For a very special episode of The Innovation Engine, we’re giving you a look inside the 2017 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. SXSW celebrates the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. SXSW Interactive focuses on emerging technology and has developed a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas, creative technologies, and product innovation. The festival includes a trade show, speakers, parties, and a startup accelerator.
We took The Innovation Engine on the road to Austin for this episode, where we got the chance to speak with a number of people whose work we found interesting. Subjects include:
- Martin Wezowski, the Chief Designer & Futurist of SAP, who was at SXSW to speak about the future of work. Martin shares a window into his day-to-day working world and talks about why he is passionate about working with others to create a future in which we all want to live.
- Jen Dante, who leads product innovation for children and family in member experience at Netflix, talks about the culture of A/B testing at Netflix and what those tests have taught their team about how good or bad humans are at predicting features users will like (hint: not that good).
- Conor Egan, Chief Product Officer at Brandcast, who talks about their newly launched product that just came out of beta. Brandcast is a tool designers and creative professionals can use to create eye-catching websites, digital portfolios, and other branded web experiences, all without writing a line of code.
Listen to the Episode
Interested in hearing more? Tune in to the full episode of The Innovation Engine via the SoundCloud embed below.
Watch the Video
Want to know what it’s really like to be at SXSW? Check out the 360-degree video from our time at the conference via the Vimeo embed below. You’ll get a taste of what the crowds were like in Austin, see what the future of autonomous cars may look like in the form of the Nio Eve (pictured above and in the video thumbnail; think a living room on wheels), and get the chance to walk the floor at the SXSW expo, where you can see and hear about what NASA had on display, among other things. If you’re watching on a desktop, you can click and drag the viewpoint directly within the video embed.
If you have a VR viewer, you can also follow these links to the videos on Vimeo or YouTube to get the full immersive experience. If video quality is lacking on YouTube, be sure you set it to the highest 4K resolution possible.
About The Innovation Engine
Since 2014, 3Pillar has published The Innovation Engine, a podcast that sees a wide range of innovation experts come on to discuss topics that include technology, leadership, and company culture. You can download and subscribe to The Innovation Engine on iTunes or tune in via the podcast’s home on Stitcher Radio or SoundCloud to listen online, via Android or iOS, or on any device supporting a mobile browser. You can also download the podcast’s dedicated iOS app from the iTunes App Store.
Will Sherlin
Senior Manager of Digital Marketing
Will Sherlin is the Senior Manager of Digital Marketing at 3Pillar Global. He oversees the 3Pillar website and other web properties, hosts 3Pillar’s ‘Innovation Engine’ podcast, and manages 3Pillar’s social media accounts. Prior to its acquisition by 3Pillar, Will was an Account Manager at PointAbout, a DC-based mobile app boutique that specialized in developing iPhone and iPad apps. He holds a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina.