Translated from 日本語 • View original Nice to meet you. This is Sungmin, the sales manager of ISAO. 1st year of new graduate (2nd year from next month!) But I turned 31 last month.... I have decided to participate in SXSW 2019, so I would like to report to you what I felt during my experience there.
Dates and Participating Members
This year's SXSW is scheduled to take place on March 8~17, and we will be attending until the 13th. The following members from ISAO will participate.
・Hard work genius, Mamoru Toshiki Maezawa (middle) ・Refreshing engineer, Kazuya Hotta (right) ・Muscle engineer, Motohiko Fukase(I am on an exchange program and will join the local team at short notice, and I plan to participate until the 11th) ・ISAO evangelist, Choi Sung-min (left, me)
Before You Leave
ISAO is Bali Flat, so I took the lead in adjusting the schedule and preparing in advance to participate in SXSW 2019. The main things I did were as follows.
・Earning badges ・Airline tickets and Airbnb reservations ・Participating in SXSW Meet Up in Tokyo ・Dallas sightseeing plan (plan to go on a day trip using substimate holidays) ・Various procedures, applications, etc.
As you know, you need to do a lot of things to participate in SXSW, but I think participating in Meet Up is also a must. This is because not only can you get high-quality information, but you can also get friends with people from various industries.
By the way, I participated in Meet Up twice and connected with Audrey Kimura (sales and promotion manager of SXSW Japan Office and co-producer of Japan Night) and various media outlets. If you would like to participate in SXSW, please check it out.
Arriving at Austin
When we arrived at the inn using Ride Austin, we were welcomed by muscle engineer Fukase. (It was a reunion for the first time in two months)
I immediately had a BBQ at a restaurant near the inn. However, the drink I ordered smelled like tap, so I thought again that Japanese water is the best.
Going to the venue
The inn we are staying at is about a 70-minute walk from the venue, so we made our electric scooter debut. There are Lime and Bird, but our favorites are Lyft and Uber JUMP. (Pictured is Lyft)
Crossing the Colorado River ....
Finally, we arrived in downtown Austin.
SXSW 2019 Begins!
I arrived at the convention center, the main venue, and stood on the red carpet. Having received the badge, ISAO members parted ways and began to act.
I attended the opening event. The opening speaker was Brené Brown (a professor at the University of Houston), who is well known for his TED talks.
Events I attended on Day 1
After the opening event and the BBQ Crush Course, I attended the following events.
Land O'Lakes Lounge: An interactive event to discuss food issues
San Antonio Spurs Lounge: An Interactive Event for Fans
LG's Inspiration Gallery: A lounge where you can experience LG's new technologies
Alibaba Cloud Session: Designing Digital Transformation
Session on Bratislava: on the development of Slovakia
AWS and WP Engine Party: An event to enjoy food and drink in an open space in a building
The Rockefeller Foundation's party: an event to enjoy drinks while taking photos
Interactive's Opening Party: An event to enjoy body painting and dancing
The most impressive of them was LG's Inspiration Gallery. Including the world's first rollable TV, which was popular at CES 2019, AI robots that can empathize with users, capsule-type beer makers that can make their own beer, capsule-type ice cream machines, penlights with smart lighting solutions, wall clocks that use projectors to display various information, and jewelry-type wireless earphones were exhibited.
Please also watch the video. Rollable TVs also had an impact, but AI robots that dance to the songs of the world's most popular group, BTS, were overwhelmingly popular.
It was a hard schedule from the first day, but I had a lot of fun.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading to the end. Next, Refreshing Engineer Hotta will post about the SXSW 2019 Pitch. #2もお楽しみに!