Ever since I attended SXSW Interactive a few years ago, I’ve loved it, and although circumstances the last few years haven’t allowed me to attend, I still try to do so – virtually. Every year, I beg SXSW (via social media) to stream video of more of their sessions. Over the last few years, they’ve only streamed 1-2 of the keynote speeches per day. I was so appreciative I got to listen to the AWESOME presentation from Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe a couple years ago.
Last year, they started streaming a few more, maybe 3-5 per day. I got to listen to a few great talks, like Steve Case talking about looking to places outside of Silicon Valley for the next big thing, the Lyft CEO taking the high road, and an inspiring conversation between Gary Vaynerchuk and former GE CEO Jack Welch. However, I still crave so much more – not all 600+ sessions, but maybe 2-4 presentations every session. Even being there, it was impossible to make it to presentations every session and attend everything I wanted to.
I started a new job last year, and there’s no way I could justify to my boss why I needed to go to SXSWi. Therefore, I will be attending SXSW 2016 again virtually. That means tuning into official (and occasionally “unofficial”) video streams of keynotes & sessions, and following the Twitter streams from various sessions. It also means being able to sit in front of my laptop and enjoy a beer while tuning into the keynotes (which – in some ways – is better than being there fighting the crowds IMHO). Again, I’m begging SXSW organizers to stream more sessions, but I’m also looking for others streaming content.
Meerkat was great last year for getting streaming video of sessions from various individuals, but this will be Periscope’s year (as Meerkat recently announced a change in direction – because they just couldn’t compete against Periscope, owned by Twitter). I’ll be using the Periscope app on my iPad to search for streams from SXSW (almost makes me wish I had an AppleTV to watch Periscope on the big screen). Unfortunately, I don’t have many friends going, otherwise I’d be watching Facebook Live as well. Here are some other venues I’ll be keeping my eye on:
SXSW Live (also contains a schedule of keynotes that will be streamed)
SXSW On™ via my Roku
SXSW on UStream | Live on UStream
If you’re like me and have to attend SXSW virtually this year, please use the tag #VirtualSXSW and share any live streams or sessions you’re following remotely.
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