It’s finally here: the South by Southwest Interactive Awards will be handed out in Austin tonight to wrap up the Interactive portion of the festival. For the past six weeks or so, I’ve been making my way through the list of SXSW Interactive Award finalists, writing about a few of the finalists from each category. In truth, they’re all doing really interesting things and I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t suggest that you take a look at that list on your own and check out all of the SXSWi nominees. Presented here is the full list of finalists (see the SXSW site for additional category details) with my picks for tonight’s winners. Feel free to add your input.
Activism
- BOVAP
- I Voted
- Pencils of Promise
- The Tiziano Project
- Vital Voices
Lots of great sites and tools to promote and inspire activism here, but my pick is Pencils of Promise. It’s such an inspiring back story and it continues to promote and provide education for children who might not otherwise receive it.
Amusement
- Breaking Bad: The Interrogation Interactive Graphic Novel
- The Curfew
- The Dashboard
- Fantasy Enhancer Website
- Most Awesomest Thing Ever
Despite personal interests, I’d have to admit that everything on this list is pretty engaging. I’m somewhat torn in this category, so I’ll say that it’s between Breaking Bad: The Interrogation Interactive Graphic Novel and The Curfew.
Art
- Born Presents: 417 • 903
- The Johnny Cash Project
- Mural Explorer
- The Photography of Rama Tiru
- This Land
For this one, I’m sticking with Born Presents: 417 • 903 – although it is very closely followed by the Mural Explorer, which allows you to explore Philadelphia’s murals and their histories like a field trip from your computer.
Business
- 9Threads ‘Big Canvas Idea’
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama – Be You
- Diesel SS10 – A Hundred Lovers
- Get Satisfaction Overhaul
- Red Tiki
My pick is with 9Threads because there are technically two ways they can be a winner here: they can win with their ‘Big Canvas Idea’ (which I think will be it, ultimately), or through their involvement with Diesel.
Classic
- Groupon
- Mint.com
- New Zealand International Arts Festival
- The Onion
- PBS KIDS Video Player
It occurs to me that there are a lot of tough calls when making SXSWi picks. This category is stacked with potential winners, too. They’re all really impressive. My first inclination is to go with Groupon, but then I wonder if its bad press after the Super Bowl will have any impact. I’d like to see PBS KIDS Video Player awarded, but ultimately my pick is… The Onion.
Community
- Acts of Sharing
- Foodspotting
- iFixit
- SnapGoods
- Your Garden Show
iFixit has built a clearly successful community to share information in order to save money and the planet. That’s my pick.
Educational Resource
- Freedom Riders
- Gibson Learn & Master Guitar App
- LRCP Virtual Orientation
- Rosetta Stone Version 4 TOTALe
- US Census
ResIM’s LRCP Virtual Orientation still blows me away. Imagine how many fears it’s eased by thoroughly educating patients. It is, at least in my mind, the clear winner.
Experimental
- Isle of Tune
- Look to the Moon
- Memolane
- Robyn/Killing Me
- X
My pick is Memolane, which just went live last week. Very cool way to use social media and relive memories.
Film/TV
- Attraction
- The Autotopsy
- Collapsus: The Energy Risk Conspiracy
- The Social Network
- Storming Juno Interactives
I think it’s safe to say that this is The Social Network‘s time. (Although The Autotopsy is my next choice, should that somehow fall through.)
Kiosk/Installation
- Dexter ARG Kill Room
- The Dream Cube
- talk@TED
- Teradata Partners “At the Moment”
- Unilever – Smile Activated Vending Machine
My pick is with talk@TED, which, assisted by GE, allowed participants at TED 2010 to visit a kiosk and record their ideas or build upon others’, both at the conference and across the Web.
Mobile
- Airbnb iPhone App
- AmpKit
- Conspiracy for Good
- Pageonce Bills
- VIV Mag’s Interactive Motion Feature
I’m going with the Peavey AmpKit on this one. Very well-developed app that’s used by guitar players of all ranges of ability.
Motion Graphics
- Animism: The Gods’ Lake
- BioShock 2
- The Fugitive Chronicles – Takeover
- Record Tripping
- The Test Tube
My gut instinct says BioShock 2.
Music
- The Grammys: MusicIsLifeIsMusic
- Jay-Z Hits Collection
- John Lewis Harmony
- Sleepeater
- The Wilderness Downtown
I really like The Grammys: MusicIsLifeIsMusic for this one, although in a category as broad as Music, it’s hard to say.
Personal
- Cuteness Pet of the Day Blog
- Jen.Lu v2
- JKVC Interactive & Print Design
- Marcelo Trevino 2010
- Mia Sable Official Website
These are all pretty impressive for personal sites, but my pick is JKVC Interactive & Print Design.
Social Media
- Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco
- Google Chrome Fastball
- Pepsi Refresh Project
- SOUR ‘Mirror’
- Stanfield’s Guy at Home in His Underwear
This is another tough call for me. I think my number one pick is Pepsi Refresh Project. After that I’d go with either Team Coco or Guy at Home in His Underwear. Social Media is a pretty tough category to peg because there are so many great examples of it, including all of the ones in this category.
Student
- FeedSpeaker
- Judy Campa – Portfolio Website
- Now What, Argentina?
- Project GuitARS
- Reesenews
I like Reesenews for this one, followed closely by FeedSpeaker.
Technical Achievement
- Airwalk
- AP Timeline Reader
- Mobicopter
- Top Secret America
- VoxPop
I’m going AP Timeline Reader all the way.
_______________________
These, of course, are just my picks based on what I’ve seen of the finalists. Maybe you agree or maybe you totally disagree, and maybe I’ll have picked well, and maybe not. We’ll find out tonight! The ceremony gets under way at about 7 p.m. Central and will be emceed by comedian Chris Hardwick.
