If I’m counting right, this will be my seventh year at SXSW Interactive. Seven years gives you the perspective to see the changes that have taken place over the years. As I dive into SXSWi Day 1, here are a few reflections on the changes I see just from looking at what’s on the menu:
(1) Journalism Trumps Marketing and IT
What attracted me to SXSW Interactive was not only its relevance, proximity and notoriety was that it had quickly emerged as the launching pad for all things social media. The spirit of that stage of SXSWi’s evolution remains, but is not surprisingly over shadowed this year by myriad sessions about journalism. The New Administration has raised our awareness of the problems inherent in the way we currently do news. All of the major news agencies are here along with academics to hash through the questions now looming large about what makes good journalism in a digital age. Yes, the IoT (Internet of Things), app developers, and marketing folks are here, but they are overshadowed by this important conversation that will rule the week. I’m particularly looking forward to a session today at 4:00 that features Dan Rather who at 85 is so concerned about the climate of news that he launched his own platform, “News and Guts.”
(2) More like a…conference
SXSW Interactive has always crowdsourced its content. Moreso, actually, in recent years. This year SXSWi introduced a tracked concept, where all of the content is more intentionally arranged and presented along different content tracks. They have always tagged their sessions with themes, but this year you can select “Marketing and Communications” or “Development and Code” or “Style” to spin the diamond and see the conference from that angle. This not only made the hundreds of concurrent sessions easier to navigate, but was also telling by number of where the weight of the sessions lie and also gave a sense for the serendipitous amount of overlap.
(3) The Brands are Back
Encouraged by the New Administration’s attitude toward business (my guess) the brands seems to be back in a big way at SXSW this year. There are many more venues that appear to have been rented and renovated on the schedule. Many more side events seem to be organized by agencies and brands. So, if the rain doesn’t put too much of a damper on things these first two day (although its gorgeous this morning) there should be some great brand-driven side shows during the conference. Fun!
(4) Information Insecurity
On the IT theme the word is not as in previous years “welcome to the Wild West of open information.” Scanning through the session titles and descriptions for 2017 there is a deep concern about data privacy and encryption. A few years ago, the attitude was more experimental with big data on social platforms. The darker side of the Internet has made its point that the data insecurities in the technologies we are creating are meaningful and often harmful to real people. So, the geeks among us will spend a lot of the next five days hearing about deeper encryption, security in app development from concept and existing and emerging social issues from information being “out there.”
(5) Finally, Facebook
Facebook is here in force. I haven’t seen this many Facebook people on panels…ever. So, they are either ready to launch something huge (I feel like I can’t use that word anymore…or “great”) or they are getting their fingers in the dirt to begin engineering what’s next. I’m curious to hear from their people, who are involved in about 15 sessions I will attend, if I can get into all of the rooms.
As always, I will – for my sake and I hope yours – thoughtfully unpack the themes I’m feeling/hearing during the next five days. SXSW Interactive remains a key platform for testing the pulse of digital culture but it, like all things, has evolved. Excited to experience and be a part of this moment in its evolution. Here we go!