March 11th, 2011

CNN Reveals What’s Next at South by Southwest

CNN is descending on Austin, Texas to cover all angles of The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals, live from Max’s Wine Dive, which will assume the persona of the CNN Grill from March 12 through 17. Situated just steps from the Austin Convention Center, the CNN Grill is a broadcast center bringing select SXSW attendees, newsmakers and members of the media together to participate in live CNN reports and enjoy special musical performances.

At the Grill, CNN is hosting a series of showcase interviews and panels featuring luminaries across interactive, film and music industries, which will be live streamed on CNN.com, as well as via the CNN Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch, iPad and Android tablet. The lineup includes Chief Technology Officer of the United States Aneesh Chopra; actors Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson; and explorer and CEO of EarthEcho International Philippe Cousteau; among other surprise guests. On Saturday, March 12, at 6p CT, CNN is hosting the panel “Beyond Facebook: The Future of Alternative Social Networks.” Moderated by Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore, the panel will feature the founders of emerging social media tools such as Path, Loopt, Foodspotting and PicPlz.

Throughout the week, guests at the CNN Grill also can enjoy live entertainment by several bands and musical acts, including Augustana, The Back Pockets, Brett Dennen, The Bridges, The Civil Wars, Death on Two Wheels, Family of the Year, Gold Motel, Granville Automatic, Kevin Devine, Lauren St. Jane, Locksley, Lovett, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Miguel, Miniature Tigers, Ponderosa, Stephen Kellogg and Tyler Lyle. For information about specific performance days and times, go to http://on.cnn.com/ggsEiz.

On CNN.com’s newly launched What’s Next blog, users can get ahead of the cultural curve with wall-to-wall coverage of emerging artists, chefs, filmmakers, musicians and tech visionaries at the festival. Available at www.cnn.com/whatsnext, the blog will feature posts, images, video, iReports and real-time tweets on everything from keynotes and concerts to film premieres and celebrity interviews. Additionally, CNNMoney.com and the site’s anchor Poppy Harlow will cover the hottest startups getting funded and interview top tech newsmakers making waves at SXSW. CNNMoney’s complete SXSW coverage can be found at www.cnnmoney.com/sxsw.

On television, Harlow, CNN’s Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon, and chief business correspondent and anchor of CNN Newsroom Ali Velshi will provide live reports from Austin for CNN/U.S. and CNN International.

CNN will also make several announcements from the Grill during SXSW, which will be streamed live on CNN.com and CNN’s mobile apps. On Monday, March 14, at 6p CT, CNN Digital SVP and general manager KC Estenson will deliver an address about the state of the online news industry, and reveal what’s next for CNN Digital. At 1p CT on Tuesday, March 15, CNN.com participation director Lila King will announce the winners of the inaugural CNN iReport Awards.
CNN also has teamed up with Facebook as part of the platform’s Facebook Live interview sessions at SXSW. On the afternoon of March 15, Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg will moderate a discussion with some of the biggest names in social good in front of a live ticketed audience at the CNN Grill. The panel will take questions from people in the audience as well as those watching online at Facebook Live. Online users also can watch the discussion live on CNN.com and via CNN’s mobile apps.

For the latest about what’s happening at the CNN Grill and SXSW, visit the SXSW category on the CNN Pressroom at http://on.cnn.com/i9UC0R, and follow @cnnsxsw on Twitter.

Contacts:
April Andrews           april.andrews@cnn.com        @aprilCNNpr 404-345-5299
Jennifer Martin         jennifer.martin@cnn.com    @jenCNNpr 404-307-4649
Erica Puntel               erica.puntel@cnn.com           @ericaCNNpr 404-395-6335