Since exercise does more for the brain than it does for the body, and running especially brings our mood, attention, motivation and stress levels back into equilibrium, I started my SXSW experience with an Equinox cross run challenge.
I’m happy I did, because I got the chance to train with a superstar coach – check out this video and you’ll understand my enthusiasm.
The reason why I’m starting this blog post by mentioning something that might not seem to have a connection with the reason why I am at SXSW, is actually because the sprints that David Siik makes us do turned out to be the theme of my SXSW experience.
Sprinting from one session to the other. From one conference center to another. From one exhibition booth to the other. It made me feel that I would probably want something more like SXSLess.
In the spirit of sprinting, let me take you through a quick run of my SXSW experience:
• Wearable technology ruled SXSW. From fitness devices to solar fashion to talking helmets, you had them all.
• Marketers should stop thinking about devices and they should think more (and only!) about consumers needs and behaviors.
• Responsive will become the standard, so stop using the word.
• Trying to catch teens’ attention on social media might become harder than we think. They are not loyal to any social network and the only sure thing is that they will run fast from any network used by their parents.
• Humans of New York has a really cool and motivating founder. It’s hard to capture all the insights in one line, but I tweeted quite a lot from this session.
• I could have played for days with the following digital toys:
– Gyrostabilized LEDs on bike wheels
– A kitchen DJ
– A machine that makes a vinyl record
– Mashable’s wrecking ball
On a personal level, my highlights were the sprints with Siik and learning about crawfish from Marshall Maher and Paul Rand.
So, yes, I loved SXSW. But to be very honest, I think the organizers should be a bit more concerned about the SXSW brand identity.
While big brands are taking over, the young community finds it harder and harder to afford to come here. Maybe this might be the reason why we haven’t seen any big breakout this year?
