If you've never been to SXSW, it's okay - this is a story about my first time, last week.
Four years ago I had never heard of the iconic SXSW festival and if you haven't been yet, imagine Woodstock meets an Indy Film Festival and then smash every cool piece of new technology onto the expo floor, spread across multiple hotels, and add every industry conference and talk track you could imagine.
Take that, spread it out over two weeks, and drop it in Austin (and now Australia🦘).
Got it?
Okay, here's how my trip started.
March 11th - Two days before flying
SXSW had already been going on for a week but my intention was to keep a simple plan on this first trip - show up for my panel, eat BBQ, go home.
No agenda, nowhere to be (except at 3:00 Thursday March 14th), just a quick trip to Austin to take in the sights and sounds.
And then?
Two days before flying, the news cycle picks up the suspicious death of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett who had blown the whistle on quality control issues.
Not saying it's a conspiracy, but there are also no coincidences, so imagine the feeling on March 13th when our flight is delayed from pushing back from the terminal when the captain comes over the speaker:
Sorry for the delay here, folks. Ground crew is taking a look at some of the instrumentation in the cockpit. Right now, the panel that tells us distance from the ground during landing isn't working so we're going to probably be switching to another plane.
Oh, that's all? Got it.
Wait, what about the people who just got off this plane when it landed like 10 minutes ago? Wtf.
Okay, moving on. To a new gate.
And a new plane. Wait, not that one. Another new one.
A gate change and two more planes later and we were finally underway.
This is going exactly according to our lack of plan so no worries. Good vibes.
Grateful to be back on solid ground, I checked into the hotel and headed out to get my badge and check out the layout of things, as one does.
Do you remember the classic campaign with the LifeLock CEO putting his SSN on trucks and buses as a huge proof statement to the effectiveness of the product? They drove the trucks thru Times Square and turned it into a TV spot.
Unfortunately for the CEO, the product didn't actually "work-work" and he had his identity stolen, 13 times. And they also ended up settling with the FTCover deceptive advertising.
(There's your damn "Does OOH work?" case study, btw)
And then THIS happened
I see a guy holding a sign above his head coming down the escalator.
Naturally wondering, "wtf is he doing??" I moved in his direction
Cloaked CEO Arjun Bhatnagar had boots on the ground giving out his credit card number! Legit, it worked and you could've used it that day to get some brisket, pick up the bar tab, whatever. Because that's what Cloaked does, they allow you to manage your personal credit/debit cards just like your business cards.
Create digital credit and debit cards for yourself when you travel, for dedicated household expense management, to give your kid's an allowance, whatever!
So that was my instant introduction to SXSW.
Come as you are, everyone has something to share, be present and open to engagement. Monica Sack led a great session in NYC in February to prep panelists on how to maximize their experience in Austin and I must say - Monica and Hugh Forrest put on a great session and got this first-timer ready, for sure.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 out of 5 Would Recommend to a friend - thank you!
Wednesday of Week 2 (day one for me) closed with a great dinner hosted by fucimo Founders, Ezgi Arslantay and Yunus Koçyiğit. Great company, great food, great wine, a perfect ending to day one.
Andrea Pappas, Founder of TextTeddy, Inc. and Jonathon WolfeBarron, Founder of Rolling Adz joined us and we stayed until they kicked us out.
Thank you Ezgi and Yunus!
Day Two
Action. Here we go. Panel is at 4, be to the green room by 3. Got it.
But first? We gotta eat.
When in Texas? Brisket for breakfast.
Back to the hotel with plenty of time when I pat my pocket to grab my phone...but it's not there. Other pocket? Nope.
And that's when I realized I left my phone in the Lyft 🤦♂️
Seriously, huge shoutout to Jonathon WolfeBarron who worked for the next two hours (while I got ready to talk about Futureproofing Connected Cities) to get my phone back. Translating messages from Spanish to English, waiting, waiting some more. The whole thing was hilarious, truly. But a much more stressful trip home would have been the consequence had JW not come up with the save.
Like a Disney movie, as we're walking in to start the panel, here comes Jonathon running down the hall with the phone above his head. Frickin' legend!!!
Show Time
Anytime you're sharing a stage with the likes of Albert Thompson, you know you're in good company. Stack the passion and subject matter expertise of Joel Martin and Vivian Myrtetus, and you've got a really special blend of perspectives and experience.
Joel Martin summed up the takeaways best:
"1. #Advertisingcan bring change and benefit to our cities. Govt, brands, and agencies can have a positive impact.
When we first started promoting the #eScooter stations we found an early advocate in Ben Bear and #SPIN and now it could help stop #eBike fires in NYC. The early supporters helped us grow. Both Vivian Myrtetus & Albert Thompson were a huge help in my early days at Swiftmile.
2. As a lifelong believer in electric power. Sometimes you have to fail to find the right solution. I imported vehicles, and advised Vectrix, and in the end stations are what worked. You never know the turns your journey will take. Not every solution will work, but we have to push forward to find that water fountain!
3. Power is essential in 2024.
4. How do we create the modern water fountain for power?
5. We can have impact."
And for me, it's #5 that will be the North Star for the winners of the next decade because the reality is this - access to fresh, clean drinking water, the ability to charge devices, and access to stable connectivity, are the three most fundamental problems that need to be solved via these initiatives.
Having a cool idea and "monetizing it with ads" is not a scalable solution if you want to create actual social impact and municipalities serve their communities by solving problems for them, not serving them more ads.
What's Next?
We'll absolutely be back. Two days was not enough, but it was just right.
Next year? More time to get into town, get settled and establish a little routine.
Stay longer, stay thru the end.
But the panel?
Well, you may be seeing this show on the road in the coming months, so stay tuned.
-Tim
