15 Years of SXSW Digital: A Tale of Two Festivals

What Happens During Official SXSW Content Programming Paints An Incomplete Picture

This past year, I marked my 15th attendance at SXSW, specifically the digital media portion of the spring festival in Austin. In many ways, SXSW is very different than how it used to be when I first started attending (a fraction of the size). But it’s also not as big as it used to be around the “peak” years (2014-2017ish). This is all highly subjective, of course, but you can get a sense based on how busy the streets are, how well-attended the events, etc. Over on X, a Tweet was making the rounds showing a near-empty large conference room where Mark Cuban was speaking:

Shawn’s assertion that SXSW isn’t what it used to be is a common perception for those who have attended the event for many years, like myself—but it’s also incomplete. SXSW cannot be judged only by what happens in the convention center and the ballrooms of the nearby hotels—it has spawned a life outside of its official boundaries that aren’t as easy to spot and doesn’t often require a badge but often require an invitation. Much like the famed “Tale of Two Cities,” SXSW is a tale of two festivals. What happens on stage and in official events isn’t the only thing happening at SXSW, and increasingly, the niche and non-official events, content, and togetherness are where genuinely intimate and exciting experiences happen. One of my highlights from this year’s SXSW was attending the Future of Health Day, which FINN Partners and Humble Ventures put on. The event was a day-long experience with attendees from all backgrounds covering important healthcare topics ranging from oncology to women’s health and personalized medicine. As a bonus, the event is organized by a friend who goes back to my early career days at Agency.com—Ritesh Patel, a force in the industry who is inspiring to “digital veterans” like myself.

Venues like this are an excellent place for industry peers in specialized fields to come together and share learnings, compare notes, and engage in more intimate conversations, which can sometimes be challenging during the hustle and bustle of the convention center and hotel ballrooms where official the SXSW content program runs. On an even more personal level, in this 15th year of attending SXSW, I found myself the event planning chair again, leading event efforts for The Next Practices Group (NPG), of which Ringer Sciences, the firm I work with, is part of. Having co-organized a successful event (Allhat) during SXSW, I took the role very seriously. I wanted to create a unique atmosphere for our guests, combining music, content, authentic local breakfast tacos, and content. The result? The Unlock event was born, and it went a little something like this:

“The Unlock” attracted around 150 guests from diverse backgrounds—from VCs to startups to established companies. I was thrilled to moderate an excellent panel on AI that, by design, shared diverse perspectives from a master marketer, an academic, a business practitioner, and an industry innovator. And some things about SXSW haven’t changed. While the activities between “badged” and “badgeless” status are becoming a more pronounced duality—SXSW is a place for building, innovating, experimenting, and being seen. Days before the event started, we launched a rapidly built LLM that took actual content data from SXSW and translated it into a conversational experience—making a single recommendation on the “one thing” a busy attendee shouldn’t miss based on some information they share with it:

So, while some things change—some things remain the same. I’ll probably continue going to SXSW, but I’m not sure I’ll get a badge as a personal choice. There’s a lot of value in meeting in highly curated places that are a little more focused, a little quieter, and more connected to the business value many of us are looking for who attend there. Regardless of “which SXSW” you choose to attend—there’s typically something for everyone, and combined—it tells the whole story.

David by Design?is written by me,?David Armano. I’ve worked with some of the world's most recognizable brands to help them build awareness, trust, advocacy, and loyalty. My specialty is doing these things in a constantly evolving digital context.

I am currently working in the fields of LLMs and AI Analytics. I approach everything I do by design, and I think the business world should, too.