There’s no arguing that tech took center stage at this year’s South By Southwest. Every March, hundreds of thousands of people flock to Austin, Texas to participate in a yearly gathering of professionals and creatives alike across the film, media, and music industries. This year, the gathering focused on innovations in technology and boasted speakers from around the globe.
These conversations centered around the future of digital currency, women in crypto, NFTs and the arts, and more. This event proves to be an incredible opportunity for industry experts and the best in entertainment and tech to gather together and discuss the future of their respective industries.
But how can people access the benefits of SXSW if they are unable, or unwilling, to attend? Emerging social platforms are leveling the playing field and giving people unprecedented access. Here’s how.
How Social Technologies Bring SXSW To You
Festivals like SXSW are awesome for creators of all backgrounds, but attendance is just not possible for some. Steep ticket prices and post-pandemic health concerns leave many past attendees working with tighter budgets and additional restrictions, leaving the cost of attendance at major festivals out of reach. That’s where platforms like Stage 32 come into play.
Stage 32 offers creators the same benefits year-round, free for members leveling the playing field on information transfer, pitching, training of professionals, and other activities traditionally requiring an in-person networking event to accomplish. On this platform, the benefits of SXSW are available year-round, and during the pandemic, Stage 32 even hosted screenings when others canceled.
What can we learn from this platform? While in-person events certainly aren’t a thing of the past, their necessity and importance are changing over time. The pandemic taught us that events, classes, and clubs can all take place from the comfort of our own homes. Social technologies and streaming services give everyone access like never before.
The “New Normal”: How the Events and Entertainment Industry Is Shifting
At the end of 2019, if you were to tell the global entertainment and events industry that virtually everything they did could be accomplished online, many would have scoffed. But the level at which we’ve experienced technological and digital acceleration can’t be denied.
This year’s SXSW explored these themes at length. Their innovation award nominees and winners centered around AI, machine learning, robotics, wearable tech, as well as virtual reality. The metaverse also provided to be a big topic of conversation. Another big topic of conversation was how these technologies could further integrate not only into business and entertainment but into our everyday lives.
We now see clearly that events and entertainment don’t have to take place in person to be truly successful. Nothing depicts this concept quite like the AR, VR, and the metaverse. Attendees and speakers at SXSW centered on how this topic will change the future of not only entertainment but social connection in the world at large. Tech has always played a big role in our lives, but recent innovations are already shedding new light on how they can be better integrated into entertainment. Founded by actor, producer, screen writer, and voice artist Richard “RB” Botto, Stage 32 has fully grasped this concept since the genesis of the platform and understands technology’s role in and relationship with the entertainment industry is more important now than ever before.
It’s been three years since SXSW was held in person, and since then, we’ve seen a lot of changes. As our society continues to grow and develop, it is our responsibility to see how we can use these technologies and tools to create a more equitable and expansive future.
