Late last week Mediaweek’s Greg “Sparrow” Graham flew to the US to head to the return of an in-person South by Southwest (SXSW) conference.
Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. The event dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals
Sparrow visits the Twitter house
Sparrow at SXSW: Day 2
Today’s adventure was to explore SXSW outside of the Austin Convention Centre, discover the Houses (pop-ups/activations/experiences) and new stuff.
My first stop was Twitter House on Rainey Street, a cool space with a great combination of fun play spots plus space for insightful talks/panels throughout the festival. I joined the conversation happening on Twitter Spaces and agreed like the city of Austin keep Twitter weird.
Peacock Playground, CNN+, Inc Founder House, Blockchain Creative Labs were all showcasing their stories in funky spaces with heaps of photo opportunities for your socials.
Two intriguing Houses were Meow Wolf and Fluf World both visually stunning with sensory experiences. Fluf World, in particular, has various sized domes with installations that transported you to another world. My only issue is after visiting them and enjoying the experiences I still don’t know what the hell they do? Apparently a metaverse ecosystem of NFT character collectables and a global, creative community.
Fluf World
On the streets of Austin, you are also bombarded with sponsor activations, stunts, and messaging. Ranging from Audible free hot dogs (Summer in Argyle), White Claw sampling, Porsche Unseen (design, inventions, and art never seen before), to a wide range of free swag and marketing materials.
Lizzo lyrics at SXSW
At the end of the day, I came away with heightened perceptions of the streaming services and one stood out in particular. The Amazon Prime fan experience literally took up a city block with unbelievable scale, investment and engagement. The main focus around Superheroes and Superstars was definitely superstar Lizzo’s new show – Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls plus she’s appearing live at the festival tomorrow. This stole the show for me and really delivered on the ultimate fan experience and from what I saw the fans bloody loved it!
See also: Sparrow at SXSW – Day 1 with Scott Galloway, Bob Odenkirk, Priya Parker & more