The SXSW Conference spans multiple tracks programmed through the lens of technology, entertainment, and culture.
2023 Tracks
2050
This programming focuses on long-range, big-picture thinking, with topics that range from nanotech breakthroughs and interplanetary expeditions to life-extension research and novel applications of scientific discoveries.
Advertising & Brand Experience
Examine the current and future thinking on strategies to engage audiences through traditional, digital and experiential marketing practices. These sessions are geared towards agencies and organizations that want to better understand new ways of connecting with their communities.
Cannabis
Explore the opportunities and challenges that cannabis businesses face today, while taking a deep dive into the companies, ideas and products that will drive the industry forward over the coming years.
Civic Engagement
Some of the world’s most forward-thinking voices gather to discuss programs and policy directions, as well as current political realities. This programming also covers activism and strategy for effecting change in the face of the destruction of political norms.
Climate Change
Programming in the Climate Change track covers the consequences of soaring temperatures and rising oceans, while also showcasing the most promising efforts on mitigating the effects of global warming.
Creating Film & Episodics
Explore the creative process behind film and episodic content, with an emphasis on the collaborative nature of the medium. Topics in this track include casting, sound design, editing, and screenwriting, as well as virtual production and the use of game engines in the filmmaking process.
Culture
Highlighting how humanities, arts and relationships help individuals and communities share their unique experiences, the Culture track includes fashion, dance, visual arts, sexuality, libraries, museums, and literature.
Design
Learn how top designers, developers, artists and creatives build our physical, digital and virtual worlds with purposeful intent. This programming underscores how design thinking helps society achieve our most important goals.
Energy
Explore the problems and solutions of energy production and delivery at every scale, and how new approaches can improve access and equity for communities.
Film & TV Industry
Take a look at the current state and upcoming trends in film and television, viewed through the independent lens of SXSW. Focusing on the business side of the industry, these sessions will cover distribution, financing, representation, and the ever-changing nature of film and television.
Food
Digest the ways that technology and policy can be leveraged to change how food can be grown, distributed, cooked and experienced in healthier and more sustainable ways.
Game Industry
With a focus on the game industry’s continued ascent as a dominant entertainment platform, this programming will emphasize how music content and other media is increasingly migrating to these systems.
Health & MedTech
Addressing how technological and social changes are impacting one of the world’s largest industries, the Health & MedTech content will cover everything from patient-centric care and gene editing to health equity and 3D-printed human organs.
Markets & Economies
Analyze the many changes in our systems of commerce that are a direct result of the recession, the pandemic, the rise and fall of crypto, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other disruptions in our current world.
Media Industry
Spotlighting the trends driving change, this programming covers the media landscape, the power (and accountability) of the companies who currently control the message, and the players bringing new ideas to the table.
Music & Tech
From virtual popstars to next-generation streaming services, technology has re-invented the way we create, discover, distribute and experience music. Sessions in this track showcase the promise and potential pitfalls of these innovations and trends.
Music Careers
Professional development lies at the heart of this programming, with valuable guidance and insights into enhancing your position in the music industry, whether you’re an emerging artist or someone who has spent years in one of the many fields that are part of this ever-changing business landscape.
Psychedelics
As therapeutic applications of psychedelics gain more traction in the mainstream consciousness, explore how breakthrough research and a growing business environment will impact the future applications of these novel and traditional drugs.
Sports
Tackle the breakthroughs in technology, biometrics, data analysis, fan experiences and media that promise to reshape this global industry.
Startups
The brightest new entrepreneurial ideas can come from anything, anyone, and anywhere. The Startups track covers the unexpected founders, funders, business plans, revenue models, success stories and epic fails that make up the addictive experience of launching a new venture.
Tech Industry
Featuring the people, platforms, software, hardware and virtual systems that are driving the world’s next wave of change, these sessions balance exciting discoveries against a world that has grown more skeptical about the benefits of the digital revolution.
Transportation
Recent and upcoming technological advances are radically transforming the way we get from here to there. While electrical vehicles are a major focus of this track, sessions will also examine new aviation breakthroughs, commercial space travel and advances in shipping systems, as well as the most exciting new ideas in micro-mobility.
Travel & Leisure
Lockdowns and travel restrictions reaffirmed how important it is for us to discover new surroundings. The Travel & Leisure track uncovers the destinations and new ways of experiencing them that have become increasingly popular, as well as the challenges the industry continues to face.
Workplace Revolution
The pandemic accelerated radical transformations in the way we work. This track focuses on how we continue to move forward, the societal impacts of the evolving workplace, and the changing relationship between employees and employers.
XR & Metaverse
Covering the most exciting immersive experience breakthroughs from virtual and augmented realities to the intertwining of worlds through the metaverse, this content navigates the potential of these mind-bending technologies.
