SXSW Interactive. And that’s where you should be too.

If not physically, then at least checking out the website, talking to people who were there, etc.SXSW (South by SouthWest) is perhaps the most important showcase for new media and new technologies out there. (There’s also film and music parts of the festival which are pretty important in and of themselves, but we’ll focus on the interactive part.)

A good place to start is this list of finalists for the Web awards. You’ll find inspiration from a variety of sites– everything from individual portfolio sites to corporate sites to media sites to random cool websites. Since the awards don’t just focus on things ad agencies have done, you get a more complete vision of what’s noteworthy on the web right now.

Two other place sto get a great overview of SWSX are (a) Deep Focus’ Ian Schafer’s blog. Schafer’s been assiduously documenting the conference and his insights are (as the line goes) the next best thing to being there.  (b) Adpulp’s David Burn’s coverage on his agency’s blog, where you get a different, but equally in-depth account.