Celebrate Feb 14 With These SXSW Panels
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 7, 2018
Valentine’s Day 2018 is right around the corner. In honor of February 14, we are highlighting eight sessions at this year’s SXSW that focus on love, in all its many complicated forms.
Christiane Amanpour on Sex & Love Around the World. The veteran CNN chief international correspondent turns her gaze to the shifting landscapes of sex and love in its varied manifestations around the globe. In a conversation with Recode Executive Editor Kara Swisher, Amanpour will dive deep into the stories that inspired her new series “Sex & Love Around the World,” executive produced by Anthony Bourdain. Scheduled for Saturday, March 10
Crave Build-A-Vibrator Workshop. A repeat of one of the more popular sessions from SXSW 2017. Scheduled for Saturday, March 10 — and advance RSVP required.
Design For Love: Design Thinking + Relationships. This workshop is led by two trained Google Sprintmasters who’ve applied product design thinking techniques at Google, Apple, and Airbnb. They are also experts in sex, dating, and relationships — and they will help you apply design thinking to your most treasured side hustle: your love life. Attending this session will help you identify your priorities, state your values, and define your goals. Scheduled for Monday, March 12 — and advance RSVP required.
For the Love of Nerding. In an era of 24-hour cable news, a stream of alternative facts, and an infinite well of political headlines is there room for stories that simply delight? Panelists will make a case for why nerdy, strange, non-pressing stories matter. Scheduled for Monday, March 12.
It’s Time to See Through a Gender/Sex Lens! Sex and gender impact every aspect of our lives. Men and women interact uniquely with medications, cars, and other technologies, yet we continue to create “one size fits all” products and expect similar results. This eye-opening session will accelerate the translation of research into sex/gender-specific design elements for health and other technologies. Scheduled for Friday, March 9
Kids in Cuffs: The Trouble with Teen Sexting Laws. It’s one of the most common parenting nightmares of the 21st century: Finding out your teen swapped inappropriate text messages with a classmate. Unfortunately, outdated laws often make reality even worse — juveniles can actually go to jail for sending or receiving a sext, even though such behavior is ubiquitous among young people. The purpose of this panel is to inform the public about an aspect of criminal justice in desperate need of reform. Scheduled for Friday, March 9.
Sex, Love and Swiping: Tech & The Future of Love. As technology and innovation propel us forward, what are the possibilities for our romantic relationships? From online dating to webcams and sexting, in what ways are new technologies evolving how we connect? Will the traditional convention of marriage and lifelong monogamy survive given the seemingly infinite options served up to us on our devices? This session promises to be collaborative exploration of what the future holds for sex, love and relationships. Scheduled for Sunday, March 11.
Using Explicit Sex as a Storytelling Element. This panel of highly respected women directors from various corners of professional erotica production will discuss the importance of intertwining explicit sex with high production values and immersive narratives for total audience engagement. Discover how explicit sex can be used to connect with diverse audiences and tell stories — which are breaking into mainstream film festivals. Scheduled for Sunday, March 11.
Click here to see the full lineup of SXSW 2018 sessions. Remember to buy your badge for this year’s event before end of the day on Friday, February 9 to save $100 on the walkup fees.
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.
