
The SxSW Innovation conference describes itself as “an opportunity for the global community of creatives to encounter cutting-edge ideas, discover new interests, and network with other professionals who share a similar appetite for forward-focused experiences.”
In plain English, it is the biggest, baddest festival of creative geekiness in the whole wide world.
When I presented a session at SxSE in 2017, my goal was to open the eyes of the digital creatives, designers, bloggers, content producers, inventors, tech entrepreneurs, game developers, investors and educators to the awesomeness of American museums, and why they should partner with museums to do great work.
Now I want to recruit your help in sending museum people to next year’s conference to spread this good word. All the proposed sessions are open for community voting on SxSW’s PanelPicker. This public input counts for 30 percent of the selection process—so we can put our collective thumbs on the scale to ensure museums are represented next year!
Here’s how it works:
- Go to PanelPicker
- Create a profile
- Vote on proposals submitted to the main conference or to SxSW EDU
- You can filter by key words (like “museum” 😊) or by topic to find sessions of interests
- Use the ❤️ button to upvote sessions
- Also share your favorites on social!
Act now, because voting closes on August 24.
Here are some museum proposals I found on the PanelPicker site for the Innovation and Edu conferences. (There may be others I missed—please flag and link to those in the comments!)
Some proposals for the main SxSW conference:
Weaponizing the Past: Heritage as a Tool of Repression promises to explore how authoritarians regimes target cultural heritage to erase histories, silence dissent, and consolidate power, and how communities can resist these pressures. The presenters include Brian Daniels, Director of Research and Programs, Penn Cultural Heritage Center and Ihor Poshyvailo, Ukrainian cultural activist and General Director of the Maidan Museum in Kyiv. (The Maidan Museum is a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience).
Unearthing Dreadnoughtus: Lessons from Dinosaurs asks “what can a 65-ton dinosaur teach us about the climate crisis and how we care for our health today?” I particularly love this take-way promised by the session: “How museum spaces and immersive experiences act as cultural catalysts—blending education, emotion, and community to inspire lasting change.” The presenters include Kenneth Lacovara, Founding Executive Director, Edelman Fossil Park & Museum in Mantua, New Jersey. (The museum’s street address is 66 Million Mosasaur Way. HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?!?!)
The People’s R&D: AI, Storytelling & the Future from Queens explores how cultural institutions like the Museum of the Moving Image can lead public innovation. How can a diverse, community-rooted museum prototype civic tech that serves people—not platforms? One of the presenters is Aziz Isham, Executive Director of the Museum of the Moving Image in (of course) Queens, New York City.
Some proposals for SxSW EDU:
Sarah Klein, Senior Manager of Museum Education at the Holocaust Museum LA on Harnessing Social Media to Teach the Holocaust,
Sierra Van Ryck deGroot and Elizabeth Perkins from the education department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on The Way It’s Always Been: Rethinking College Internships.
Leslie Bushara, Chief Program Officer at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan is partnering with stqff rrom MathTalk and the Robin Hood Foundation to address how embedding early learning into shared spaces like parks, waiting rooms, shekters and sidewalks creates more equitable communities. (Learning Hubs 2.0 – Designing for Early Learning Everywhere.)
Don’t miss this opportunity to promote museum awesomeness!
Go, browse, vote, and share. Over 50,000 people attend the main SxSW conference, another 10k or so come for SxSW EDU. Let’s use this opportunity to put museums and the good work we do front and center for this audience of movers and shakers.