More Great Adds to 2018 SXSW Lineup!

The Forrest Four-Cast: March 4, 2018

Earlier this week, we published a list of 10 fantastic last-minute adds to the 2018 SXSW schedule. But wait . . .there is always more. See below for another 10 amazing additions to this year’s March Magic menu.

1. 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Self-Driving Cars. What if all cars drove autonomously? Would steering wheels still be necessary? Will you still need a driver’s license? Can your car drive you home after partying? How will cities be different? How long will it take to get us there? Is the company that invented the automobile the right game changer for such a mission? Find out five things you didn’t know about autonomous cars. Scheduled Saturday, March 10 at the Fairmont.
2. Blacks on the Blockchain. In June 2017, Storj Labs, a decentralized cloud storage provider, launched a Token Sale that was set to end on June 19, 2017; but only one week after launching, Storj met its goal of $30 million. A couple of weeks later in what may have been a first for a digital health company, Blockchain-based electronic medical record startup Patientory raised $7.2 million in 3 days. Both co-founders of these startups are black & in Atlanta. Learn the opportunities for minorities in crypto and blockchain. Scheduled Saturday, March 10 at the JW Marriott.
3. Bob Gruters Featured Speaker. The US Group Lead for Facebook’s Entertainment + Technology & Connectivity business teams in North America, Grueters oversees marketing relationships with leading brands across these key verticals. With more than 20 years of experience, he has has held key leadership positions across the marketing and advertising industry that span television, digital, print, and OOH media. Scheduled Sunday, March 11 at the Austin Convention Center.
4. Connect to End Cancer, Session 1. Hear from Dr. Jill Biden and testicular cancer survivor Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas as they kick off the second annual Connect to End Cancer event. President of MD Anderson, Peter Pisters, M.D. and Greg Simon, president of the Biden Cancer Initiative will join Taboo in exploring the future of cancer care, driven by an ideal patient experience. Presented by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the AT&T Connected Health Foundry, and Merck & Co., Inc. Scheduled Saturday, March 10 at the Austin Convention Center.
5. Cyber Extortion: Doing Business With Crooks. Cyber extortion (typically but not always using ransomware) has become a billion dollar “business.” Individuals and companies of all sizes and industries are vulnerable. Speakers will discuss how to deal with a cyber extortion situation, how things are likely to go down if a decision is made to pay, what you may wish you had done or thought of, and what the law and law enforcement have to say about doing business this way. Scheduled Thursday, March 15 at the Hilton Austin
6. Facebook and Publishers: The Evolution Of News. Can publishers find a new way to connect with digital audiences? Will Mark Zuckerberg’s new search for “Time Well Spent” include any portion of news in the Facebook digital diet? Will pressure to solve the “fake news” problem mean throwing out trusted news sources as well? Speakers include CNN “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter. Scheduled Friday, March 9 at the JW Marriott.
7. The Future and Science of Psychedelics. Join bestselling author Tim Ferriss (pictured above) as he probes the science, mysteries, and future of psychedelics with Dr. Roland R. Griffiths, a clinical pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins. Scheduled Sunday, March 11 at the Austin Convention Center.
8. Infocalypse: The Future of Misinformation & How We Stop It. What can we trust when “fake news” and AI-altered live video make it impossible to believe what we see? Garlin Gilchrist, the Executive Director of the University of Michigan School of Information Center for Social Media Responsibility, and chief technologist Aviv Ovadya discuss how threats to shared perceptions of reality, policy, and diplomacy must be addressed through concerted efforts that include conscientious platform design, investment in mitigation, and more robust tools for observation and understanding. Scheduled Tuesday, March 13 at the JW Marriott.
9. Pitch Black 2018: The Future is Female. The Pitch Black event showcases exemplary Black female founders and co-founders. Participants will present their business ideas for a chance to win an investment of $10,000 from Silicon Valley-based VC firm Backstage Capital, an African-American female-led venture capital fund that invests in new companies led by women, people of color and LGBTQ founders in need of venture capital. Scheduled Sunday, March 11 at the JW Marriott.
10. The Secret Sauce in the Sharing Economy. In the case of improving urban mobility, Mobike has led a smart dockless bikeshare revolution, growing to serve more than 200 million users in 215 cities across 18 countries in under two years. We’ll go deep into the lessons that the company has learned about the sharing economy on a global level, and what made possible this rapid growth. Scheduled Friday, March 9 at the Fairmont.
11. We Must Fix Government Now: It’s Up to Us. There’s a small but growing alliance of public servants, technologists, and concerned citizens who recognize the fundamental threat to our democracy if we continue to let the machinery of government rot, and they’re doing something about it. This movement has gone way beyond better websites. Learn more from Jennifer Pahlka, the Founder and Executive Director of Code for America. Scheduled Friday, March 9 at the Austin Convention Center

Badges for SXSW 2018 are still available. You can also still find lots of great, convenient lodging. For other vital information about this year’s event, visit these eight helpful links. See you soon in Austin!

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.