SXSWIt’s that time of year again for the big South by Southwest (SXSW to its friends) tech and entertainment event in Austin, Texas — and VentureBeat has planned ahead to cover it all.

SXSW is a monster. Some 20,000 attendees run around downtown, creating a bunch of noise. But amid the cacophony, there’s some really cool stuff, and it’s our job to unearth it for you.

Here’s what else we’ve got planned:

  • This year, we’ll also be co-hosting our own lounge at SXSW at the Hilton in downtown Austin, and we hope you’ll drop by. From Friday, March 9 to Tuesday, March 13, we’re inviting developers, techies, entrepreneurs, and VCs to relax, recharge, drink, and grub with us and Alcatel-Lucent’s NG Connect team. Along with IDA Singapore — a program that cultivates the IT industry in Singapore, making it the premiere launchpad to Asian markets — we’ll be conducting a series of interviews with hot startups live in the lounge. Our friends at Flurry will also have an area in the lounge. Stay tuned for announcements about what they have planned.
  • Matt Marshall will also be meeting with companies as part of our global effort to invite the best to launch their products at DEMO in April. Together with a few partners at Austin Ventures, he’ll providing feedback on their product, go-to-market strategy, business model, or technology. If you’re an entrepreneur building the next big disruptive tech company, join us on March 11 from 9:30am until 1:30pm at the Hilton (Room 415A) for a private feedback session with some of the top tech mentors in town. You can apply here.

Stay tuned for more announcements surrounding SXSW.

Image via SXSW

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