SXSW London: Where Creativity, Culture and Conversation Collide

How do you go about summarising the first ever SXSW London featuring 100s of talks, showcases that explore the convergence of art, tech and culture in a single article!

Sir Sadiq Khan Mayor of London opening SXSW London

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan opened the first day saying the past, present and future were all here on one street and opportunity for us all to imagine a better future. I was pleased to hear Sadiq talk about the use of AI to reduce suicide, how AI can be a force for good, and the need to stop algorithms that reward bad behaviour.

Dr Ally Jaffee, Lee Chambers and a slightly startled Jon Salmon!

bumped into lots of great people including the powerhouse that is Dr Ally Jaffee MBChB BSc , François Westcombe, Nic Duffy, and made some lovely new connections too.

When you have option of 34 venues and over 500+ sessions it was hard to know what to prioritise, and I was only able to catch the last five minutes of Lee Chambers talk and you need to check his fantasic work around allyship and gender equity. 

Emma Baines - Global Head of Creative at Tony's Chocolonely

It was so good to hear Emma Baines, Global Head of Creative at Tony's Chocolonely, talk about how “nice isn’t weakness, and it’s leadership”. Also, thanks for the bar of chocolate but that seems to have already gone missing in my house!

Joe Wicks MBE - The Body Coach and amazing human

I bumped into Joe Wicks and was able to thank him for helping me and the kids through lockdown - what a legend and I couldn’t help but pitch a load of campaign ideas to him including a link-up with Hannah Beecham MBE’s RED January .

Richard Ayers - Founder Rematch

Great to see Richard Ayers kicking off the sport track at Rich Mix, and had a longoverdue catch up with Les Seddon-Brown about Rematch - The Sporting Time Machine (drop him a message if you want to find out about some very cool immersive sports events). 

Jason Bruges Studio - light and plant instalation

The UK House expo Department for Business and Trade was buzzing, with exciting organisations including Racquet Studios Move AI, Disguise and I had a great chat with Charikleia Stringa from Jason Bruges Studio.

It was a brilliant first half to SXSW London, packed with creativity, inspiring people, and new ideas. And that was just the first couple of days!

I was right and I couldn't fit everything into one article! So I will share some thoughts about playing LEGO in a church, behavioural science with Ogilvy, and how tech is reshaping opportunities for artists in the next few days.

Read our second article on SXSW London - From Play to Purpose: More Highlights from SXSW London.