Digiday’s guide to what’s in and out at SXSW 2019

Digiday is at SXSW giving you the latest industry news out of the festival at Austin, Texas. More from the series →

SXSW is still all about the tacos and tech, but the annual conference for tech, film and music still has some notable new features and appearances.

For one, Austin now has electric scooters, so SXSW’s more than 70,000 attendees can forget about hailing an Uber (or one using local ride-hailing app Ride Austin) and instead hop on a scooter to get across town. HBO, in partnership with Giant Spoon, is back with another experiential event. But instead of transporting attendees to “Westworld” to drink old fashioned, they’re being asked to donate their blood on behalf of “Game of Thrones.” And then there’s a bunch of 2020 presidential candidates here to show off how digitally savvy they can be.

Here’s our take on what’s popular and what’s not at this year’s SXSW.

More in Marketing

‘We believe in America’: Nike global vp of soccer Camilo Andrade on the brand’s World Cup strategy

Under the leadership of new CEO Elliott Hill, Nike has been enacting a new strategy called the “Sport Offense.”

OpenAI moves to automate ad creative

OpenAI wants to automate the last thing advertisers still do themselves.

An introvert’s guide to navigating Cannes Lions 2026

How to enjoy Cannes Lions when you’re a true introvert.