The Interactive portion of SXSW (or as I like to call it, college all over again) brings together the world’s brightest minds in tech all onto one “campus” in downtown Austin. Its focus on emerging technologies has earned SXSW Interactive a reputation as one of the best predictors of where the industry is going, and many of today's biggest web and mobile apps were launched during SXSWi, including Twitter and Foursquare.

So what were some of the breakout stars of SXSW this year?

Group texting: Without a doubt, the talk of the town was apps like GroupMe and Beluga that allow you to have create group chats on any phone. These apps were especially useful to connect with fellow students, aka festival attendees.

Networking made easier: Another app that was a huge hit was Hashable, which allows you to ditch the business cards and exchange contact info with the new friends you make at that party. All you have to do is enter their email or Twitter handle into the app and it downloads their contact info. Also, it allows you to see who all your friends are connecting with.

Social TV: One of the most interesting ideas talked about was social TV, and how viewers are posting on social media sites while watching their favorite shows. This was especially interesting to hear about in a panel about the marketing of True Blood, a show that had really embraced the concept of social TV by reaching out to fan communities and providing them with exclusive content.

Being at SXSW completely felt like I was back in college for a week, with early morning classes (panels), meals with friends between class and parties at night. I learned so much and had a great time meeting some of the most interesting people from all over the world.

Olivia