.

We're gathering expressions of interest from companies who would like to join the mission using this form, as it's likely to be a fairly quick turnaround when applications open.

The Digital Mission companies were taken on a tour of the Capital Building in Austin.

Although the state capital has moved over the course of its history, Austin has become it's resting place, nestled centrally in the state of Texas. It's quite an incredible building, steeped in History.

When you mention tech and the US most people's minds jump to the coasts, usually San Francisco and Los Angeles, or Boston and New York. It hasn't always been that way for tech, and it may not always be either, at least if the state and city folks here have their way.