During this year's SXSW festival in Austin a new Web 2.0 competition was launched called the Charity Smackdown (aka Social Media Smackdown).

Tagged with "Celebrities Compete, Charities Win" this 10-day competition features 9 different teams each competing to raise the most money for their chosen charities using only Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and StumbleUpon as their outlets for donations. And you know any competition launched at SXSW would have a lineup of powerhouse celebrities and tech superstars and this one does just that:

  • Alec Baldwin
  • Hayden Panettiere
  • Brea Grant
  • Corbin Bleu
  • Ernie Johnson
  • Kyle Petty
  • Elevenmoms
  • Linkin Park


    • ... and don't forget those tech superstars who are lending a hand on these teams like Chris Brogan, Chris Heuer, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Pirillo, Dave Morin, Sarah Evans, Veronica Belmont, Sloane Berrent, Natali Del Conte, Howard Greenstein, Beth Kanter, Dave McClure, Loic Le Meur, Laura "Pistachio" Fitton, Amanda Rose, Joel Comm and many more!

    The Charity Smackdown runs from March 16th thru the 26th. If you want more information or want to know how your can participate (and donate!) head on over to their website.

    A big thanks to Pete Cashmore over at Mashable for alerting us to this great event.