It’s a bit like a SXSW time warp at this morning’s keynote session for one of my favourite SXSW speakers, the incredible Amy Webb. The queue stretched around the convention centre, out the door, and down the fire escape two levels. We arrived early, however, along with people lining up from 7 am. Do not miss her interview with Mediaweek editor Trent Thomas. Webb will be in Sydney for SXSW – a real coup! For her 2023 Emerging Tech Trend report she created a digital swag bag with a detailed report of 666 digital trends,15 sections, 819 pages plus the full slide presentation.
Amy Webb onstage
Amy Webb’s top takeaways:
• Focus to see the signals
• Use ADM to prioritise
• The internet as we knew it is over. AISMOSIS is next (when AI systems start interacting with data)
• Everything is readable information
• Era of Assistive Computing
• New tools aren’t available to everyone, which creates a new digital divide
• Everyone will need upskilling
• Big Tech are becoming bigger and more powerful
Today was hot in Austin 32 degrees so I decided to take a break from the darkened convention centre venues and explore the lounges, houses, and major activations scattered all over the city.
Inspiration is literary on every corner, starting with Lush House, and J&J Lounge however the real highlight was Paramount+ The Lodge on Rainey Street with outstanding areas for Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Ink Master, Rabbit Hole,1923, etc. The Paramount+ WOW factor delivered from the real Super Bowl silver trophy with 24-hour security guards on-site, a mountain of retro recycled music LPs that I personally painted to the themed cocktails in each of the four cool creative bar areas.
Then it was back into two conference sessions that could not have been further apart but that’s what I love about SXSW, it’s the diversity of thought and the stuff that makes you think differently.
More than a Joke: The road from Sitcom success to iHeart Podcasts powerhouse featured two incredible comedic talents Ed Helms (The Hangover, The Office, The Daily Show etc.) and Brian Baumgartner (The Office).
Next up an unexpected delight on a heavy topic, Psychedelics for First Responders: The panel featured an ex-cop struggling with trauma and a nurse who also had become desensitised due to stress, and a medical researcher conducting a study on the use of micro-dosing drugs such as MDMA to fight the high levels of suicide in first responders. What a contrast that stopped me in my tracks and made me consider topics I’d never considered until today.
Ahh, the magic of SXSW and the inspiration that opens your mind and feeds the soul … Thank you SXSW!
See also Day 1 at SXSW 2023 with Sparrow and Trent Thomas.
