A very useful tidbit about SXSW that's actually pretty useless.

It's a new fiscal year! This season feels like a mental reset, giving me a little boost of motivation. I want to enjoy doing all sorts of things this year too! (Though as I write this, it's the height of year-end chaos—I'm sending this from a rundown apartment late at night, chasing deadlines while jetlagged... Hang in there... me in the new fiscal year...)

So, the other day, I went to SXSW (South by Southwest), which was held in Austin, Texas, USA, starting March 8th. This was Sasaki's second time attending. Last year, I had the chance to speak at a seminar and wrote a report on my Facebook Notes. Since I enjoyed it so much again this year, I'll revisit the topic. This festival, divided into three categories—Film, Interactive, and Music—is a renowned event everyone in the US wants to attend. In the Interactive realm, it's said that Twitter and Foursquare broke through from here. This year, many people from Japan's advertising industry participated, clearly showing the growing attention it's receiving.

Compared to last year, I felt the energy from the "startup" crowd might have been a bit weaker? Still, the seminars were packed to the brim – there was simply too much to see even if you had five bodies. There was plenty to stimulate and inform us: 3D, gaming, location services, physical & real-world experiences, commerce, evolved social media, and more (though plenty of seminars were duds too). Dentsu Inc., continuing from last year, held a seminar themed around open source and creativity, drawing such a crowd that people had to stand. Dentsu Inc. also had a booth exhibit, which attracted quite a crowd.

While the advertising awards are fun, SXSW feels like it exercises different muscles than usual, so I really hope Japanese advertising professionals will participate. So, here's a little bit of useless trivia about attending...

Our CDC Next-Generation Communication Development Department's booth was always packed, no matter when you visited.

 

First, book your hotel immediately. You'll need to plan to book about a year in advance to secure downtown accommodations. Also, go with someone who can drive a rental car and doesn't drink alcohol. That way, you can use the great hotels and restaurants in the suburbs. This year, one night, we were mingling with interactive industry folks until late when a storm hit—pouring rain. We managed to get back to our hotel since we had a car, but the streets were filled with participants wandering around, unable to catch taxis and trying to hitch rides from regular cars. Soaking wet, they'd just start waving their hands like zombies, swarming out onto the roads. Scary...

Then, then, using the dedicated app makes checking in for seminars easier and lets you see if your friends are there. If you want to make more friends, various MeetUp events might be good. At night, instead of just bar-hopping on pedestrian-only 6th Street, crashing events or parties hosted by companies means you can score free drinks and free food...

Austin has many Japanese restaurants. But this... Strawberry sushi with simmered sweet soy sauce! Surprisingly tasty though.

 

But what I really want to recommend is "exhibiting" something from Japan. Booths aren't that expensive, so it's a great chance to showcase Japanese ideas to global startup peers and investors. Trying out how to present your idea globally here will reveal so much. Please, please bring something next year!

And then there was this company's service at their booth... the one that supposedly changes your mood just by listening to app sounds... When I tried it, it kept chanting "I am strong. I am strong..." over and over... It felt like sleep learning from the Showa era, and it was scary... We can definitely create a better service than that!