Five cool things I saw at SXSW: Ben Quigley, CEO of Different
The latest round up of cool stuff spotted at SXSW 2015 comes from Ben Quigley, chief executive of Different, who shares his thoughts on the most eye-catching things at this year's festival.
It's my first SXSW experience. Here's what I have picked up that is cool and for me unexpected.
Optimism
Here there is endless optimism. The world is a place to be changed for the better and everyone here regards themself to be part of the solution. From helping make shopping more enjoyable and easier using joined up mobile tech. To smart garments that change temperature as the temperature changes around you. To new city planning solutions (they could do with starting with Austin's over run road system - the roads cannot cope with a doubled population in the last five years as a boom town). To adapted content storytelling across screens and channels. To connected products and services, the Internet of things. To new disaster services like drones to deliver essential supplies to remote areas. Everyone believes they can make a difference. Making money comes second. They all have purpose.
Austin
What a cool place. Originally a watering hole and meeting point (source: taxi driver) it's capital of Texas. Growing rapidly with high quality of life and a booming economy. Less conservative than the rest of Texas it's a bohemian slice of California in the heart of Texas. Check out Rainey Street for punk curry houses, bars in storage and houses converted into live music clubs.
It's the perfect location for this event . No wonder everyone who comes here loves it. No wonder Austin's positioning line is 'Keep Austin weird'.
Ethics
Are the big issue of this SXSW. Where should we go with tech and where should we stay away from ? If a driverless car crashes and injured the driver, who is responsible? If it crashes and kills someone else, who is responsible ? Are deaths caused by driverless cars likely to be worse or better than they already are ? Is there a trade off ? Discuss...
Ambition
What marks people selling ideas, selling themselves, looking for inspiration, exchanging ideas here is the ambition to do it big. 'We want to solve world problems' is the attitude here.contrast that with attitudes in the UK. There is no fear of failure. There is no fear in looking stupid. There is a clear sense of purpose here, in Asia and Australia around tech. Perhaps that's what's stopping our tech industry producing truly global products and platforms. Blind ambition to change the world - That is counter intuitive to a reserved Englishman, but perhaps actually it's very cool.
Chaos
It takes a while to get your head round the myriad of stuff going on. In parts it's organised like a military regime, but often amateurish at the same time. Terrible presentations that do not have content that matches the set up blurb. Terrible Steve Jobs impersonators who think that style over content wins out. It doesn't.
Shuttle busses that never run to schedule: You miss events. Big name events on in tiny venues. You can't get in. Poor user experience on a festival App that doesn't work ! Chaos is definitely part and parcel of SXSW.