Celine Giovanni’s SXSW Sydney Diary #1
Celine Giovanni is the digital strategy director at New Zealand agency True. Here, Giovanni writes her recount of Wednesday @ SXSW Sydney exclusively for Campaign Brief…
True @ SXSW Sydney – Hello Wednesday!
10:30am: The future of film, TV and Streaming
Honestly quite interesting that this talk with very important person Chairman Charles Rivkin of the Motion Picture Associations was crammed into such a small room – but here we go. The last 100 years of MPA has been very busy – in between Fraggle Rock, women being required to smile on camera during birth, content piracy, Netflix, SAG strikes and Selma Hayek Deep Fakes– the truth is that good stories will always exist and the “soft power” of telling a nation’s story endures. Also apparently, so too does a never-before-seen image of Rita Heyworth, hung up in Emmanuel Macaron’s house.
11:30am: SXSW pitches for Healthcare, Biotech, the Future of Medicine, Augmenting Humans
THREE minutes to pitch, THREE minutes to be interrogated by a panel of THREE – not the Shark Tank you know, but the self-proclaimed “Dolphin Tank.” Startups pitches by Foodini, In-Confidence, Pending AI, and Zymedene A summary? There are incredibly clever people making wonderful solutions to make people’s lives better. So inspiring in fact, that I was hooked on this SXSW pitches series and came running back for more (see below).
12:45pm: Web 2.5 Advertising that pays for itself
The description for this talk included “This is not a magic show, it is very real. Dr Mike will turn followers into influencers, and back to customers, live on stage.” Unfortunately, despite finding the stage, I did not find Dr Mike. I did however stumble upon an HP stand game of digital Pictionary. Amazingly, someone got “motherboard” from a single square. Perhaps even more amazingly, someone in the crowd accurately guessed “Kangaroo” from the below.
Isn’t nature amazing?
1:00pm: Web3 in 2023, Composability, Interoperability & Why it all matters
Despite missing out on Web 2.5, Web 3.0 was up next, whether I was ready or not. Quite simply – composability is creating something new by combining other things (A + B + C = D) and interoperability is about things working with each other. The deterministic ‘secure black box’ of the de-centralised environment means we haven’t seen much interoperability with Web2 and Web3. However, there are some brands (like Starbucks) that are playing into this space, cultivating engagement and loyalty by rewarding collectibles to their fanbase. The big question – why does it all matter? They sold me the dream – a world of flash loans, security, smart contracts (e.g. insurance for farmers), direct control over assets, an economic destiny without commission, geographic agnosticism, and of course, the collectibles.
2:00pm: Humanity vs Technology: Which Will Save Our Planet?
Honestly, I got quite lost trying to find this place but here’s my three main take-outs:
- 1. A Pangolin is abducted every three minutes for illegal animal trading
- 2. To combat illegal animal trading, details contained in the keratin of animal hair is captured using x-ray fluorescence. This is then analyzed and modelled to determine an animal’s origins through elements traceable from their diet (and thereby determining if the sale is legal)
- 3. The chairs in the NSW Collider are far comfier than those in ICC
I also won a Chocolate Chuppa Chup via Omron’s year 3000 level crane drop.
AND I got my brain waves read by AAII’s “DreamMachine” – a system that uses machine learning to interpret dreams from brain signals. Apparently when I am envisioning an apple, it’s actually a rose! Who knew.
3:30pm – SXSW Pitches for Law and Order in Cyperspace, Security and Fintech
THREE startups, THREE minutes to pitch, THREE minutes to be interrogated by a panel of THREE. Check them out – Equotee, Geniepay, and Kids O Clock.
4:00pm – Web3 for Artists and Creators
We made art based on SXSW logo and put it on the Metaverse. And with this, I’ve finally left my enduring mark on the world by solving world peace.
