In Austin, Magic Happens.
WOW
how times have changed. In 1986 the first South By Southwest was announced. Ronald Reagan was president. The Apple Macintosh only had 128 kilobytes of RAM. The Berlin wall was still standing. Heck, the Euro didn’t even exist yet. The inaugural SXSW event in 1987 saw an expected 150 attendees swell to 700. The charming city of Austin Texas embraced what would become home to the future of this entertainment and media extravaganza.
The 1994 event was known for the Johnny Cash keynote/ performance (how cool that would have been). The growth has been steady,over the years.,Interactive and film were introduced during this time. and a fundamental shift occurred in how the world viewed SXSW.
Fast forward to 2018.
Elon Musk, Steven Spielberg, and Ray Kurzweil where just a few of the big names in the creative world that joined this year’s conference. Along with approximately 90,000 other attendees. I was fortunate to be among the attendees that celebrated this years event. I had an unbelievable opportunity to witness an inside perspective of this unmatched event for the first time.
“The amount of education and creative movement at SXSW is hard to match”
SXSW is an event that draws your attention in all areas of leadership, education, technology, and the future of what’s to come. I Attended a “surprise” live keynote session to hear the vision of Elon Musk. I was present at a film screening with a live Q+A with Steven Spielberg, these are once in a lifetime opportunities that SXSW provided me this year.
"SXSW is work. Fun work."
I had thousands of educational sessions to choose from and schedule. I attended approximately four sessions a day and topped each off with live “off site” interactive events hosted by brands such as Sony, Intel, Google, Dell, Youtube, Pinterest, and much more.
"I felt right at home"
with like minded creative leaders that share similar Interests. SXSW is a fantastic opportunity to network and to pick the brains of industry leading professionals and inspiring individuals that push the vision of creativity, technology and film.The creative movement is rapidly increasing at an unprecedented rate. New applications and mediums are being invented and reinvented. This conference gives the creative industry and enthusiast a chance to keep up.
“What I did not expect was SXSW is also a family event”
I often noticed families would attend the public events, and bring their children to engage and interact with the creative engagements. This was encouraging to see as younger generations hold the keys to the creative future. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this experience left me speechless. The secret is out. South By Southwest is a creative playground and an unmatched experience that I will never forget.
Q+A
1. What was the craziest idea you heard?
Elon Musk talked about a strong need to colonize Mars and maybe the Moon — as a safety net for humanity. Humanity may be doomed in the future: from carbon in the atmosphere, World War III, and above all, runaway artificial intelligence. “There’s likely to be another dark ages... particularly if there’s a third world war,” Musk stressed, arguing that a Mars colony would stay away from the battle on Earth and carry the torch of human culture forward. He believes that the best way to ensure these dark ages are “shortened” is by having humans on other planets come back and rebuild.
2. What was the most heartwarming experience you had?
Connecting with like minded creative industry leaders. I felt right at home with individuals that wanted to indulge in creative concepts and a vision for shaping the future.
3. What was your most complicated and/or simplest aspect of the event?:
For first time attendees, navigating around the event or to keynote sessions can be difficult at first. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in lines to attend a popular keynote session or off site immersive experiences.
Finding a place for lunch is really simple. There is no shortage of food. Plenty of restaurants and food trucks for everyone to enjoy!
4. Top creative/design trends to think about?
Hot topics and buzz words
- Immersive Experiences
- Destination Mars
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
5. What creative insight resonated the most with you?
Immersive experiences give greater impact to the user. Using senses such as sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, balance, acceleration and even temperature while immersing the user in an environment creates an unforgettable experience.
Technology can enhance creativity and an experience, but only when it is meaningful. Having technology for the sake of technology can complicate the experience and actually make the user experience worse.
6. What new technology will most impact the future of creativity?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not only impact the future of creativity, but the way we live. AI is improving at an alarming rate and we should all be prepared for it. The billionaire tech entrepreneur, Elon Musk, called AI more dangerous than nuclear warheads and said there needs to be a regulatory body overseeing the development of super intelligence.
7. What brand experience had the longest line and why?
HBO Television series Westwold Immersive experience
A Recreation of the TV series entire town of Sweetwater. The two-hour activation will be spread out over two acres, with guests shuttled to the location via a “Delos shuttle” after checking in at a location in Austin. On-site, they will undergo an interview and evaluation process, and will receive either a black hat or a white one. At that point, they’ll be released into the re-creation of Sweetwater to explore. The location will include the show’s Coronado Hotel and Mariposa Saloon and will be populated with dozens of actors playing “hosts,” Westworld’s name for the robotic characters that roam its setting. Various clues about the new season are scattered throughout the area and where a guest goes or what they say to a given host could potentially lead to new revelations.
