Spring’s finally poking its head round the corner: I fly off for my first South By Southwest in less than three weeks and I’m hoping that winter will have finally given up by the time I return. From the outside, SXSW gives off a Glastonbury-like vibe: an enormous cauldron of distraction, where carefully-planned itineraries are discarded within hours. With so many sessions and the endless attractions that “geek spring break” bring, I never knew how people chose which sessions and parties to attend.

Fortunately, this year the SXSW team have introduced curated workshops, which bring together panels under a common theme, meaning when Jason Beaird asked me to present my talk Beauty In Web Design as part of his curated theme, I jumped at the chance.

Great web design is all around us, but can we go beyond ‘cool’, ‘usable’ & ‘fun’ to create something truly beautiful? This session examines our changing attitudes to beauty, art and meaning, and why the web is ideally suited to become a vehicle for true beauty in the Information Age.

To add to the pressure, I’m the first thing on: 2pm on Friday 12 March. Directly following me are the talented Samantha Warren, presenting Get Stoked on Web Typography, and Matthew Smith of Squaredeye with Simple Steps to Great Web Design.

So if you’re heading Austin-wards, grab your conference pass early and join us in the glamorously-named Ballroom E for an afternoon of beautiful thrills.