With only a handful of months to go until SXSW Sydney launches in October, it’s well and truly time to start getting excited.
It’ll be the first time ever that SXSW has expanded beyond its spiritual home of Austin, and it’s going to be big: hundreds of speakers and leaders of industry, hundreds of emerging and established bands and artists, and the next generation of Screen and Games innovators will appear across the seven days from October 15 to 22.
Luckily for us, we’ve already been given a glimpse at some of the brilliant speakers that will be appearing at SXSW Sydney, having just given thought-provoking sessions in Austin. To give you a taste of what will come in October, let’s get you better acquainted with them.
World-leading futurist, author and professor of strategic foresight at the New York University Stern School of Business, Amy Webb’s keynote at SXSW in Austin was extremely compelling. In one of the standout sessions of the entire event, Webb contemplated the future of food, the threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence, and the trends that will shape our world in the coming years. A charismatic and arresting speaker, Webb will shine a light on the uncertain future when she arrives at SXSW Sydney.
Watch Amy Webb’s SXSW Session Here
Journey Into The Past And Future With Ben Lamm
If de-extinction sounds like something that’s too fantastical to be true, then you should pencil in Ben Lamm’s session at SXSW Sydney. At his eye-opening in-conversation session at SXSW, co-founder and CEO of biotech company Colossal discussed his company’s ambition to produce a woolly mammoth calf by 2028 – bringing the animal back to life after 4000 years. Closer to home, Colossal is also working closely with scientists in Australia to bring back the Thylacine.
But it’s not just de-extincation that Lamm is concerned with: the technology that his company is creating has immediate applications for human healthcare right now. It’s not fantastical, it’s simply the future.
Watch Ben Lamm’s SXSW Session Here
Speaking of the future, author and trend-forecaster Rohit Bhargava launched his new book The Future Normal at SXSW, alongside co-author Henry Coutinho-Mason. A lot of us might think the future is far off, unreachable and nerve-wracking, but Bhargava aims to break down those assumptions, showing us how the world is already changing for the better – through everything from metabolic monitoring to biodegradable sneakers.
As Bhargava argues, humanity already has the tools to solve our greatest challenges – we just need to amplify them. His session at SXSW Sydney will fill you with optimism for our future.
Watch Rohit Bhargava’s SXSW Session Here
We think so! This is just a small sample of what you can experience at SXSW Sydney in October. So what are you waiting for? Badges are on sale now, grab yours here.
And if you want to have a closer look at the speakers that have already been confirmed for SXSW Sydney, head over here.
