South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive begins this weekend, and while this is our inaugural appearance at this particular show, we’re not unprepared. In addition to the standard conference fare of expo booth and giveaways, we’ve got some interesting challenges for attendees and a calendar full of events in partnership with companies like Microsoft, Tumblr, Kickstarter and SoundCloud. Without further ado, this is how you can track us down in Austin:

Our Booth

On the SXSW Interactive Trade Show floor, you’ll find us spanning booths 303 and 305 in Exhibit Hall 4 of the Austin Convention Center. You’ll know you’re getting close when you see the pair of unlikely superheroes we are featuring on our “Redefining Hosting” graphics.

Meet The Planet Staff: Once you squirm your way through the droves of people flooding into the booth, you’ll be greeted by friendly faces who will love to chat with you about your business, hosting, the weather or the names of your childhood pets. In exchange for the privilege of meeting you, we can offer a tokens of our appreciation: your choice of one of our clever giveaway T-shirts!

Sign up for WebsiteSpark: With the help of a little company out of Redmond, Washington, we’re able to offer a special opportunity for attendees to sign up for Microsoft’s WebsiteSpark program on the show floor. If you’re unfamiliar with the program, it provides you with access to free licensing for the latest versions of Windows Server and SQL Server … Needless to say, it’s a great resource for businesses with tight budgets.

By applying for the WebsiteSpark program in our booth, you’ll walk away with a 2GB USB drive and a special Microsoft WebsiteSpark + The Planet T-shirt while supplies last. If that’s not enough of an incentive, we’re also offering a year of free hosting at The Planet to one lucky applicant chosen at random.

Compete in the Server Challenge: If our 10′ x 20′ space wasn’t already busy enough, we’ve got one more featured activity in our booth: The Planet Server Challenge – a little competition is designed specifically for techies. Participants have a deconstructed Pentium4 server sitting on a table in front of them, and the objective is to put it back together as quickly as possible. Bragging rights about having the fastest hands at SXSW might be incentive enough, but we’re sweetening the deal by awarding the competitor with the best time an ASUS Eee PC netbook.

We’ll post the current “Time to Beat” on a board in the booth so you can keep that netbook in your sights. The competition details will be available in the booth.

Our Social Events

If the time you spend hanging out with us in our booth isn’t enough for you, you’re in luck. We are participating in a few phenomenal social events, so you can party hardy with us as well.

Saturday, March 13: RSVP and meet us at Emo’s Austin at 6:30 p.m. to get your SXSW experience started on the right foot. We’ve teamed up with Tumblr, Kickstarter and SoundCloud to put on a little soiree for a thousand of our closest friends.

With performances by Eclectic Method, DJ Mel and DJ Suspence, you’ll be entertained, and with an open bar for those who RSVP, you’ll be hydrated.

Sunday, March 14: Speaking of hydration, The Planet is participating in the SXSW Block Party on Sunday between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. While you’re schmoozing around, stop by our booth and help us imbibe the beverages we’re bringing in for the occasion.

Monday, March 15: Are you tired yet? We need you to power through one more day and one more party. The Planet is a gold sponsor of the Houston@SXSW event at Hudson on Fifth on Monday from 7:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. If you RSVP to the event, you get yourself on the list to enjoy presentations and exhibits featuring Houston-based companies along with a few film and music showcases.

Stay Updated

You’re now “in the know.” Are you ready for your pop quiz? Luckily, this isn’t going to be the only communication we do about SXSW. To get up-to-the-minute updates and reminders about what we’re doing, be sure to follow us on Twitter: @theplanet. If the stream gets a little noisy, we’ll move some of the updates to @theplanetevents.

See you in Austin!

-Kevin