Monday to Friday @South By*
Dr Kirstin Ferguson, speaking on Head & Heart 16 Oct 2023

Monday to Friday @South By*

I attended the entire conference stream at SXSW Sydney last week. To the uninitiated, that’s South By South West, a “festival” of music, film, gaming, innovation and tech, normally held in Austin, Texas. I’ve always wanted to go to Austin, but in 2023, SXSW came to me.?

The “conference” is focused mainly, but not entirely, on innovation and tech. And leadership. And the environment. And climate studies. And gender. Okay, you get the idea. South By is all about the zeitgeist; new ideas for now. *And South By? Well, try saying SXSW or South By South West aloud a few hundred times. You’d call it South By too, wouldn’t you?*

Oh, and as futurist/keynote speaker Amy Webb, told us on Day One, it’s a CULT that we’ve joined. She also told us, helpfully, that the lines will be long and that the time spent in lines is PART OF THE PROGRAM. So don’t resent the time spent in lines. Work them.

With the author, Futurist Amy Webb

Hers was my last session for Day One as I had to work in the afternoon (note for next time: don’t plan anything else in the week). I also heard Dom Price speaking about creating a “workplace do-ocracy and making futurists redundant” and Dr Kirstin Ferguson on “Head & Heart; the art of modern leadership”, both excellent and inspiring speakers. I gave Day One an 8 out of 10 and went home feeling like I’d already “got my money’s worth”.

Key insights:

Dom: FOBO (fear of becoming obsolete) is an opportunity to learn a new way (somewhere between the conservatism of the Baby Boomers and the “move fast and break things/burn it down” approach of younger generations.

Kirstin: we all lead by example (everywhere, every day you are setting an example with what you do and say, so observe yourself and your impact).

Day Two

On Tuesday, Sydney showcased some of its “best” Spring weather with a top of 15, icy winds and horizontal rain. I arrived at the ICC with wet jeans and wet feet and the day continued from there. In the afternoon I bustled over to the PowerHouse museum, normally a pleasant 20 minute stroll in the sun, but on Tuesday was a fight with my umbrella’s strong will to be inside out. I saw two sessions there (‘cause 20 minutes walk, each way) along with enjoying the good company of Shelley from Auckland, who I met in an earlier session. I went home rating Day Two a 7 out of 10, a possibly weather affected score.

You'd better believe it...

Key insights: multi-tasking lowers your IQ, and a “physiological sigh” can release a lot of tension (Thanks Ray Good!)

Onward to Day Three.

10.00am: I arrive “right on time” for the session on AI with Noelle Russell due to a missed tram (hint: walk from Central to the ICC, it’s usually much faster than the “light rail” AKA the snail rail).

Problem is, “right on time” at SXSW is about 30 minutes prior to the session; the best time to join the queue (yeah, we mean the line, you guys) for a “featured” session. Or a keynote. Or anything with a line forming 30 minutes prior.?

But the line was moving so I got in it and it kept moving. Then rumours drifted down the line, Chinese Whispers style, that the session was already full. The line continued to move regardless, so we moved with it.

And I say we because I was “working the line”. My line companions were two great women with a lot of things in common with me; we three didn’t understand why the lines were so long. We didn’t get why sessions were scheduled at 10 and 11 and 12 when you needed to line up at 11.30 for the 12… They didn’t like their experience of walking over to the Powerhouse in horizontal rain the day before, buying food and drinks for dinner on the way, then having those confiscated at the Powerhouse (no food and drinks allowed inside, unlike the ICC) then queuing for ages until a tide of humanity in the opposite direction told them “it’s already full”...and their dinner had been binned. Oh, the tragedy.

Back to the ICC on Day Three. By the time we were told that our 10am session was officially full we were all checking our favourites on the SXSW app and looking for a 10.30 option. Luckily, the line for the Pitch session was a) right nearby and b) only about 30 people deep. Bliss. We transferred our conversation to there.?

And when I say conversation, I mean bitch session.

Why were so many great events scheduled at UTS when the walk to UTS was at least 30 minutes each way? And why put Naomi Watts in a conversation about menopause with Mia Freedman over at UTS? (I missed it for that reason). And why not put a screen on outside to show the session to those that don’t get in (overflow, you know?)

I spotted a woman coming towards us with a “crew” lanyard and grabbed her. We unloaded our barrage of complaints and she listened sympathetically, then revealed some shocking truths:

1. It’s exactly the same in Austin.

2. You don’t get to see everything you thought you wanted to see.

3. You end up seeing things you never thought you wanted to (and they can be great, read on).

4. This is the first time in Sydney and we welcome your feedback (officially).

So we unloaded some more and she listened patiently. Then we went to the Pitch session and it was GREAT. My new comrades in arms showed me where to get a coffee and friand without queuing (the Accenture lounge right next door) and filled me in on their experience of the Naomi Watts session (a good 10 or 20 years younger than me, they are both determined that menopause will not be a taboo subject by the time they get there) (Jane Porter, you were ahead of your time).

One of the pitches included a solution to “fast fashion” waste and my new (French?) friend told me some great stories about shopping the charity bins near her family home (where students and family leaving town would dump a whole household of stuff around the bin!) I felt enriched by the chats and the session (that I didn’t want to go to) and the general feeling of community.

11.20: I leave as soon as the session hints at ending, to line up for the “Is AI coming for your job?” session at 11.30.? The line is already long, really long.? But it’s moving so we’re optimistic. And as soon as you see another 50 people get behind you in line you can feel better. (How many people just joined any long line, assuming it might be a good session?)

This time I get talking to two young guys, one from BOQ, and Karl Teiermanis. (Regretting not getting the names or companies or any identifying details from my friends from the last session, I immediately clock their name tags). While in line we chat about deep fakes and their potential to cancel Cancel Culture. I tell the boys I feel sorry for young men right now but they assure me they’re doing okay (and still dare to hold the door for a woman - or a man - despite occasional backlash). Karl has what sounds like a great new product in testing and I volunteer our company to be a guinea pig. We connect on LinkedIn and he takes a selfie for me in the auditorium once we’re in. And we’re IN!

Selfie-time (relieved to get in!)

It’s a brilliant, funny session with “spider cats” and lots of great slides and jokes. I take countless photos of the slides. And yes, scary predictions on which jobs AI will take next. (Junior lawyers, watch out, senior lawyers you’re okay). I wonder how they will start out in their law careers if there’s no progression pathway?. Read Karl’s great account of the entire session here.

Quotable quote from Sandra Peter: AI is not coming for your job, just yet, but it is coming for your job description.

What's coming for your job?

We laugh, we cry, then it’s onto the next session.? But my next session is in this theatre - can’t I just stay in my seat? No, I think you need to go out and queue up. With the thousands out there already queuing up. (Days later I find out I didn’t need to leave my seat…)

12.35 (in line for the 1pm session)

I immediately get chatting to the young woman eating Gozleme next to me (they’ve told us to stand side by side, to halve the length of the line, and we feel like we’re back in kindergarten).? My “pair” happens to be the web designer for my local council. Poor girl; I spend the next 15 minutes downloading my complaints, starting with the tardy bin collection. When I draw breath she thanks me for the feedback and tells me it’s a great place to work. So that’s good.

Throughout our entire conversation, the ICC staff are RUNNING around us with sheer terror in their eyes and with bollards and tape trying frantically to control the restless hordes of people descending on this session. (Oh, did I mention that it’s Charlie Brooker, the creator, writer and showrunner of Black Mirror?)

We get almost to the top of the line, almost in the door, when we are told it’s full. What!? The crowd is about to revolt when they usher us very quickly into an overflow room.?

Which is full.??

The Hunger Games are mentioned.?

We offer to sit on the floor and they agree, 15 can come in and sit on the floor. My new friend from Council and I are #13 and #14. We feel so grateful to sit on the floor and crane our necks to watch a tiny, blurry projection of Charlie Brooker with Julia Zamiro on the wall. We truly are grateful. Truly.?

Quotable quotes from Charlie: A Chat GPT scribed episode of Black Mirror sent shivers down his spine in the first few lines (“OMG my job is GONE”) but reading on, he found it boring, derivative, cliched - an imitation of a Black Mirror episode. Phew. For now.

And from Julia: Australians are happy if we can get a latte and go to the beach, we’re not thinkers (speak for yourself, Julia…methinks she is underestimating us, in this particular week).

2pm:?

I’m learning from the past and heading to the 2.30pm session NOW.?

Forget lunch, forget charging my phone, the priority is to GET IN LINE! But first a quick toilet break (the one thing we dare not ignore). I run past the line on my way to the loo and it’s already 100 people deep. How big is this room going to be? Some are like the Tardis, some have hundreds of chairs. I run.

Running back towards the line (200 people deep now, and I’ve only been gone for three minutes) and someone’s calling my name. It’s one of our alumni from almost 20 years ago (proven by the fact that her “babe in arms” back then is now a young man standing next to her. Julia ran a “Parisian style salon” way back then, to discuss questions of philosophy over red wine and cheese and I remember those sessions so fondly. We compare notes on the last 20 years and say farewell as my line starts moving.

The 2.30 session is with Roxy Young, CMXO at Reddit and it’s excellent. Inspiring. I’ve got so many ideas about how to use Reddit. And I’ve never been on Reddit before (why not?) It’s new to Australia, since 2021 (though Australians are not new to Reddit).?

I also spy a powerpoint on the wall near me and lunge at it to plug my phone in during the session, which has two great outcomes: 1. No multitasking is possible and 2. My charge goes from 23% to 79% - major win!

Quotable quote from Roxy: Chat GPT describes Reddit as “The Heart of the Internet”.? Awwww.

As soon as the session is over and I’ve connected with the Reddit execs on LinkedIn, I’m out of there; I must get lunch, get air.?

I head to Tumbalong Park (source of the Gozleme…good food is hard to come by inside the ICC, with one rather ordinary cafe only) and the sun is shining; it’s a gorgeous Sydney spring day. I run into a good friend and drag her for lunch (at 3.45pm) but the Gozleme line is long so we eat “African” from a food van (meatballs on a brioche?) followed by coffee and take it back into the ICC to check out the amazing bookstore (from Title over at Barrangaroo, shout out to the “Speedo wearing” bookseller with the mostest, and a bloody brilliant selection of books - I bought five over the five days).

Tumbalong Park, music...food!

It’s late in the day for me so I head back into the Pitch room I started the day in; they’ve been hearing pitches for six hours solid. The last hour is as good as the first and I get to see three more amazing ideas pitched, and another round’s winner awarded. The winner of all 18 pitches will be announced tomorrow at 3.30pm and I plan to be there. The SXSW Pitch is a big thing, apparently…I’m learning.? I connect to The Pitch Doctor who rattles off the “six pillars” of successful pitching so fast my head is spinning and I realise I will need to call him (and pay him) to learn how to pitch like those I’ve seen today. Fair enough. (Actually, contact me please Phil, I don’t know your surname!?)

I float out into the afternoon sun, satisfied that I’ve given South By a bloody good go today; I give it 9 out of 10.? There are films and parties and events this evening but I’m going home to crash. After all, I’ve got to do it all again tomorrow. And Nicole Kidman will be in the house so it’s going to be wild.

Day Four

I decide to avoid Nicole Kidman (because lines, because crowds) and instead get to a great leadership session (HP sounds like they have an amazing culture, I was inspired by Oliver Hill and psychologist Leanne Robers, co-founder of “She Loves Tech”). Then to the UTS Robotics Department’s “It’s 2050 when the robots are amongst us” session (Spot the robot “dog” was amongst us on the day, freaking me out - he’s headless - but delighting others). The panel focused mainly on the shit (literally) jobs that robots can do that we don’t want to, and when asked, Ed Santow touched only briefly on the middle of the night fears of what happens if/when they turn on us...

Sic 'em Spot!

With half an hour to spare (the lines are gone - everyone’s with Nicole) I duck over to the exhibition halls and into part of a session on the “new media” challenging the big boys and subscribe to two new (to me) news sources that I wasn’t aware of: The Daily Aus and Capital Brief.

Then it’s back to the ICC for a panel on thriving in the future (of work) with Derek Laney from SalesForce, Dom Price from Atlassian, Mary Lemonis from REA Group and futurist, Ross Dawson.

Key insights: Don’t plant a seed if you’re not willing to nurture it (thanks to Dom’s mentor) and think about productivity in terms of Impact, Sentiment and Throughput (not just outcomes/metrics). Thanks Mary.

Key questions (to ask ourselves): What skills fulfil me? How can I be more divergent in my thinking? What can I bring as a human (that AI can’t)? (yet).

After lunch I did get to the pitch final (huge congratulations to the winner, NanoCube Health, who have an early diagnostic for pancreatic cancer) and emerged into a sunny lobby filled with the welcoming glitter of hundreds of glasses of sparkling wine and beer and FOOD and some good chats before retreating off home, defeated again, around 5pm.

Day Five

Friday was a working day for me, but I caught ONE session at 4pm on cross-border payments and the inexorable movement from physical money to money as data…great session, with lots of questions, but not a lot of answers, yet…

I then dedicated a good few hours to checking out the festival bars and music. First stop, CommBank’s bar in Tumbalong Park where we exchanged Revolut App funds from my phone, via pay pass, for a Buddy’s Self-Service Boozery credit card, which we then exchanged via a sensor for self-service beer (which my partner pulled so expertly he fit an extra few millilitres in the plastic cup, making his beer $12.18 and leaving me 18 cents short on my cocktail fund…)

As I said around the future of payments, lots of questions, not a lot of answers yet.

The rest of the evening is a blur of line dancing, wings and Korean food.

Key insights: BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER & PARTY ON

*

Five days at South By definitely felt like a marathon, and a cult, and it’s addictive (I was busy on Saturday, the final day of the festival, but a big part of me wanted to get back down there). And I saw NONE of the film, music or gaming bits…three very different weeks could have been/were had, by different people.

Well done to Fenella Kernebone, Head of Conference Programming this year. Rumour has it that SXSW is going to be in Sydney for three years. Bring it on, I say. I know about a dozen other folks that would have loved to be there.

Let’s hope the ICC will have us back next year, when our numbers are doubled

Sound advice, for all.

?? "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs. Your passion shines brightly through your detailed account of SXSW Sydney!???? It sounds like you were surrounded by inspiring individuals and ideas. Thank you for sharing this journey with us! ?? #Inspiration #SXSW #GrowthMindset

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Chris Jones AIECL PIECL

Executive Leadership and Organisational Coach and Consultant

1 年

What a great piece of writing Mandy. You’ve got the craft, and I really appreciated the key insights. I’m going to revisit them again. Party on.

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Mandy Geddes ACC, PIECL

Director, Coach Education, IECL (Institute of Executive Coaching & Leadership), accredited & credentialed org coach, oversee coach education; we educate confident, competent org coaches. Join the world class with IECL!

1 年

The Atlantic article from a month ago that reports on the "book scraping" case that Amy Webb mentioned in her SXSW talk: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/books3-database-generative-ai-training-copyright-infringement/675363/ Very interesting...the results of the pending court case will be even more so... (Amy's books were scraped, apparently).

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Laurie Geddes

Senior Writer at DDB Remedy

1 年

Brilliant piece, thank you so much for sharing it, wish I could have been there! ?? ?? ??

Toni Butler

Professional Certified Coach | Coach Mentor | Coach Supervisor | Coach Trainer

1 年

Great recap Mandy … im a little exhausted just reading about it….??

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