I just returned from my annual journey to Austin for SXSW and boy am I tired! I’ve been going for 20 years and I’d have to put this down as one of my favorite years yet.
In my early SXSW days, as a record company A&R guy, I went for just the Music portion. Then when I transitioned into running my own digital agency, I swapped music out for Interactive. Now that I straddle the line of both music and technology, I attend (almost) the whole shebang. Eight long and inspiring days attending sessions, eating a ton of delicious food that is bad for me, seeing a million bands, and having meetings with friends both old and new.
The music, food, and meetings were all great this year, but I primarily judge SXSW on the sessions and topics covered during the Interactive segment. Here are my standout takeaways from Southby 2018:
Biggest topics:
AI – How it will change the world and how, if we’re not careful, machines will take over the planet and kill us all!
Blockchain / Cryptocurrency – If you’re a crypto dabbler or you’ve heard that world’s problems will soon be solved with blockchain, there were plenty of panels to help you understand what that all means. I’m a little smarter now, but I might also be even more confused.
Diversity – Tons of conversation about inclusiveness in the workplace, in media, and in the world.
Session highlights:
Melinda Gates spoke specifically about elevating women in the workplace and the boardroom. She was joined by several incredibly inspiring women who are leading change as we speak.
Tech publishing and media magnate Tim O’Reilly and ad agency legend Roy Spence (with a little help from Matthew McConaughey) both called for people, companies, and brands to have purpose and work towards inspiring positive change.
Amy Webb, CEO of the Future Tech Institute talked about AI, AR, and many other global trends and plugged her annual trend report.
Uber’s Chief Brand Officer, Bozoma Saint John spoke about remaking a broken brand and also dived deep into the need for diversity in the workplace.
The Westworld session featured nearly the entire cast along with the show creators, and when a new, never-before-seen clip (even by the cast) was shared, the excitement in the room, and from the stage was
palpable! Oh, and they topped that off with a surprise guest appearance by
Elon Musk who talked space and shared a David Bowie-soundtracked film sending a red Tesla roadster into space.
Elon Musk also added a surprise additional session that covered everything from the foundation of Tesla, his passion for space, and how we need to pay close attention to where AI will take us. (Full transparency, I watched this online, couldn’t make it to the session).
Filmmaker Brett Morgen explained in very animated fashion how his Oscar-nominated Jane Goodall documentary required all sound effects to be re-created since the original 1960’s jungle footage of wild gorillas had no audio.
Author Ernest Cline discussed turning his book Ready Player One into a movie directed by Steven Spielberg in a fireside chat with Roblox creator David Baszucki.
For fun, Star Wars VIII director Rian Johnson discussed making a behind-the-scenes companion documentary and surprised the audience with Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.
While it may seem self-promoting, I did find The Marketing Arm’s Chief Music Strategist and legendary hip-hip studio engineer, Young Guru’s keynote about music being a gateway to encouraging underserved kids to think about perusing education and careers in engineering, fascinating.
Legendary music producer Steve Albini and Kim Deal (Pixies/Breeders) interviewed each other in a session in which music geeks like me hung on every word.
And hands down this year’s SXSW buzz winner was the Westworld activation which left most of us, including me, with serious FOMO.
I also saw great performances from Khalid, lovelytheband, Wallows, Bishop Briggs, Ghostland Observatory, Nathaniel Rateliff, and countless others.
All in all this year’s SXSW was one of the best yet.
Oh, and hanging out with members of A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, Young Guru, and DJ Trauma was pretty awesome too!
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