SXSW is a global music, gaming, film, technology, and innovation festival. First beginning in 1987 in Austin, America, SXSW continues to grow as a hub for the future, and has recently found an additional home in Sydney, Australia.
How did our school meet the challenge of introducing the concept of Cybernetics to hundreds of thousands of people at SXSW Sydney across a short 4 days?
First we sent cyberneticians to SXSW Sydney’s Tech & Innovation Expo! At our Expo booth we engaged passersby with the soothing allure of PANIC’s vestabaords swinging as the AI playground produces interesting feedback loops.
PANIC, and the discussions it prompts are an excellent way to reach people on a serendipitous and individual level.
Scaling these amazing conversations, our cyberneticians took to the stage with talks, workshops, and panels!
Amy and Andrew packed out a room with their talk on creativity, cybernetics, and computers.
With help from their vintage slide projector, Andrew and Amy took the room on a captivating time travel journey from 1968 to 2050.
Their talk left many participants wanting to continue the conversation and take a further deep dive, with some people picking up a copy of our book Australian Cybernetic: A Point Through Time from the SXSW Sydney bookstore.
Later that day Aiden and Andrew ran a workshop on cybernetic and complexity leadership with a highly engaged group of people
This workshop introduced leaders to the four key cybernetic principles of plurality, connections, feedback, and synergy.
To the audience of the Discovery Stage, the Wombtunes panel launched the work of our Cybernetic Imagination Resident Caroline Pegram.
After on-stage launch, the panel of collaborators headed over to the School Expo booth where Wombtunes was available to visitors for interactive demos.
Finally, to close out our cybernetic SXSW Sydney experience, Ben joined the panel ’Near Future Focus: Setting The Stage For What’s Next’ to predict the next year of technological developments.
Thank you to all the amazing people who came along and experienced cybernetics with us at SXSW Sydney.
Keep your eyes peeled for even more stories about our time at SXSW Sydney! Coming soon.