Dave Clarke and Shaun O’Connor’s SXSW Diary for 2015 – So what’s worth knowing?

DDB Sydney’s Creative Technology Director Shaun O’Connor and Digital Creative Director David Clarke are covering SXSW exclusively for Campaign Brief.

Dave Let me just get this out of the way, SXSW – henceforth known as “South By” – was brilliant. I know there are a few naysayers out there, and its just bullshit. The whole festival oozes a college campus vibe, albeit one where the lecturer’s are m/billionaires and nobody cares about athleticism. And as an Aussie, it’s a welcome breath of fresh air to have access to the people and ideas that our industry covets so much.

Shaun I haven’t read any ‘SXSW Wrap-ups’ or ‘Top Trends’ lists, yet. This is what I took from it, not what I read online. There were a lot of Australian agency people there, the most I’ve seen in the last four years. This is a good thing.

Top Trends & Takeouts

Disintermediation

This trend was really prevalent across a number of lectures. In today’s open market, more and more players are realising the strength of services, content (and talent) that cut the middleman. Facebook did this a century ago for friends, Pinterest for products, Etsy for craft – but as more dots connect across more platforms, we’re likely to see an increase in svelte user experiences that may ultimately come at the expense of openness.

New Frontiers

Virtual Reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) both had a huge presence this year. I saw and experienced more promising first-hand demos in the past week, than I had in the past year. But – and mentioned on our Day 1 post – there is a huge challenge ahead in defining how we put it all to best use. Much of it feels like technology searching for a problem; and the best of it were solutions that still hadn’t landed a killer app. And it’s this opportunity that really excites most.

However as our industry played it’s part in the overexposure and recent death of Google Glass, it is easy to wonder whether we’re collectively restrained enough to put the UX of these new platforms ahead of the buzz? And in line with that…..

Wearables x Collaboration

We/you/they cannot do everything. The intersection of technology, fashion, design is where the best products will come from

Privacy

In a Post-Snowden America and in the early stages of consumer-level IoT adoption, privacy really was the talk of the town. I’m an advocate, but didn’t expect it to play out in nearly as a loudly as it did at the festival. And that’s a good thing. We do need to take it seriously. And as agency folk venture deeper into the application, service delivery and product development world, we need to take this as seriously as the boffins in Silicon Valley.

We (Australian Agencies) stack up OK

Our people are talking at SXSW –  what they’re saying is really well received and the work is best in class. We just need more of it.

Dave’s Top Things at SXSW

Best Brand Popup

GE BBQ.

Best Food

Iron works BBQ (left).

Best Session

3D Print the Smithsonian – for it’s surprising application of technology for the common good.

Best Buzz

Meerkat.

Shaun’s Top ‘Things’ at SXSW

Best Session

Astro Teller.

Huge problem, Radical solution, Breakthrough Technology = Google X.

Glass. It was launched as a finished product. But, it was a really a test asking people to tell them what they think, what could be better.

Best Food

Migas, Queso Breakfast Taco at Tamale House.

Best/Worst Brand Activation

Fry-Fi Station, McDonald’s. People loved the food truck. Give them what they want. It works. (*Disclaimer, I work on McDonald’s.)

ESURANCE. Line up to get a card, come back daily you see if you’ve won. Everyone I spoke to about this had no idea what was going on.

Best Party

Dress Code, Barbarian Group & Percolate.

Mobb Deep. Thanks SJ and Percolate.

And with that we head for home. Was it worth the trip? Without question – Dave.

I’ll be back next year, maybe speaking, definitely with a few of my team – Shaun.