theTeam.

New horizons

By Phil Whitehouse 17 Mar 2011.
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A few of us have just attended the SXSW conference in Austin Texas - an event best described as the world's biggest celebration of geek culture.

Whether this thought fills you with excitement or dread, the fact remains that we're in an era of unprecedented connectivity and only just starting to see the impact on our lives. Real time two-way communication is starting to take place between devices without our stewardship - whether it's heart monitors reporting status or satnav devices adjusting a route based on traffic jams, this is only the start.

Which in turn helps explain the thrilling variety of talks at SXSW. Discussions around user experience and citizen journalism sit happily alongside sessions on science fiction influencing the architecture of cities, or hacking NASA's space data, or exploring the ramifications of the approaching Singularity (a fascinating subject worth it's own blog post). And that's just scratching the surface of the surface - there were well over 1,000 sessions to choose from over 5 days.

As digital culture pervades virtually every aspect of society, what does this mean for the digital industry (if there is such a thing)? We've already seen a certain amount of diversification over the past ten years, a period where reputable careers such as Experience Architect, Content Strategist and Community Advocate have taken root and flourished. I predict that these digital careers will continue to proliferate, generalists will have to work hard to stay in touch, and specialists will become even more valuable a resource than they are already.

All of which means that events such as SXSW will grow in relevance and popularity. From it's early roots as a Music festival, it's already grown to a point where Music, Film and Interactive have equal billing. The digital world will continue to grow, increasing the popularity of events such as SXSW where generalists and specialists alike can try to keep pace.

As I sit typing this in Austin airport, waiting for my plane home, I'm already looking forward to next year's event. Who knows what will happen between now and then? It's difficult to predict, but I for one am excited to be part of an industry which is changing just about every aspect of our lives; play, education, health, travel, news, communication and more. It's a proliferation of activity on a par with the Cambrian explosion - but if anything the rate of expansion seems to be increasing. We're five seconds into the big bang.

At the risk of adopting American levels of exuberance; Bring it on!