2 Questions I Walked Away with After Attending SXSW Sydney

As marketers and advertising executives, we tend to default to tuning in to others in the same industry who share similar views. This applies to SXSW, too, where you'll get a room full of advertising executives hearing another share their award-winning campaigns while breaking down the strategy, creative process, and inevitable AI integration. Yet deliberately going 'off track' - wandering into unexpected topics and connecting with people outside my usual circle - led to insights that transcend agency work and resonate on both professional and personal levels. 

Fundamentally, we share more parallels with other industries - healthcare, F&B, robotics, and beyond - than we might think. What unites us isn't our specific domains but our shared motivations and aspirations for positive change. 

SXSW Sydney may already be planning for next year, but I walked away with two questions that live rent-free in my head: 

1. As humans, and more so, marketers, are we part of the solution or the problem? 

The session 'Guilty as Sin: Lifting the Hood on How Tech has Transformed our Vices for the 21st Century', featuring Ruby May and Dr. Alanna Kamp, struck a powerful chord. Their observation that current technology mirrors human nature - existing only because we do - serves as a sobering reminder. As technology and AI advance faster than our ability to regulate them, the responsibility falls on us to ensure innovation serves the greater good, especially amid rising concerns about deepfakes and misinformation. 

This theme resonated even more deeply during 'Raising Social Media Citizenship to 36 Months' and 'The Unfair Fight: The Tech Arms Race.' The panels painted a concerning picture of technology's impact on youth while emphasising that human connection remains our strongest safeguard. The question becomes: how do we harness technology to create safer spaces rather than more dangerous ones? 

That said, we can all take a leaf out of DemR Health’s book, the SXSW Sydney Pitch winner, demonstrating how personal experience - the founder's mother's battle with skin cancer - can drive meaningful innovation. Their non-invasive alternative to skin biopsies shows how technology can solve real human problems. 

Rob Galluzzo's session, 'The Lies We Live by: Question How You Think,' reinforced this through his 36 Months movement. His message was clear: mere curiosity isn't enough - 'curiosity plus action is adventure.' We must move beyond observation to active participation in creating positive change. 

2. What other impact can I make or at least try to make to drive positive change in the workplace? 

While discussions about workplace culture often feel well-trodden, SXSW Sydney offered fresh perspectives that challenged conventional wisdom. The convergence of insights from Amy Gallo's 'Embracing Healthy Conflict' session and the unexpected wisdom from 'Go Out and Be Good: A Way Forward for Hospitality' with Ben Shewry and Hamish Blake revealed universal truths about human connection in professional settings.

One striking parallel across these discussions was that passion isn't just fleeting excitement - it's "curiosity that doesn't get tired." It's not about maintaining constant enthusiasm but nurturing an enduring desire to learn and improve both on a personal and professional level. 

The sessions also dismantled common workplace narratives. The idea that generational conflict is inevitable was challenged as a 'dead-end' way of thinking. Amy Gallo also challenged the audience to advocate for holding opinions lightly and remaining open to change when presented with different facts or opinions - a particularly valuable mindset in our rapidly evolving industry. 

In an industry that is measured by our success, Amy Gallo also provided actionable tips on approaching failure - rather than asking, "What went wrong?" when team members fall short, ask, "What did you learn?" This subtle shift transforms moments of failure from sources of blame into opportunities for growth. 

These insights from SXSW Sydney remind us that meaningful change - whether in technology or workplace culture - starts with questioning our defaults and being willing to venture beyond our comfort zones. As marketers, we're uniquely positioned to influence both how technology shapes society and how organisations evolve. The question isn't just what we can do but what we should do with that responsibility. We must also remind ourselves that technology will continue to evolve, but the fundamentals of human connection and cultural development remain our bedrock.