SXSW Interactive Just Got Nerdier – and More Fashionable

With Neil deGrasse Tyson already on board as a keynoter, it's difficult to imagine how South by Southwest Interactive could have one-upped itself.

But here, meet the crew added to the lineup this week and judge for yourself.

Jessica Chobot

As we mentioned in yesterday's Film Flam column, Chobot is on board to emcee the 17th annual SXSW Interactive Awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 11. She's the host of Nerdist News, as well as a veteran esports reporter and a lead writer on Daylight, a Zombie Studios game slated for PlayStation 4 release this year.

David Carr and Eli Pariser

The New York Times journalist is coming to town as a featured speaker, bringing with him decades of media know-how and an invaluable perspective on the 24-hour news cycle, the digitization of journalism, and much, much more. Check out his archive of Media Equation columns for his thoughts on publishing and print in the 21st century, then get a whole new spin on it from Pariser, the founder of viral video juggernaut Upworthy.

Sophia Amoruso

Featured speaker Amoruso – the founder, creative director, CEO, and self-proclaimed Chief Troublemaker at NastyGal and author of the forthcoming #Girlboss – has a past as a teenage thief, Dumpster diver, and vagabond. But eight years ago, when she started selling vintage clothing on eBay, she probably never would've dreamed she'd be running a business of 350-odd employees and $100 million in annual revenue. Hers is a business talk you won't want to miss.

Aaron Levie

Speaking of the entrepreneurial spirit, meet Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, a cloud-based file-sharing and storage service based in California that was valued between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion as far back as 2012. Not too shabby for a project born out of a college project.

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Keep up with all our ongoing SXSW coverage at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.