Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference. Scheduled March 8-17, 2019 in Austin, this event brings together more than 30,000 digital creatives from across the United States and around the world. These digital creatives are inspired by five days of panels, presentations, brainstorming, networking, dealmaking, socializing, creating, innovating, and fun. Forrest was named "Austinite of the Year" in February 2012 by the Austin Chamber of Commerce (along with fellow SXSW Directors Roland Swenson, Louis Black and Nick Barbaro). In June 2014, Forrest and these other SXSW Directors were named Austin Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young.

In addition to his work at SXSW, he is part of the National Advisory Board for the Poynter
Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Austin Habitat for Humanity, as well as a trustee for the Austin Awesome Foundation.
Forrest majored in English at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Before joining the SXSW team, he founded a small alternative publication called The Austin Challenger and wrote for several other newspapers.