SXSW has announced the list of Emcees and Judges for both the Interactive and Music Accelerators and there are quite a few distinguished names therein.

For those not familiar with SXSW Accelerator, it is a competition where “companies battle for your taste-making, trend-setting attention, leading to a fireworks display of innovation. Connections will be made and careers launched”.

The lists are long but one name did stand out for us, Richard Garriott, Creative Director, Portalarium (and our favorite spaceman) as an Interactive Emcee.

The full list of Interactive Emcees and Judges can be found here and for Music Accelerator Emcees and Judges can be found here.

For more info on the Interactive Accelerator go here.
For more info on the Music Accelerator go here.

It might sound more like a game show, but I like the look of Hatch, where start-up companies have a chance to pitch their idea to a panel for investment (or at east a handshake to have a look at the paperwork to start doing a preliminary discovery process with a view to some Angel funding to see if it works out…):

HATCH is a pitch competition at the SXSW 2012 Startup Village for startups with revolutionary ideas. Fifteen finalists will be selected to present their business plans to a panel of corporate, angel, and venture investor judges in front of a well-connected SXSW audience on March 11th, 2012 in Austin, TX. The event, presented by Houston Technology Center, is geared toward tech startups with an interesting or disruptive product and strong growth potential.

If that sounds like something you want to do, then www.hatchpitch.com is your next stop – but do note this is a pay to pitch opportunity (that might not be the case now, see comments), and this is far too short a blog post to go into the ethics of paying, pitching, presenting, and powerpoints. If you’re just grabbing the popcorn from Whole Foods, then head to the Startup Village at SXSW on March 11th.