The Forrest Four-Cast: December 27, 2018

Hugh Forrest

Dec 27, 2017·4 min read

Whether or not you taking time off this week, understanding the sessions at SXSW 2018 that cover workplace issues will give you a lot more insight into this spring’s event. This track runs March 10–14 and addresses career development, work-life balance, co-working, future of work, diversity, inclusion, HR issues, and employee rights in an ever-changing working environment.

1. A Robot Won’t Take Your Job: A Human Will. While bots are already resetting the dynamic between people, technology, and practices, it’s human creativity, compassion and intuition that cannot be replaced. 90% of companies say they are working on problems so complex that they can only be solved by teams. So why aren’t we investing in making today’s leadership, technical, cross-functional, geographically dispersed, culturally diverse teams all they can be? Scheduled for March 12.
2. Feminist Fight Club: Surviving a Sexist Workplace. Jessica Bennett shares practical tactics and strategies for women trying to survive (and thrive) in male-dominated industries, as illustrated by lessons from her most recent book. From salary negotiations to protecting intellectual property, Bennett blends personal stories with empirical research to provide a stirring call-to-action that is both enlightening and entertaining. Scheduled for March 12.
3. The Future of Employee Engagement & Retention. Millennials will be 75% of the global workforce by 2025, and Generation Z will be starting their careers. U.S. businesses are currently losing $30.5 billion dollars a year due to challenges with millennial retention. In this data-filled session, you’ll learn key strategies on how to attract, retain, motivate and engage millennials and what to expect from Gen-Z. Scheduled for March 14.
4. Hack Yourself: Learn How to Relaunch Your Life. This session will walk the attendees through an inspiring, & actionable model that will enable them to make drastic, profound and long-lasting changes in their personal & professional lives, by leveraging their friends, family and 1st degree connections. Scheduled for March 10.
5. How 5 Months on the PCT Made Me Better at My Job. In 2016, Square Root COO, Elizabeth Schwartz, put one of the company’s award-earning programs (unlimited paid time off) to the test with a 5-month sabbatical to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. The lessons she learned along the way helped transform the company’s culture and business long-term. In this session, we’ll discuss how other companies can find success with programs like sabbaticals, offering ways they can make it work for not just the employee — but for the company as a whole. Scheduled for March 12.
6. See it. Hear it. Stop It: Fighting Sexism at Work. It’s always been an issue, but the firestorm at Uber in 2017 (as well as various other companies and media outlets) has spawned much discussion among us about how sexism still runs rampant in America. Why does this still happen, even in this era where women are more empowered than ever? How can we fight it? This panel of powerhouse women will seek to enlighten and empower both men and women to become fluent in the language of inclusivity in the battle to fight sexism. Scheduled for March 10.
7. Tech-no-color: Advancing Women of Color in Tech. This panel will be a powerful and interactive discussion about how to further build diversity and inclusion strategies with a focus on women of color. This group of senior leaders will discuss how to start the diversity & inclusion (D&I) process, create goals, drive growth and accelerate change. Scheduled for March 10.
8. Zen Your Work: Creating an Ideal Work Experience. Creating your ideal professional experience is possible no matter your role/level, if you have a proactive plan for making it happen. This session will give you the framework to develop that plan. When you zen your work, you embrace the concept that you are in control of your professional experience and mindful of how everything you do creates it. Scheduled for March 14.

Explore more Workplace sessions as well as the other 24 tracks at SXSW 2018 by browsing the online schedule. Use the “search” function at the top right corner to find the Panels, Presentations, Book Readings, Workshops and other content that most interests you. Attend this content in March in Austin by purchasing a badge — hurry registration rates increase at the end of the day on Friday, January 12.

Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.

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