Day Five At SXSW: Flaws, Mind-Boggles And Getting On The Tech Train

Another day of the internationally acclaimed SXSW has come and gone, and for those of us not there *sobs*, our buddies at Deepend have been doing the rounds, sitting in on sessions, interviewing the troops and giving all us sorry souls back in Oz a taste of what we’ve been missing.

Here’s their fifth and final wrap, courtesy of EJ Granleese, managing partner of History Will Be Kind, Kath Blackham, Sasha Dobson and Jono Butler, managing director, production manager and creative strategist respectively at Deepend.

Overarching themes: This year’s SXSW proved that we’ve truly moved the dial when it comes to bridging the gap between the human and technology. We’re already starting to pre-empt, make sense of, or even surpass, our natural world.

Key quote: “We are just at the beginning of the beginning. The greatest things of the next 20 years, have not been invented yet” – Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine.

Crystal ball moment: There’s little patience for those who don’t jump on the tech train and the industry still has a few inequalities and flaws to iron out, but the future is very exciting indeed.

Cerebral considerations: Technology has never been more human with all eyes on core emotions, social responsibility, facilitating community and being authentic.

Strategy FTW: The empowerment theory that is used in education, legislation and other areas of public services can also be a good framework for digital. Does your process or product empower the individual, organisation and community?

UX tips: Delivering a great experience isn’t the same as providing accurate information.

Design dos & don’ts: Giving the user too many options is tiring but if you make choices for the user you need to be transparent and knowledgeable.

Perfecting your process: Things don’t need to be 100 per cent perfect at launch, you just need to be able to respond quickly if a flaw is identified.

Just on the horizon: The Epiwatch – an epilepsy tracking wearable to support better patient care.

Mind boggling statistic: Ashley Mainz of Southwest Airlines has 35 employees in the social customer care team. Staffed 24/7 to support up to 80,000 social media posts per month, they average a six minute response time on Twitter queries. Amazing.

Daily insight: People spend the least with cash, a bit more with card and the most with contactless technologies.

Cute technology: Pepper the robot who can shake hands, fist bump and go for a walk.

Tips for next year: Pick your top three sessions per day, go to at least one workshop and don’t be seduced by a great topic title. Always research the speakers and make time to experience the pop ups.

Th-th-th-th-that’s all folks!

Deepend and History Will Be Kind are proudly part of a four-agency collective, the Deepend Group, an independent, digital communications and innovation consultancy group.

Deepend is one of Australia’s leading independent digital marketing and communications agencies with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. They help businesses succeed with great engineered ideas and innovations, which have people at their heart.

History Will Be Kind is a new breed of communications agency, operating at the crossroads of public relations, social media and digital communications. They create stories that people want to share and conversations that you want to be part of, tapping into trends and driving debate.

The Deepend Group portfolio includes the leading specialist agencies Deepend (Digital), How To Impact (Innovation), Nomad (Mobile) and History Will Be Kind (PR/Social Media).

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