SXSW Recap: Kahani Takes Austin
SXSW RECAP
The music, delicious Tex Mex tacos, greenery, and the small businesses barely begin to scratch the surface of the weird beauty of Austin, Texas. Although I've spent seven years in Austin, every trip there always leaves me missing home. On my most recent trip, I attended the South by Southwest Festival with Hani and Amber, where I was able to expand my knowledge of business, entrepreneurship, technology, and marketing through attending panels, networking meetups, and workshops.
Day One
I arrived in Austin Thursday night, the night before the first day of the conference. On Friday, the registration lines were insanely long and it took more than an hour to get through it- but it was expected, so I’m not complaining. As soon as I got my platinum badge which gave me access to all of the events at SXSW, I headed to the Registrant’s Lounge, where several companies, such as Postmates, set up booths to offer free refreshments and swag.
After stocking up, I went back to the conference center to see Disney present on storytelling and happiness, where they showcased some of their newest technologies. They revealed their latest AI development of Tinkerbell, and even demoed a robot that they’d been building for their parks. Following the Disney presentation, Priyanka Chopra Jonas took the stage to talk about her new release, Citadel, with Jen from Amazon Prime.
I finished off Day One by attending South by Slashie at The Clay Pit with one of our amazing clients, Radha Patel from Single to Shaadi. It was really cool to see everyone in person and engage with the small business South Asian community within Austin. They had a cool braid bar at the event, and my favorite part- the free appetizers.
Day Two
Day two started off with a panel presented by a few South Asian business owners. I also visited the Slack HQ setup, where they had a really cool walkthrough experience introducing some of Slack’s new features, as well as, again, my favorite part, the swag station. I also stopped by a networking event for Copywriters, and saw the University of Texas at Austin Longhorn band perform.
I wrapped up day two of my trip by visiting the first ever annual South Asian House at Fourth and Co. This was a fun event with a ton of speakers, chai, and just overall great vibes.
Day Three
My favorite day was this day by far- day three, the beginning of the Creative Industries Expo. The expo featured SO many, and when I say so many, I mean SO many, businesses, organizations, and technologies. I saw a cool hologram creator, helicopter plane, Loungefly’s cute setup, photobooths, AI setups, and so much more. My sister also visited this day, so it was fun to have a buddy to walk around with, and grab lunch with later.
Afterwards, I spent time at another panel before heading to a night market where AAPI small businesses set up small booths and sold some of their products. They also provided food from Panda Express, and had beautiful scenery and vibes.
Day Four & Five
Things started to calm down by day four and five, of which I spent most of the day at our Kahani x Azhar booth, and at panels or film screenings. I also bought a PaperShoot non disposable film camera, which was so cute. After the main events of the days, I had the opportunity to also meet up with my Texas friends and go to dinner. On Day Five, Hani and Amber also came over for dinner with my parents and sister, which was also so much fun.
Overall, SXSW was an incredible experience chock full of networking and exploration opportunities. Going to the festival helped me develop a more holistic understanding of the current technologies in the world, which will also help me develop better marketing strategies going forward. I’m definitely looking forward to next year’s festival, and hope to see you there too!