For those who may not be “in the know,” South by Southwest (fondly known as SXSW) is coming up later this week in Austin, kicking off on March 12. There are three unique segments to this yearly event, broken up into the interactive, film and music portions. If my bank account was a bit more robust at the present time, I’d be attending both the interactive and music portions, but alas, I will only be attending the interactive portion, which in itself will be chock-full of valuable insights. There’s always next year to befriend Thom Yorke…if the rumor mill is true.

Techies covet this event, and often treat it as a yearly pilgrimage to feed their scientific souls. I however, will be approaching the event with a focused eye on social media and small business. It’s my goal to glean as much as I possibly can, so I can return to breathe new and improved nuggets of genius into this blog. Our goal after all is to create a reliable resource for those of you operating businesses on the front lines. Consider me your conduit to the brilliance that is bound to emerge from a long weekend of seminars, workshops and keynotes with the online world’s elite.

Being an interactive event, I’ve had the agony pleasure of sifting through five days of events running from 9 a.m. to midnight, and I think I’ve successfully whittled my schedule down to a good mix of sessions and interactive panels.

I wanted to take a few moments before I go about over-packing my bags to review some of the sessions I’m anticipating the most:

Social Media Marketing for Your Business with Tony Adam and Chris Winfield. Now that many small business owners are immersed in the basics of social media, perhaps it’s time to graduate to a more advanced, strategic approach. This seminar proposes to help attendees do just that.

Customer Service Goes Social with Melanie Baker. A recent study just revealed that social media adoption by U.S. small businesses has doubled since 2009. Given that compelling statistic, it’s clear that more and more businesses are engaging with customers online. Moreover, customer service via social media is changing the way businesses relate to their customers and vice versa. I’m very excited to sit in on this one and hope to bring some key insights back to this blog.

Video Search Optimization Strategies to Grow Your Business with Bill Leake. It’s no secret that Google loves blogs and multimedia. In fact, you’ve probably noticed more and more relevant videos popping up in the top of your search engines, right? This is one area that is growing rapidly for both B2C and B2B businesses. This will only increase moving forward so it’s worth keeping an eye on this emerging practice.

Marketing: Unmasked: Insider’s Tips + Tricks for Success in Small Business Marketing with Stephanie Frost and Erik Wolf. This discussion is based on a book written by the discussion hosts. It delves into all things small business, and will likely provide an overview of the topics touched on inside of the book including small business marketing, social media, SEO, branding, advertising and more.

How to Unplan Your Business Idea with David Sloly and Ian Sanders. I suppose this one stuck out to me because the notion the title suggests is so opposite of what we’ve been taught and practiced throughout the years. Clearly these guys know how to grab attention with a sensationalized title. Consider me curious…

So, for those of you who can’t make it this year, are there any questions you’d like me to ask on your behalf? I’d be happy to investigate some of the topics you’re most interested in and report back here. Also, be sure to follow the Newtek crew on Twitter during the Interactive conference at #NewtSXSW.

Tags: Austin, B2B marketing, B2C marketing, Bill Leake, Chris Winfield, customer service, David Sloly, Erik Wolf, growing your business, Ian Sanders, interactive, Melanie Baker, Small Business, small business growth, small business tips, Social Media, South By Southwest, Stephanie Frost, SXSW, Tony Adams