South by Southwest or SXSW in Austin / Texas is a very popular week-long conference and festival for Interactive, Music and Film. After 2017 and 2018 I am here for the third time with a delegation of Travian Games to gain new inspiration and impulse for personal and company development.
Best things come in threes. After 2017 and 2018 I am joining again this year´s SXSW craziness in Austin to gain new inspiration to grow personally and professionally.
Scheduling a week full of awesome sessions and keynotes, workshops, mentor sessions and many other events around Interactive, Music and Film is always a nightmare. FOMO is hitting hard and I always end up with 2–3 favorite sessions in parallel. Planning, decision making and standing in line early is key to get the best out of South by Southwest.
These are my #SXSW2019 highlights so far…
Brené Brown
In a society where polarization, bullying and blaming is always increasing, values like belonging, community and connection get more and more important. Are we willing to show up and speak out or will we stay quiet? Brené Brown´s research around vulnerability and bravery help me becoming the person, husband, father and colleague I want to be.
Guy Kawasaki — Wise Guy, Lessons from Tech, Startups and Silicon Valley
I love Kawasaki´s book “The Art of the Start”, a practical battle tested guide to start anything. He is a very inspiring speaker with great sense of humor and endless wisdom about how to launch and run a great business. I will listen carefully and apply in my business later on.
Carmen Medina — So you want to become a Change Agent — a survival guide
These days standing out in more and more crowded environments and competing with new ideas and business models is existential for companies. At the same time organizations struggle to be agile and flexible and develop new original ideas. I am looking forward to get some great advice how to overcome organizational obstacles and become a change agent from the awesome Carmen Medina, former CIA.
→ How to come up with original ideas and overcome groupthink in an organization I have learned from Adam Grant´s talk at SXSW 2017 and his very recommended book Originals.
Adriene Mishler — Giving to Grow and Receive
Adriene Mishler and Chris Sharpe have built an awesome business and a huge community with awesome yoga courses on youtube. I like their achievement building a sustainable business while giving most of their content for free as much as I enjoy their yoga sessions in stressful times. I am happy to finally meet them and join also their yoga session.
Check out her 30 day Yoga Camp.
Michael Nieling — I am your boss and full of shit
Michael Nieling is a super-entertaining speaker talking about when to say Shit Yeah to new opportunities and Fuck No to jobs you don’t want to do. In this year´s session he will talk about shitty bosses in times of Weinstein, Trump and Kalanick and how not be an awful boss.
It will be insightful, hillarious and there´ll probably be beer.
Arlan Hamilton
I discovered Arlan Hamilton on the Startup Podcast from Gimlet Media, one of my favorite podcasts. In a very biased man-dominated VC industry she hustled her way up founding an VC firm and is now an investor like no other. She is investing in underestimated outsider founders and wants to prove that you can get rich while caring about diversity and humanity. I am very curious about this
Ocasio Cortez
I have to see the congresswoman from the Bronx Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is stirring up Democrats as Republicans. Her story is again a story about the American Dream — you can achieve anything being smart and working hard. I hope she can do some good to American politics, it’s very much needed these days.
Heroines of Social Entrepreneurship
This session combines two topics I am a big fan. As father of a lovely little daughter I am a strong supporter of female power in leadership and entrepreneurship. It’s more than time to shatter the glass ceiling that still exists and is re-created in some areas.
As an entrepreneur combining business and social impact is the formula of success individually and on a company and society level. It’s adding meaning and purpose to what we do a big part of the day and our lives.
Working Parents Meetup
Facing challenges every day in parenthood and business I am more than interested in exchanging experiences and live hacks to manage kids, marriage and business. The mentioned discussion topics around time management, sleep, life logistics, safety, cooking and work/life chaos minimization techniques are very needed.
Ash Maurya — Mentor
I am currently working on a new startup (Management Education and Training with games) and started with Ash´s Lean Canvas. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to him in a 15 minute mentor session and get first hand advice on how to grow my business from day one.
Startup Pitches
Again the famous startup pitches at SXSW are a must see and I am curious about the next big things in tech and the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs.
SXSW Gaming & Esports
With my amazing team I am working on 4Sight — the upcoming Real-time PvP tactics game on PC. I am looking forward to the many esports events and sessions at SXSW Gaming and connecting to gamers showing our work, getting their feedback and always improving the game.
Bonus
More than that I am looking forward to meet likeminded inspiration seekers, entrepreneurs, creatives, some celebrities and perhaps a partner in crime for a future project. I enjoy the Austin-SXSW vibe a lot and hang around for the one or other Lone Star.
Cheers.
#SXSW18 Throwback – Servus meets Howdy
At Travian Games we already established strong connections to partners in Austin. To intensify the bonds between Munich and Austin, we used the opportunity of SXSW to connect professionals in the creative and gaming industry. Together with Invest in Bavaria and Games Bavaria we organized an exclusive “Servus meets Howdy” dinner. Around 30 invited guests of both communities gathered in the iconic Moonshine Bar & Grill in downtown Austin for an evening of networking, discussing own creative projects and possible cooperations. The Mayor of Austin Steven Adler and the Deputy Mayor of Munich Josef Schmid attended to discuss how to foster the exchange and collaboration of both cities. This evening in a relaxed atmosphere was a huge success. We met interesting creative people, had vivid conversations and hopefully start many new creative endeavors together.
