Handicapping the SXSWi Food-Related Panels

Daniel Shemtob and the Lime Truck team, winners of the second season of the Great Food Truck Race. (by Text 100)

Each year, the number of food-related panels at SXSW Interactive grows, with subtle shifts in scope and dimension. Recent years have seen conversations about building community through websites like Yelp, vegan activism on the Internet, and so on.

This year sees an extended emphasis on social media (which also comes in handy when sourcing free eats during SXSW; you should definitely be following @SouthByFreeNOMS) when it comes to food and the interactive sphere. Here’s a handy guide to the food-lover’s SXSW Interactive.

Friday
My Robotic Kitchen Planned This Dinner Party: How does technology make cooking at home idiot proof?

Seafood Watch vs. Yelp: Future of Social Food: Imagines a world in which we can use the internet and social media to make better food choices in the interest of the global food system.

Saturday
Top Chef: How Transmedia is Changing TV: Andy Cohen and Tom Colicchio talk about how Bravo turned Top Chef: Texas a narrative spanning several media platforms.

Meat Is Might: Epic Meal Time Rules the Web: Boys will be boys and then make a “cooking” show about it, it will go viral, and then they will talk about it at SXSW Interactive.

Sunday
Food Trucks Share Social Media Tips: Twitter and Facebook are a huge boon to food trucks, whether they have a permanent location or are on the move. Three participants in the Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race will discuss how they used social media platforms like Twitter to attempt to gain advantage over their competitors.

The Rise of Brooklyn Food Scene: Everyone in Brooklyn is better than you.

Better Food Through Open Data Standards: Maybe more for information architects than for foodies.

Tuesday
Digital Debauchery with Anthony Bourdain: Probably the sexiest of the food-related panels, the Travel Channel’s chef-raconteur discusses how he uses social media to provide an uncensored, behind-the-scenes version of what viewers are seeing on No Reservations.

Other food-related SXSW events: Eating Alabama (Film), a documentary about a couple who document their attempts to live off the land; Snacky Tunes: Food, Music, & Internet Radio (Music), a conversation with Darin and Greg Bresnitz, the hosts of the internet radio show “Snacky Tunes.” Also features Top Chef All Stars winner Richard Blais.