SXSW 2006: Craig Newmark

Craig Newmark founded Craigslist in 1995, as a way to tell friends about cool events in and around San Francisco. The site -- which easily connects people who have something with people who want something -- has experienced massive growth over the last ten years. It now serves more than 170 cities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa and New Zealand. Despite the power of this global community, Newmark's overall approach has changed very little. As he told Wired magazine in a September 2004 interview, "I'm pretty happy with nerd values: Get yourself a comfortable living, then do a little something to change the world." Named the 2005 Webby Person of the Year, Newmark retains a simple motto for his site: "Give people a break."

For SXSW, he will be interviewed by Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia. Wales and Newmark will explore how a simple interface and an easy-going zen attitude have helped Craigslist make life better for millions of users, forever changing our approach to classified ads.