It’s barely been a few months since I’ve stopped clap-trapping on about how utterly awesome my first SXSW experience was, but yes, I’m already talking about the NEXT South by SouthWest. I realise it isn’t until March 2009 and that I have to wait 215 days before the Interactive festival even begins, but I need your support now.

During August, future attendees are asked to vote for the panels they’d like to see and the themes they’d like to discuss via the Panel Picker. I’ve been invited by the fabulous Mel Kirk to join a panel called “Clear your ears for instant success”.

“it’s a well known fact that whilst you’re in a conversation with someone you’re often thinking about what you’re going to say next rather than listening. this can be the same for businesses too. this panel discusses the skills it takes to have effective communication with your users and the benefits that brings.”

So, just like Mel’s pimped her panels, here I am, pimping away! I would love to take a more active role in SXSW this year, so please go vote for us.

A few other panels I would love to see and encourage you to vote for:

• Mel Kirk’s other panel “Walking the tech runway in stilettos” on being a girl in tech
• We are Social’s Robin Grant’s panel “Can brands have conversations?”
• Brian Solis’s “Love your customers, they love you back”
• UserVoice’s Marcus Nelson’s “Social Influence: Empowering Your Customer”
• Daniel Hope’s “Kill your job with a corporate blog” on tackling the challenge of launching a company blog
• The wonderful Tara Hunt’s “Making Whuffie: Raising social capital in online communities” which is bound to be worth hearing.

Phew 215 days to go… How will I not blow up with excitement before then?