SXSW Sydney: The 6 best (non-AI) sessions I went to, and their takeaways

In 2024, my focus is 'COMMUNITY' and I've decided to create a monthly 'Pay it Forward' newsletter, highlighting people, organisations or even articles I come across each month, who are doing interesting, powerful and kind things. It will intentionally cover a variety of topics - to get us out of our algorithm formed bubbles.

I'd love to have you join this journey, so please feel free to create your own list, tag people doing cool sh*t here, or share these newsletters.

Thank you for being a part of my community.

Hannah

This edition I'm going to focus on SXSW Sydney - and if you're not familiar, "SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST SYDNEY. BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER TO INSPIRE THE UNEXPECTED.

Dedicated to helping creative people achieve their goals, SXSW Sydney is for anyone with a desire for discovery. With over 1,000 sessions and sessions, events and experiences, we’re creating a platform for countless connections that drive new ideas forward across Asia Pacific and beyond."

Here are the top 6 sessions I attended, and the key takeaways from each (in no particular order). I could have added more, but it would be far too long with our short attention spans. . .

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - Johann Hari

Our attention has evolved to attach to meaning. Our flow state begins at the end of your comfort zone. It's important to set aside a significant amount of time to do one thing. Attach a purpose to this thing, and then push yourself to your limits. This is when you enter flow state.

We're in an era of surveillance capitalism (e.g. social media) whereby our attention is the product social media sells. We are not the customer of social media, we are their product. Social media is designed to frack our attention - to keep us scrolling - to keep within their platform, and addicted. One of the former Google engineers Hari interviewed, James Williams, spoke at a technology conference - hundreds and hundreds of people from Silicon Valley were there. These were the people who are designing the world in which we live. He asked, “Could anyone here put up their hand if you want to live in the world that we are designing?” Not one person put up their hand. This is about changing the incentives for those people, the financial incentives so that we can get to a saner model. So what if we changed the model? Made social media a subscription?

We have a negativity bias - we're more likely to stare at a car crash, than at an adorable puppy. The algorithm works to show us things that make us angry and upset so that we'll scroll longer. It's giving microphones to the cruelest of people, and is now moving from fracking our individual attention to fracking our collective attention - which then begins to threaten democracy.

Loneliness is an epidemic, and factors into our attention. The more lonely we are, the more vigilant we (evolutionally need to) become; which takes away from our ability to be attentive and engaged.

Read more here

From Petri Dish to Planet Saver: Sea Forest's Bold Journey Revolutionising Food Systems & Climate Action

Asparagopsis is a common seaweed native to the waters of Tasmania. Adding this seaweed as a supplement into cattle food virtually eliminates methane emissions in cattle.

Currently farmers need to opt into this as a solution to methane emissions and help drive a better climate for future generations.

With approx. 1.5 billion heads of cattle worldwide, producing 6.5 metric tonnes of methane into the atmosphere each year (approximately 11.1% of greenhouse gases), this is an opportunity to make a tangible change for our futures.

Thank you to Sam Elsom for leading this brilliant organisation, and to Liana Rossi for the insightful questions > and for your final words, which I'll repeat here:

In Australia, we have 3.9 TRILLION DOLLARS in our super funds. That should be enough to decarbonise Australia - what are you doing with your super?

Here's more on Sea Forest

The Power of Stupid Ideas - How to Unlock Creative Brilliance with Nicole Velik

Is it stupid, or is it just first? Seek 'crazy' and 'stupid' ideas. Fear will kill your creativity.

Good ideas come out like a 'baby giraffe being born.' Give it time to find its feet. The creative process is messy and its a matter of quantity over quality - not logic and linear. It's easier to tame a wild idea than make a boring one exciting.

Reframe the question you're looking to answer. We all have bias, and if you walk into a room and the question is 'How does Qantas increase their customer loyalty?' the first thought is likely to be 'points.' If we change it to 'How does Qantas increase their customers' affection?' a new range of ideas will form.

We often put divergent and convergent thinking in the same room. It's time to split them (rather than a 'stop - go' in a room). Let the ideas flow - have a room with a safe space to share. One idea will often lead to another in this divergent space. In a second space introduce the convergent thinking. Get analytical, refine and finesse for budgets and judgements.

Sometimes you have to fight to keep an idea alive. Fight with enthusiasm.

This workshop was fun. When asked to create wild ideas to promote Air New Zealand , Maya Ivanovic & I decided to offer passengers the chance to participate in a Guinness World Record attempt to have more people in NZ than sheep, and as a prize for participating a sheep is adopted in your name. Let the ideas roll.

Roadmap For Australian Tech Startups to Expand in India

Lead with heart. In India its important to get to know your potential clients, their families and friends. If they invite you to dinner on a Saturday, or a wedding - it's a must attend. They must feel comfortable with you.

Partnerships are everything. Don't try to do it on your own. Don't try to enter all of India at once. Pick a state or region, and start there.

Get connected and work with those who are tapped into local networks. Be specific in your desired outcomes so that you can create a business 'ripple effect.'

Localisation and on the ground connections through opportunities like Big LEAP Accelerator Program are the way forward.

If you'd like to know more, connect with Jasmine Batra !

Are Brands the New Cultural Super Force?

Currently, society has such a high b/s meter, that it's noticeable - and detrimental - when a brand is inauthentic or breaks from values. Practice what you preach.

A strong brand that reflects it's consumer has the potential to become it's own cult-like entity. The consumers feel like they 'belong' with the brand and use it for social-signalling.

A brands' superpower is when someone says 'it's for people like me.'

Gen Z are about activating brand: collaboration and community. They're attaching cultural meaning to their purchases.

Remember that brand building is the long game - 95/100 people may not be ready to purchase now, but that's a large group of people for which you want to be their #1 choice when they do have purchasing power.

In 2024, brands wield unprecedented influence over Australian culture. This session explored their role as cultural superforces. A great conversation with Sam Koslowski ?? of The Daily Aus, Timothy Snape , Marketing Director of Heaps Normal, Elly Strang , Content and Communications Lead at Tracksuit and Strategic Futures Director of SOON Future Studies, Tully Walter .

New Rituals: The State of Socialising & Hospitality from Concrete Playground

Regulars are still the backbone. Localising to your area is beneficial.

The disappearing middle: people are more willing to pay for a "big experience" (e.g. Taylor Swift) as opposed to lots of smaller nights out. The occasion over the weekend. This is also playing out in the retail sector: less of it but better quality (more premium - 'treating themselves'); or cheap and cheerful (cost of living).

R&D is going into non alc & liquor that is catering to Gen Z lifestyle: how do we have the ritual of the cocktail at home. What fits into their lifestyle?

Consumers (particularly younger) are looking for healthier choices (including options like kombucha), and are drinking less because alcohol is no longer the focal point or the reason they are going out. There is still a role for alcohol to play in social interactions - particularly around getting people off their phones and talking to each other.

And just for fun... here is a FLYING CAR.

And that's all for now. Thanks for playing along!

Hannah x

(If you'd like to know a bit more about who I am - read this).

In the spirit of reconciliation I?acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.