This year BBDO and Proximity Worldwide have submitted some sizzling ideas that will bring some of the best thought leaders in the digital and content spaces together to cover critical topics designed to make next year’s gathering the best yet. We encourage you to vote as many times as possible for our South by Southwest panel ideas.

Last week Google unveiled its latest foray into social networking, Google +, in a limited invitation-only release. For a platform that is still in its infancy, it’s already causing quite a commotion, garnering a reported 10 million users, with some heralding it as a future Facebook disrupter. But between Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare, social network-weary users are right to wonder—do we really need another platform to keep up with?

The annual South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference has just come to a close in Austin, Texas and Digital Lab was on hand to witness a veritable festoon of technorati-laden keynotes and panel discussions, million dollar brand-backed shindigs, graphic sticker and t-shirt soaked trade show aisles and ad hoc hotel lobby smoozefests.

First it was platforms such as Twitter and Facebook that empowered the average Joe to share thoughts, opinions, status updates and virtually anything else that came to his mind to the world around him anytime he wanted. Now the phenomenon known as lifestreaming – essentially the continuous streaming of content reflecting one’s life as it happens – is taking a visual turn. Relatively new photosharing applications are capitalizing on the overlapping forces of mobile and social to provide novel new ways for people to capture and share the unique visual experiences of their lives as they happen. Instagram and Picplz have taken the lead in this space and early signs show a promising future for both.