#sxswiss

[swissnexboston]

Where Tech meets the Arts, and where Cowboys meet Raclette

By Anita Suter, Senior Communications Manager at swissnex Boston 

Once a year, the city of Austin attracts tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe. SXSW triggers people from all sorts of backgrounds and industries to rush into Texas, a state nearly 17 times the size of Switzerland, commonly associated with cattle ranches, cowboys and barbecue. Coming from near and far they are eager to participate in the ten day immersive celebration of innovation, technology, music, the arts, and a mix of all the above. This year, in an effort led by a multitude of Swiss partners, swissnex Boston joined a multidisciplinary, multi-event presence of Switzerland at this massive conference for the first time.

The SXSW Trade Show - an expo for creative industries 

The centerpiece of #SXSWISS was a Swiss booth at the SXSW Trade Show, the „exhibition for creative industries“ taking the first floor of the Austin Convention Center. Attendees browsed through exhibitor pavilions ranging in topics from „the future of food“, to „social impact“ (donate your USB stick to a charity who will fill it with ebooks, news and movies and bring it into countries with limited freedom of press and artistic expression) to „startup central“ (try your luck at the „Helicopter pitch“ lounge.)

#SXSWISS - the Swiss at South by Southwest

Within the International Pavilion, the Swiss booth was THE place to be for anyone who wanted to get a first-hand Virtual Reality experience for a bird's eye perspective of the New York Skyline (loooong lines for Birdly, our all time favorite, ZHDK-sourced immersive flight simulator), who came looking to see their drawings come alive (ETH Zurich Game Technology Center with Disney Research) or who were eager to play with video games by Apelab, Playable and Struckd - to name only a few of our booth occupants. Equipped with Vitra multifunctional furniture, the Swiss booth was also a place for one-on-one meetings with clients and stakeholders, permitting all participating parties to discuss business on the spot.

Swiss-made VR, AR and gaming experiences showcased at #SXSW

Speaker sessions: From cancer research to wearable technology

While the expo was a fun and engaging way to interact with the audience, the true essence of SXSW interactive laid in its array of keynote speeches and panel discussions, this year featuring former Vice-President Joe Biden (who made a passionate speech asking tech leaders and innovators to get more involved in research toward finding a cure for cancer), New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet (who shared his perception of the news media's role in the coming years on stage during "Covering POTUS: A Conversation with the Failing NYT") to name just a couple. 

It was also all about the Levi's and Google smart jacket taking the stage for a glimpse into the feature of wearable technology (answering your phone and getting direction at the tap of your sleeve? Exactly.) You could also quench your thirst for insights about the “Future of Museums” (because AR/VR/MR content is changing the mediation between visitors and the artworks as we’re speaking).

Swiss researchers taking the stage

A different kind of wearable was presented by renowned EPFL researchers Grégoire Courtine and Stéphanie Lacour. They talked about their groundbreaking efforts to make paralyzed people walk again. “Elastic interfaces for your body” was the first of three Swiss panels, with "Can I trust my AI therapist" discussing the chances and dangers of Artificial Intelligence in Health Challenges, and with an all female panel tackling the question of how to incubate creativity.

Swiss Panel Discussions at SXSW

Networking under palm trees

Part of SXSW’s success is that it offers a place where work meets pleasure (catching a 20 minute live concert while walking from one conference venue to the other? Thanks, Pandora!), and where the best meetings often happened were at random usually at the after-hour events. How about networking under palm trees while eating authentic Swiss Raclette (with a side of original Texas pulled pork)? No problem with the Swiss in town! 

Long lines for the Swiss Garden Party at Cenote (Photo: Patrick Zuest)

No Swiss Party without Raclette (Photo: Patick Zuest)

Networking under palm trees (Photo: Patrick Zuest)

We set the stage for Switzerland meets Texas at our Swiss Cowboys and Girls Garden Party, a stone-throw away from the bustling downtown conference centers. And our calls were heard; more than 1000 RSVPs arrived in the days leading up to the party, and in the end several hundred visitors came to meet and mingle at the Swiss party – an event officially recommended by the organizers of SXSW in their newsletter.

Visit the #SXSWISS photo gallery here (Photos by Patrick Zuest)

Press articles on #SXSWISS:

20 Minuten

Tagesanzeiger

Aargauer Zeitung 

#SXSWISS was made possible through the collaboration of the initiative led by swissnex San Francisco, swissnex Boston, Greater Zurich Area, Pro Helvetia, DART 17, Engagement Migros, ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of Zurich, Digital Festival Zurich, Festival Tous Ecrans, Vitra, Valora, Freitag and Emmi

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