“Workplace” Track: March 10–13

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 17, 2017

Friday brings the end of another long work week. As such, it provides a good opportunity to explore all the cool content in the “Workplace” track at SXSW 2017. This track runs Friday, March 10 through Monday, March 13 at the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Austin. A handful of the “Workplace” sessions that we are particularly fond of include:

1. Black Valley: Increasing Tech Internships & Jobs. Wth a network of more than 540+ interns, the movement known as Black Valley is making the case to companies to create more internships, apprenticeships and jobs for men and women of color. Hear their thesis on how to make this happen. Scheduled for Saturday, March 11.
2. Business in China Meet Up. Explore the nuances in the way the Chinese do business and delve deep into the psyche of the Chinese as a client, a consumer and as a supplier. This Meet Up will explore successes and failures through the lens of our combined ten years of experience in both entertainment and advertising industries. One of many sessions related to the emerging Far East technology market at SXSW 2017. Scheduled for Monday, March 13.
3. Don’t Become a Dinosaur: Future-Proof Your Career. Capital One’s David Wurmfeld explores practical approaches to reinvention, and a pre-mortem, pro-active approach to ensuring your career survives the market changes of tomorrow. Scheduled for Monday, March 13.
4. Entrepreneur’s Guide to Battling Depression & ADHD. 49% of entrepreneurs have some form of mental health condition and 30% of entrepreneurs suffer from depression (which is twice the percentage of non-entrepreneurs). This workshop will present ground-breaking research and new interviews, exploring the relationship between depression and entrepreneurship. We will dive deeper into how entrepreneurs can cope with and and deal with their mental health conditions. Scheduled for Monday, March 13.
5. Get Out, Be In: What I’ve Learned Working Remotely. A year ago, David Weaver sold nearly everything he owned, lived in AirBnBs for three months, and settled into a new home in a remote, rural area of Vermont. Over that year, he learned a lot about creating a great remote working arrangement and environment. Attend his session to gain practical, valuable tips on how to make the most of anytime you’re away from home. Scheduled for Sunday, March 12.
6. How Do You Keep Your Company Human in 2030? In the foreseeable future, the unprecedented rate of technological progress in AI, digitalization, AR/VR, and automation will once again force us to reimagine the definition of meaningful work. Every aspect of companies, from their culture to how they connect with customers, is going to be challenged. Avoid “cog culture” by attending this panel to learn what to do now to safeguard your company for decades to come. Scheduled for Sunday, March 12.
7. Kick in the Door: Seize the Career You Want. This session is for the person who is looking for actionable advice about how to develop a rewarding career doing fulfilling work. Kick in the door, come on in and have a seat! Scheduled for Monday, March 13.
8. Office Politics: Dealing With Conflict at Work. In this session, Harvard Business Review editor Amy Gallo will discuss tactics to address conflict professionally and productively and in a way that improves both your work and your relationships. Scheduled for Friday, March 10 as part of the very strong Book Reading program at this year’s event.
9. Short Changed: Why Women’s Salaries Fall Short. The four female speakers on this session will offer actionable steps that companies can take to close the gap, discuss how data-based policies can fix wage inequality, and highlight what role women can play in this process. Scheduled for Sunday, March 12.
10. You Just Got Laid Off. Now What? In this solo presentation, Elizabeth Gross will offer frank and realistic tips to handle –- and even thrive in — that “between jobs” world. A successful layoff recovery plan will be shared, including preparing for a job transition you might be aware of, and dealing with an unexpected one — like being laid off without notice. Even if you think it won’t happen to you, you can’t afford to miss this talk. Scheduled for Sunday, March 12 at the Job Market stage.

For 2017, we have 24 total tracks within the SXSW Conference, ranging from “Brands & Marketing” (March 11–16) to “Design” (March 10–14) to “Food” (March 11–13) to “Government” (March 10–13) to “Intelligent Future” (March 11–16) to “Journalism” (March 11–16) to“Social Impact” (March 11–15) to “Sports” (March 11–13) to “Startup Village” (March 10–16). Also attend two days of “Tech Under Trump” panels and presentations on March 15–16.

Register for SXSW today to learn and discover via all these sessions. The improved 2017 badge system allows you to dramatically increase your access to March Magic in Austin —find out complete details on this new system by viewing this short, two-minute video.

Hugh Forrest tries to write four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts generally cover technology-related trends. When not attempting to wordsmith or meditating, he serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW in Austin.