I’ve proposed a talk for SXSW Interactive next March called “Stop Talking, Start Making,” and I would love it you could visit the SXSW PanelPicker and vote for my presentation (along with all the other sessions that interest you). SXSW is unique from other conferences in that the popular vote heavily influences their selection, so your voice definitely counts!

“Stop Talking, Start Making” is about the importance of rolling up your sleeves very early in the creative process, and spending 24 hours getting your hands dirty building something. You can’t just sketch something out or put together a few slides in a PowerPoint presentation, you’ve got to build and demonstrate a working product.

In the tech world, this approach isn’t new. For years, it’s happened at BarCamps and hackathons, and the ethos is a central part in many hacker labs, co-working spaces, and publications.

But this presentation isn’t for developers — it’s for creative types, marketers and brand owners. You’ll learn ways you can incorporate the hackathon model into your creative development process—to rethink a brand, quickly build ideas from scratch, and to incorporate new and emerging technologies into an existing brand.

You’ll also learn how the hackathon can be an invaluable tool for evaluating and nurturing internal talent, as well as for recruiting new talent.

Most importantly, it will be fun and entertaining. I promise.