SXSW Interactive 2016 got off to a very soggy start
On March 8, Austin Mayor Steve Adler encouraged everyone who works in downtown Austin to work either at home or a half day. The SXSW crowd is coming! Run for the hills (or, for those of you who live in West Austin, stay out in them). Probably not a bad idea. We are here…and en masse. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to participate in SXSW Interactive since 2012. While I do not have hard numbers (yet) it feels like there are more people here than in at least the past two years. So, for anyone who thinks SXSW has lost its relevance, the thousands who have descended upon Austin might disagree.
So, who are the people who have taken over Texas’ state capital for a few days? As I walked the convention halls and rainy downtown streets during the first day, I encountered a refreshingly balanced blend of Millennials, Xers and even Boomers who fill the roles of digital creatives, engineers, software developers, integrated marketers, journalists, entrepreneurs, activists, educators and more at a wide spectrum of international organizations. It is encouraging to see such generational and vocational integration, which creates the richness that is the SXSW Interactive experience.
One well-known Boomer journalist, Dan Rather, drew quite a crowd his session, “One Newsman, 11 Presidents & A Century of Election News Technology Shifts.” Rather provided perspective on political journalism surrounding Presidential campaigns, insightfully (especially in light of last night’s cancellation of Trump’s rally in Chicago) comparing the atmosphere of the 2016 campaign with the 1968 democratic campaign where a Trump-ish Eugene McCarthy threatened to oust party favorite Hubert Humphrey for the nomination. The racial and wartime tensions in the air then resonate strongly with our own current political climate of anger and unrest. He encouraged the SXSW audience not to despair that social tension is a sign that our democracy is dead. Intense conversation over ideals lies at the heart of a healthy democratic political economy. However, he did warn the younger generations (pretty much all of us in the venue) that if “the press” and “the public” refuse to ask difficult questions of presidential candidates, we may soon find ourselves at the end of this glorious experiment that is America. When news trends more with what people want to hear rather than seeking to uncover inconvenient truths that the powers-that-be do not want us to hear, this might raise a red flag about the health of our democracy. Rather summed up by saying that unless journalists are willing to seek the public good rather than ratings-based advertising dollars in their reporting our democracy will certainly suffer.
After Rather’s session, SXSW welcomed a GenXer who just happens to be the 44th President of the United States. Obama announced his SXSW agenda during his weekly presidential address nearly a week prior to arriving in Austin: “a conversation about civic engagement in the 21st century and how we can use technology to tackle our toughest challenges.” He issued a direct challenge to the SXSW audience to be engaged as private citizens – whether our skills are being used for profit-driven or non-profit ends – in helping government (local and federal) better meet the concerns of the people. If we can tackle difficult problems in the private sector with technology, the same energy can also go into collaboratively resolving the significant issues we face as a nation. Appealing to a sense of the public good, Obama called for engagement with ongoing national initiatives like ConnectED, the emerging Opportunity Network, and the United States Digital Service. Waiting for the government to “catch up,” Obama indicated, is not the way to resolve the real, significant issues America faces. Collaboratively creating manageable and realistic solutions to hard problems using our best thinking is possible and the best way for “we the people” to invest in the common good using our best technology resources. The question that hung in the air after his charge: are “we the people” still interested and invested in such a thing?
President Obama’s session was followed (on my schedule at least) by a panel of Millennial-era leaders who came together to talk about the great strides being made in media and marketing in regard to body image and gender identity. Dove, Dodge, Clean and Clear and 30 other corporate brands are currently involved in publicity campaigns that are affirming of a positive body image for girls and boys, and an acceptance one’s gender identity. The positive word from this session is that brands are slowly learning that leveraging brand identity to achieve social good is not only possible but ultimately profitable in the current economy. Of course, the idea of the blending of economic activity with social good is a central value of the Millennial generation’s identity. It is not only possible but should be standard practice, Millennials say, that social good goes hand in hand with commercial products. TOMS shoes, no kid clothes, fair trade coffee and other Millennial product mainstays demonstrate this key value. The panel demonstrated that with the Millennial generation, identity and branding go hand in hand, particularly as commercial activity enhances social amelioration for the marginalized.
Finally, SXSW Interactive Day One rounded out with a close look at Generation Z, the post-Millennials that currently range in age from 5-15 and make up about 25% of the U.S. population who are shaping up to be a very interesting group of people. Like their Millennial predecessors, they also manifest a very close tie between products, services and personal identity. However, rather than having an altruistic tie to a brand, Gen Z constructs their particular senses of values and identities (notice the plurals) from the collection of products and services that shape and enhance their lives. While they are fiercely loyal to the products and services that shape their identity, there is no altruistic connection to a sense of the public good. Generation Z is about the pragmatic, evolutionary, fluid construction of personal identity with any social component being an accident that derives from a collective gathering around or support of a product or service. They represent a major shift in the way identity is constructed and how they will navigate the marketplace and political climate of the future will alter the America of the future.
So, we are all here – Boomers, Xers, Millennials and, at least in theory, Gen Z. One thing that plagues the SXSW audience, particularly relative to a conference whose keynotes are all here to encourage us to turn our talents to helping others, is that it is becoming apparent that as the generations run we may not be all that interested in something as abstract as the public good. As identity fragments and becomes further aligned with brands and products, is there really anyone else left but ourselves? If in the most extreme case, Generation Z, the self is a completely fluid construction comprised of adapted external realities, then I may care for my brother who shares key points of my self-identity, but this is a far cry from what early generations understand as the public good. Self-advocacy through brands and products is a long way from the Boomer notion of society. Can we truly endure in our current form of society in this shifting generation landscape? I’m not honestly sure in some moments, and am more convinced than ever at others.
So, as with every year, SXSW Interactive begins with a core concern. Who are we, and is there a “we” beyond just me any longer in contemporary society? It is a question worth considering.