(Photo Creds: My Own)
South by Southwest (SXSW), the “convergence of the interactive, film and music industries” is an annual event (since 1987) held in the ultra-fun city of Austin Texas.
Over the 30 years, it has grown in scope and size and the “coolness” factor is off of the charts. Technology has become a key player and big names such as Twitter were launched into the public conscious at SXSW. (A bit of research shared that Twitter only paid $11,000 in 2007 to host some signage at the event… and from there, they were able to blow up their brand. Influence grew from there.)
All of that said, SXSW seems to be a great place for those “game changer” hopefuls to see and be seen. I personally haven’t been – though hopefully next year! – but have been a “follower” for a few years.
Here’s what stands out to me: technology is the single greatest influencer in our lives right now. Well, that and love… One helps the other is what I’ve found. When you bring it together with music and the arts, it’s a marriage made in the heavens.
Just why is that? The tools of technology have helped us simple humans express love in more active ways. It’s pretty cool that on your birthday, your friends and family from all generations of life can send you a greeting and spread the love and good energy. That’s an easy example. I also love that my mom can text now and that alone has given us an opportunity to cheer one another on, which didn’t exist at that level prior that technology. Instagram and Snapchat allow us to share visuals that bring us joy.
(But, of course, technology can also be blamed for mass sharing of negative. To be honest, my feeds are 95+% positive so in my opinion, we have the ability to scroll or swipe past the “stuff” that makes us crazy… our choice.)
Two key messages today:
- Embrace technology and the “movements” such as the annual SXSW event that help leverage those into our world… (By the way, I have listed below the various tracks at this year’s event so you can see the diversity and potential impact to our society.)
- As crazy as technology can sometimes make us, FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE and that it is a TREMENDOUS VEHICLE FOR LOVE… sharing and growing. We can use this to our advantage and create a world that we all would love to be a part of.
Finally, for all of those that wished me a happy birthday, I want to thank you! Sometimes I get busy and don’t take the time to utilize that awesome feature on Facebook, so I greatly appreciate all of those that took the time to reach out! It means the world to me that you did. KEEP ON SPREADING THE LOVE.
SWSW17 TRACKS:
- Brands and Marketing
- Design
- Development & Code
- Government
- Health
- Intelligent Future
- Style
- Tech Industry
- Workplace
- Entertainment influencers
- Film & TV Industry
- Making Films & Episodics
- Making Music
- Music Industry
- Music Influencers
- Touring & Live Experience
- CLE (Continuing Legal Education)
- Experiential Storytelling
- Food
- Journalism
- Social Impact
- Sports
- Startup Village
- VR/AR (Virtual/Augmented reality technologies)