SXSW Includes Debate on Spec Work

Theresa Stone

A brawl that’s brewing in the design community will be coming to a head at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) event. Like an old western, the two sides will square off on the dusty streets of Austin, Texas, on Sunday, March 15.
The argument centers around spec work; that is, completing a design project on the speculation that your work will be chosen and paid for. At SXSW, a panel of industry heavyweights will duke it out to determine whether spec work is evil or inevitable (or both):
* David Carson, designer
* Jeff Howe, WIRED Magazine editor and crowdsourcing guru
* Jeffrey Kalmikoff, CCO of skinnyCorp/Threadless
* Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester analyst
* Mike Samson, founder of crowdSPRING
For more information about the panel, visit the SXSW Web site.