Last year, Springbox held a swank SXSW party. This year, our best and brightest have submitted SXSW panel topics about a range of subjects. We need your help to rock the vote.  

As far as we can tell, there aren’t electronic voting machines involved — so vote often and be sure to share your comments. Voting ends on Friday, August 27.

Here’s a rundown of this year’s topics: 

Is HTML5 the Death of Flash?

Tom Hudson  

HTML 5 is challenging other plug-in-based rich internet applications (RIA) by providing much of the same functionality as Flash, and has the potential to render technologies like Flash obsolete. Or is it? Flash has capabilities that are way beyond those of HTML5. Will HTML5 catch up? We’ll explore items like this, compare current HTML5 adoption to Flash, and see where we might land in the future.

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QR Who QR: Exploring QR Codes

Grant Norwood  

QR codes are new and cool in America. Having originated in Japan mostly for business applications, their use for social and commercial purposes is growing every day in the US. Let’s explore how developers can stay ahead of the game by incorporating new technologies into the popular trend!

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When Facebook Falls: Future-Proofing Your Social Media Efforts

Justin Clemens 

Learn to future-proof your social media efforts so they don’t go the way of MySpace. The right social networking content, contests, features, news, etc., works across multiple platforms so that if you lose a follower on Twitter, you gain a fan on Facebook. This panel will give you social media secrets and tips to build an audience on every platform and create content that doesn’t rely on any of them.

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HTML5 Buzzword Bulls**t: The Truth Revealed

John French

Ever since Steve Jobs starting touting HTML5 as the new replacement for Flash, the standard has become the new buzzword from Human Resource departments to CEOs. This panel is designed to clear up the misconceptions and set the record straight with HTML5.

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Listen To Me Dammit! I'm An Expert!

Chris Mayfield

Great creative work isn’t always immediately recognizable — even by the creators themselves. We, Creatives often require time to develop ideas before we’re fully convinced of their potential for success. So how do we get beyond our own damaged egos so we can see our creative visions fully realized? Understanding how to address our clients’ expectations as well as the obstacles they face, is not only good for business — it’s good for quality. And as the experts, that’s what we should care about the most.

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Apps or Mobile Site: How to Choose

Adrian Taylor and Josh Kemmerling

To app or not to app? Consider it an apt question since web-enabled smart phones have essentially swarmed today’s market. Users have become accustomed to purpose-built apps, which leaves designers, developers and business owners with a tough choice: app or mobile site. This panel will provide participants with the information they need to make the smart choice on their next mobile project.

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Is Mobile Ticketing The New Golden Ticket? 

Randy Elliott

Mobile ticketing is projected to be a multi-billion dollar industry in 5 years. While just 2 billion tickets are forecasted by Juniper Research to be sold this year, they predict that number will rise to 15 billion by 2014. The technology is moving quickly with Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled phones already being used in the Far East.  We’ll discuss where this new integration in taking mobile technology.

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Stop the Postmortem Boredom!

Rachel Barber, Priya Kothari and Tom Hudson

The reason for a postmortem is to learn from your mistakes and successes. Most of the time this meeting never happens or doesn’t follow a clear agenda with actionable items. We will discuss what ingredients make for a useful and productive postmortem meeting after a project.

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Collaboration Nation: How Side-Projects Can Keep You Relevant

Phil Coffman

Side projects are crucial to remaining relevant in our industry. The web is constantly changing — new conventions, techniques and technologies — and one of the best ways to keep up is to do something for the love of it. Side projects facilitate a unique blend of experimentation, creativity and play that arenʼt always possible during billable hours or client projects. Weʼll be grilling our panel to bring practical advice and a candid take on their past experiences.

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How to Whup 'Em with the Leroy Stick

Hawk Thompson 

Leroy Stick — the man behind @BPGlobalPR — is just a regular guy. Yet he managed to help bring a global brand to its knees (and attract hundreds of thousands of followers in the process) with a single Twitter account and a mission that resonated with the masses. Meet the new consumer. Empowered by social media, each and every one of us is capable ofinflicting this kind of damage on a brand. In this panel, find out what professionals can do to protect their clients’ brands from being whupped with the Leroy Stick.

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As the power and proliferation of mobile devices increases, mobile applications are increasingly an effective and easy way for companies to extend their services or products to existing customers — and obtain new ones.

iPhone apps are often the first thing people think of when talking about mobile applications, but there are numerous other options. And, as the power of these other options increase, it becomes just as a good idea to make apps for other devices as it is to make an application for the iPhone.

Let’s say you have a website that provides a service. Instead of producing an iPhone app, it might be better to develop a mobile web app, an application that runs in a mobile browser. A mobile web app would reach almost every mobile device because almost all mobile devices have a browser to access the internet. And with most mobile browsers being just as powerful — if not more powerful than desktop browsers — it’s very easy to make a version of your web app into a mobile app.

Technologies such as HTML5, CSS3 and SQLite simplify the process. Yes, many mobile browsers have database support built in, so you can store and retrieve data using JavaScript. Frameworks such as jQuery make it very easy to create powerful, more streamlined mobile apps.

Android mobile devices are increasing in popularity because virtually every cell phone carrier offers an Android-powered smartphone. Tools such as Appcelerator make it easy to create Android apps in no time. Plus, the Android Market has no wait time to have your app ready for users to download.

Up to this point, I’ve only mentioned smartphones. They’re only part of the mobile device equation. The next time you’re thinking about a mobile app, consider some devices such as:

• PSP
• Amazon Kindle (yes, you can now create apps for the Kindle)
• iPad
• iPod Touch
• Zune HD
• Tablet PCs

Imagine you’re in the NYC subway. You have to get across town and your train is about to leave. You sprint over to a kiosk and navigate through a complex series of screens to find the right pass. It is taking forever. You fumble as you attempt to insert your cash because it is not recognizing the magnetic strip on your credit card. Finally you receive the ticket as the last train pulls away! Enter mobile ticketing.

Check out the video above to see how mobile ticketing works in Japan. Ok, maybe not, but in all seriousness...

What is Mobile Ticketing?

Mobile ticketing refers to someone who purchases a ticket and stores it on his or her phone for later use.

What Does The Future Hold?

Juniper Research predicts that 2 billion mobile tickets will be delivered in 2010 and 15 billion by
 2015.

What Are The Benefits?

1. Reduced costs of ticket printing/mailing.
2. Improved consumer convenience.
3. Reduced infrastructure costs.
4. Increased revenue by increasing accessibility to tickets.

What Technologies Are Being Leveraged?

1. Barcode – once you purchase the ticket, you receive a barcode that’s displayed on your screen, which is scanned at the station.
2. SMS – a text message with either a redemption code or a link to a barcode is delivered to your phone.
3. Applications – an iPhone, Blackberry or Android app that allows the smart phone owners to purchase tickets.
4. Contactless RFID and NFC – similar to “wave-and-pay” systems that many credit card companies have employed. These both require the phone to have an actual chip in the phone.

Near Field Communication, or NFC, is the latest and standard and is being quickly adopted by the subway system in Japan and some European mass transit systems. NFC is certainly the future of mobile ticketing. In fact, Apple filed a patent for it to be used on the iPhone, integrated with an app that would allow you to book your entire travel itinerary via your phone!

• Mass transit
• Airline check-in
• Cinema ticketing
• Concert/Event ticketing
• Trade shows
• Consumer voucher distribution

What About Vending Machines?

Take a look, getting junk food just got a whole lot easier.

The Social Reach

What has not been touched upon is how this could allow retailers to increase revenue while making it easier for customers to share their experiences. The future of mobile ticketing is indeed bright.

Additional Links

Card and Chip Suppliers to Offer Open Transport Ticketing Standard

Juniper Research's Whitepaper: Mobile Ticket to Ride!

Expanding Mobile Ticketing Globally

Juniper Research: 15 Million Mobile Tickets by 2014

Mobile Ticketing in a Central London Station