ā¬…ļø 5 Years of Probing šŸ§­ SXSW 2024 Days 1-3 āž”ļø

Notes Before SXSW 2024

by Jay Cuthrell
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See also: Notes Before SXSW 2024
See also: SXSW 2024 Days 1-3
See also: SXSW 2024 Days 4-9

Iā€™m heading to Austin, Texas this week for SXSW 2024.

Will you be at SXSW 2024 too? [1]

Getting Informed

In the past, I would live blog SXSW. Or, when there was a microblog social network of the times, I would live post hot takes. This time, I will not subject newsletter readers or social media followers to this real-time stream of stuff. Instead, I will revisit this same post over the nine (9!) days of SXSW 2024 and send the final update as a regular Fudge Sunday update.

Trust me. Your inbox will thank you later. SXSW 2024 begins this week and I am pumped. I am also oversubscribed. Of course, this is normal. Letā€™s visualize to set the moodā€¦ For example, this is Day 1 at SXSW 2024 (so far) for me.

Day 1 at SXSW 2024 (so far)

Strong start, right? Bold. But, I think we might have a problem. By we, I mean me. Day 2-9 at SXSW 2024 (so far) is even more packed with collisions. Exhibit A: Interactive, Film, and Music collide

Day 2-9 at SXSW 2024 (so far)

Eagle-eyed readers may notice the artifacts sneaking in at the top. Yes, those are bands and artists which means I also have many decisions to makeā€¦ and my own need to sleep as a human that would like to function and partake of the prior programming choices I made.

So many decisions to make about so many bands and artists (so far)

And then there are folks like the Ausnio team making me consider even more things! šŸ¤£

Update: Work Plug

Disclosure, I work for IBM.

At SXSW 2024, IBM is sponsoring the Artificial Intelligence track!

As a shoutout to my fellow IBMers, Iā€™m planning to check out these sessions:

Keynotes

As there are only seven (7!) keynotes, I have selected the ones I feel strongest about but Iā€™m also ready to vote with my feet.

And thenā€¦ there are films to screen.

Films

There will be an astounding 451 screenings at SXSW 2024. Most films have multiple options and I am penciling in a few.

First, the truly high-brow onesā€¦

Second, the ones I want to digest and think aboutā€¦

Maybe Iā€™ll pick up some short format features along the way.

Sessions

There is an amazingly daunting amount of sessions with unique voices from a diverse tapestry of industry, academia, and government [2].

Day 1 is always a rush just as it is a hard slog making it to Day 7. If SXSW has human bookends, they would be Hugh Forrest (Day 1) and Bruce Sterling (Day 7).

As I narrow down my selections strategically, I will also judiciously apply my Platinum Badge entitlements and my allocation of SXXpress Passes. Tactically, Iā€™ll be able to decide in the first 5 minutes if I am voting with my feet to find a discussion outside a session or flip to an alternate session that overlaps.

B-Sides, Parallel Events, and Unconferences

As you might expect, there are activations to be had even outside regular SXSW events and venues.

Day 1 Friday 08-March Decisions to be made

Day 2 Saturday 09-March Decisions to be made

Day 3 Sunday 10-March Decisions to be made

Day 4 Monday 11-March Decisions to be made

Day 5 Tuesday 12-March Decisions to be made

Stay tunedā€¦ and updates will be made to this same post.

Day 6 Wednesday 13-March Decisions to be made

Stay tunedā€¦ and updates will be made to this same post.

Day 7 Thursday 14-March Decisions to be made

Stay tunedā€¦ and updates will be made to this same post.

Day 8 Friday 15-March Decisions to be made

Stay tunedā€¦ and updates will be made to this same post.

Day 9 Saturday 16-March Decisions to be made

Honestly, I might just take Saturday to pipeline my prior notes and Fudge Sunday wrapup post. šŸ¤£

Stay tunedā€¦ and updates will be made to this same post.

Music

My top picks so far are varied by genre, venue, and my ability to stay awake.

The rest of the list is narrowing down slowly.

I suspect my need for sleep will be the most rigorous filter.

Update: SXSW 2024 Days 1-3

Disclosure

I am linking to my disclosure.

p.s. As Iā€™ve gotten older, I have come to appreciate getting snail mail. If you have time to drop me a postcard that would be amazing. āœ‰ļø

  1. Review my SXSW 2024 schedule picks to see if we can sit together or catch up after to discuss what we just heard and experienced. If you prefer alternatives, use my Calendly. ā†©ļøŽ

  2. The major collisions are regrettable but I am hopeful that SXSW programming will be archived or covered by the writing of others or digital replay via video on demand (VOD). Most likely, Iā€™ll look at the logistics of getting from venue to venue as the final filter.I needed to make hard choices! ā†©ļøŽ

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