The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference held in March in Austin, Texas began as an alternative music festival, but has become the San Diego Comic-Con for creative professionals and entrepreneurs across all media, with separate events now being held for music, film and interactive entertainment.  And like Comic-Con, SxSW has overspilled its banks to accommodate lots of events, speakers and exhibitors that are only loosely connected to its original mission--including, ironically, comics and other pop culture topics.

SXSW selects speakers through a crowdsourced process. Would-be speakers submit proposals that are hosted on the site’s Panel Picker.  Anyone can then sign up (free) and cast a vote for the panels they want to see as part of the show.  The winners get to present in the high energy, media-saturated environment of the conference, giving the ideas a jet propelled boost into public consciousness (and, in the case of startups, sometimes into financing arrangements).

This year’s slate of panel candidates includes many of interest to comics and pop culture fans.  Here’s a rundown of some of the more interesting ones (more info at each of the links):

Storytelling in the Digital Age:  Anomaly Productions co-founders Brian Haberlin and Skip Brittenham -- ICv2’s own Milton Griepp, and Hank Kanalz of DC Entertainment discuss the newest and most exciting forms of digital storytelling.

The Transparent Superhero: ComiXology by the Numbers:  For the very first time, get the data behind the digital comics explosion as comiXology CEO David Steinberger sits down with  yours truly, Rob Salkowitz, to take a detailed look at the new demographics of fandom.

Video Gaming is Pop Culture:  If you loved this panel at Comic-Con, the band’s getting back together to present at SXSW on the history and influence of video games on pop culture over the past 40 years.

The New Book Publishing Industry:  Longtime comics industry watcher and Publishers Weekly Senior Editor Calvin Reid and his colleague Rachel Deahl will discuss the changing shape of the book and graphic novel business and interview publisher/musician Johnny Temple (Akashic Books).

Code Monkey Save the World:  Get an inside look at how comics writer Greg Pak, artist Takeshi Miyazawa and musician Jonathan Coulton joined forces to launch the highest-grossing Kickstarter original graphic novel project to date.

Shape of Our Thoughts: Comic Making:  Nick Sousanis of Columbia University Teachers College takes a critical look at the anatomy of comics storytelling: how it works, the choices that creators make, and the impact that the medium has on its audience.

Voting goes through the end of next week.  If you are interested in seeing these topics, companies and creators get wider exposure, check out the panel picker for more information, and sign up and vote.

Rob Salkowitz (@robsalk) is author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture and is working on a new project on the future of marketing and retail in the digital age.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.