Between BBQ & Beers — A Developer’s Guide to SXSW 2017
Like some of you, I’ve been going to SXSW for (dare I admit it?) nearly 25 years. Not every year — but many times since the Music festival started in 1987 and Interactive launched in 1994. As a career marketer, it’s been fascinating to watch the SXSW brand grow. What brings me back is that SXSW has always been a great place to connect — brands to people, people to people and, mostly, people to new experiences and ideas. But I’ll admit, it’s also become an overwhelming experience.
So I thought I’d share my Top 10 Ideas about how to make the most out of your SXSW 2017 adventure — especially if you’re a developer, product innovator, tech geek or all of the above.
1. The Development & Code Track this year is outrageous. After reviewing the lineup, like 14 times, my advice is — pick a session, any session. It’s that good.
2. Chatbots are a popular topic across the agenda — and designing for this new customer experience is a heady, fascinating challenge. Austin Beer’s session about chatbots Sunday afternoon looks particularly interesting — asking one of essential questions, “How do we design trust in artificial intelligence?” Tricia Katz from Facebook is hosting a session Friday afternoon which explores how chatbots can deepen consumer engagement which looks interesting too. But before you hit up Tricia’s or Austin’s sessions, swing by the Capital One House @ 9:30am Friday morning for an exciting Product-Tech-Design session on this very hot topic.
3. In honor of International Women’s Day, I have to give a shout out to the Product Mavericks: Top Tips From Women Who Build session on Sunday. I’ve seen many of these leaders from Slack, Hilary for America, Lyft and Facebook speak — and they’re inspiring for all. I also reading enjoyed reading this Medium piece about Diversity & Inclusion at SXSW 2017.
4. Last year, we launched DevExchange — which Programmable Web called the first true open banking platform in the US — at SXSW. This year, as DevExchange turns one year old, we’re marking the occasion with new partners, new API products and Open Source projects, new best practices to share, and more. Come by the Capital One House @ Antone’s to help us celebrate and learn more about our work on Saturday and Sunday.
5. Franklin Barbeque. I grew up in Kansas City, but Texas barbeque has my heart. This SXSW, I’ll be living vicariously through the @FranklinBbq feed — because sadly, I won’t be able to make it over for lunch. But if you can go, you should.
6. Any other data geeks out there? Do you love A/B and Multivariate testing as much as I do? Uber, Etsy & Intuit will be discussing A/B testing “secrets”. Not just for marketers — this one looks good for all you developers who are looking to up your testing chops and business impact.
7. Open Source Everywhere. Maybe “everywhere” is an overstatement. But a quick search for Open Source content at SXSW returns more than a dozen sessions and an explosion of OSS experts who are joining the conversation this year. If you’re into Open Source, you’ll want to connect with Capital One’s own Jared Smith, whose brilliantly simple bio reads, “Open Source nerd.” (Oh yeah, and we’re launching a new Capital One Open Source project @ 11:00am on Saturday.)
8. Music For Everyone. I found The Music Bloggers Guide To SXSW to be a well-designed exploration of who’s playing, inspired by the idea that, “We can’t always relate to each other, but we can all relate to a good song.” The lineup this year across venues is as fantastically diverse as you’d expect. I’m a punk gal and a dog lover — so the band PAWS caught my attention right away. And for music anytime, Capital One DevExchange is launching a special Spotify playlist that showcases the artists playing at the Capital One House. All our Spotify playlists are built by devs for devs, or anyone else who needs a little “Do Not Disturb” time. So listen up!
9. Exploring the intersection between humans and technology is all over the SXSW agenda. I’m especially fascinated with IBM Watson — a topic of discussion at our inaugural NEXTECH event. Far from its public debut on Jeopardy, Watson is accelerating new partnerships between people and computers — solving problems in healthcare, government, finance and other sectors that impact our daily lives. The session about How IBM Watson “Really” Works sounds like it’ll provide interesting and valuable behind-the-scenes scoop.
10. STICKERS! I love ’em as much as you do. We’ve got some good ones for you at the Capital One House — even better than last year’s.
If you’re heading to Austin, I hope you learn, laugh, listen and get your fill of Texas barbeque. We’d love to hear what you liked most — or didn’t like so much — so please join the conversation on Twitter with @CapitalOneDevEx and follow our liveblog on the DevExchange site.. I’ll be logging some quality time at the Capital One House time with friends, devs and colleagues. Stop by and let’s connect.
DISCLOSURE: The opinions in this blog are the opinions of the authors/interviewees and not necessarily the opinions of Capital One. Unless noted otherwise in this post, Capital One is not affiliated with, nor is it endorsed by, any of the companies mentioned. All trademarks and other intellectual property used or displayed are the ownership of their respective owners. This blog post is © 2017 Capital One.
For more on APIs, open source, community events, and developer culture at Capital One, visit DevExchange, our one-stop developer portal. developer.capitalone.com/
