South by South West in Austin Texas is one of the biggest events on the global media calendar, and there is even more interest down under in Australia this year due to the upcoming SXSW Sydney.
Due to this, the Mediaweek SXSW tour took several media executives from across the country to the week long event and has now caught up with several members of the tour on what their key takeaways were.
Today it is Kerry Field, Chief Growth Officer at Mindshare.
What were your thoughts on SXSW?
I’m 100% a “South by” convert and am already saving up to go again next year. I knew it would be different to anything I had previously experienced and really wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s positively overwhelming. Every day I grappled with getting used to the feeling that I was missing out on something amazing. There is no way you can get to everything you want to see and I eventually made peace with that.
“What I did see left me feeling incredibly inspired and optimistic that there are some truly incredible humans out there creating change for business and the greater good of society.
Kerry Field and Georgie Nichols at Salt Lick
What were some of your highlights?
Getting over excited on the first night at Pete’s Piano Bar (who doesn’t love a good singalong?).
“Earth is now our only shareholder” – Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia – so much admiration!
Ryan Gellert
“Sports for culture change and impact” – a panel of athletes sharing how they are leveraging their power to create a better, more equitable world through the Players Coalition.
Sport for culture change and impact panel
Accidentally sitting in “Design in Tech Report 2023: Design and AI” and listening to a very smart American technologist talk about generative art and computational design (I had to concentrate quite hard).
Hearing about the amazing work that chef and humanitarian José Andrés is doing with World Central Kitchen.
José Andrés
Audible’s immersive listening experience activation.
Seeing Scottish newcomer Brooke Combe on stage at UK House (she is VERY COOL).
Scooting through the streets of Austin.
Eating tacos for breakfast.
Making new industry friends. There wasn’t one weak link in the Mediaweek tour gang. Such a great bunch of people.
Why did you come to SXSW 2023? Did you get what you wanted out of the experience?
It was on my bucket list. I wanted the opportunity to step out of my day-to-day and ‘fill my cup’ listening to provocative interviews, presentations, panel discussions as well as seeing some up-and-coming artists. I got that and so much more.
What has been the biggest surprise?
The sheer size of the event and the volume of sessions. Also, how many amazing restaurants there are in Austin.
Mediaweek Tour lunch @ Salt Lick
Would you do anything different, given the chance?
I spent hours trawling through all the sessions and planning talks etc that I wanted to see and I didn’t build in much time to explore the activations. There were definitely some good ones that I missed out on e.g. Dolby House did a future of immersive entertainment experiences activation.
What’s the funniest or most quirky thing you’ve seen?
One afternoon, I watched one of the short film screenings at an Alamo theatre. Predominantly really interesting short films but also some very strange pieces too. One of which was called “Deliver Me” about a guy called Jesse, who is the most famous billionaire on Earth and the first human to successfully clone and marry himself. Let’s just say it was in keeping with Austin’s slogan “Keep Austin Weird
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Top Image: Kerry Field and Grag ‘Sparrow’ Graham
See Also: SXSW Tour: Kurt Burnette’s key takeaways