4x4 at SXSW is: 4 speakers that rocked the convention 4 startups or companies to keep an eye on 4 insiders for your next SXSW visit 4 trends that will accompany us in the coming years

1. Manuel P. Nappo, lic. oec. HSG, Director Center for Social Media HWZ
4X4!

2. 4 Speakers - Edward Snowden!
Edward Snowden was
definitely the most anticipated
speaker at SXSW14. His
disclosures sparked a
discussion that could be heard
and felt throughout the whole
convention. What he did will, in
my opinion, impact
governments and legislations
as well as the ethics and safety
of tech companies.!
“Would I do it again? Absolutely. Regardless of what happens to me, this
is something we had a right to.”!
“There's a political response that needs to occur, but there's also a tech
response that needs to occur.”!
“If the US don't change their policies, this gives every other government
the green light to treat their citizens' data the same way.”!
“I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. And I saw the
Constitution was being violated on a massive scale.”

3. 4 Speakers - Neil deGrasse Tyson!
“A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.”!
“You can't just choose what is true and what isn't.”!
“One reason we should go to space: You know the dinosaurs
would have gone there if they could have. Dinosaurs didn't have
opposable thumbs or a space program, though.”!
“Through the cosmic perspective, we recognize not how we're
different but how we're the same.”
The time during Neil
deGrasse Tyson’s
keynote literally flew away.
I got more insights by
listening to him for one
hour, that from any TV
show on space before. His
thoughts on the Cosmic
Perspective are simple and
brilliant.!

4. 4 Speakers - Mark Cuban!
“Business is the ultimate sport.”!
“If we're getting kids excited about starting businesses,!
that's a great thing.”!
“Facebook is the refrigerator door of 2014. You show party
pics when friends come over and cat photos for parents.”!
“You don't have to know, you just have to go.”
Mark Cuban lives the
American Dream. From a
bartender sleeping on the
floor of a cheap apartment, to
a billionaire entrepreneur. I
missed his session, but
judging from the feedback on
Twitter it seems I really
missed out."

5. 4 Speakers - Robert Scoble!
“Google Glass is the future. But it's still unfinished.!
This makes it so frustrating.” !
“The car is being turned into an API. I can write code that talks to my
car and gets data from it.”!
“The car is a mobile phone accessory today.”!
“Numbers of sensors on us and around us are going way up. And
it's too the point where ordinary people can afford it.”!
“Today I will give away my privacy for utility.”
I put Robert Scoble on this
list not because he was the
best speaker of the
convention, but rather
because he was the only
one embracing complete
personal data sharing—a
rather unique position."

6. 4 Startups - Ghostery!
Mentioned by Snowden during his interview, Ghostery is a cost-free privacy
browser extension owned by the advertising and privacy technology company
Evidon. It enables its users to easily detect and control web bugs, which are
objects embedded in a web page and invisible to the user that allow data
collection of the user's browsing habits.!

7. 4 Startups - GroupMe!
Nothing really new, GroupMe has been around for a while. But I found
it more popular than WhatsApp. Maybe because of the functionality to
send and receive GroupMe messages through SMS.!

8. 4 Startups - Samba!
Israel has been deemed one of the Silicon Valley-esque centers of the
world. So it's no surprise that one of the winners of the SXSW
Accelerator Award is an Israeli company. Samba allows people to send
videos and record their friends' reactions. It's a bit like Snapchat
except users can save their videos.!

9. 4 Startups - Jelly!
I discovered Jelly at the Biz Stone (one of the three Twitter founders)
interview. After founding Twitter, Stone launched Jelly. The idea is a Search
Engine run by people. Jelly allows users to get answers to the questions on
their minds by posting a query - accompanied by a photo - to others in their
social network. I like the idea and I like Stone's belief in the triumph of
humanity with a little help from technology.!

10. 4 Insider Tips - Plugs!
Power. Electricity is the ultimate influencer at SXSW. The main motto among
habituées is “ABC = Always Be Chargin”. Make sure that you have a US plug
adaptor. If you forgot a portable charger, you can get them in all shapes,
colors, and sizes at the Trade Show. Although that takes the fun out of
meeting new people at the wall socket.!

11. 4 Insider Tips - Hoek’s Death Metal Pizza!
As German journalist Thomas Knuewer put it on Foursquare, “Weirdest Pizza joint
on earth. But: excellent pizza.” Hoek’s Death Metal Pizza is a typical street vendor
of New York style pizza. No room to sit, but you wouldn't want to spend any more
time inside than absolutely necessary. Unless you are Slayer.!

12. 4 Insider Tips - Uncommon Objects!
Everything you would never look for you find at Uncommon Objects. Located
at 1512 South Congress Avenue (which is worth an excursion, if you're not
already staying in the area), you can take home anything from a 48-star US
flag to an old Madonna. And if you don‘t make it to Austin, you can browse
their Instagram and Pinterest accounts.!

13. 4 Insider Tips - PayPal Lounge!
At a convention with an estimated 30,000 people, all you want is a place to
kick back and recharge (your devices and your body). PayPal created an
environment where you can do both. Web celebs like Brian Solis, Guy
Kawasaki and Randi Zuckerberg appreciated this laid back atmosphere and
were always available for a chat or a picture. Thanks PayPal.!

14. 4 Trends - Wearables!
The buzz around wearable technology was palpable at this year's
convention. From handbags that can charge your smartphone to
devices that can identify you based on the rhythm of your heartbeat,
the future of wearable tech wholly dominated SXSW. I personally
wonder how many of these great ideas will make it to market.!
“New #sxsw game: Who has the most wearables? Lady in
front of me has 25. (I lose.)” Geoffrey Fowler!
“Wearables will be a new trend in retail this year.”!
Kristina Simmons!
“Within two years there'll be a shirt on the market with
sensors in it that will immediately contact my doctor is my
heart beat is irregular and I'm in danger of having a heart
attack.” Hugh Forrest!
“Wearables are here to help the lazy get fit.” Shaq

15. 4 Trends - Drones!
Everybody wants one. But this emerging technology is not yet regulated. It
can help find lost people in the snow or help journalists report on
inaccessible locations and topics. At the same time, someone sitting in the
comfort of an office can potentially kill people remotely. What are drones
gonna be? The Next Big Thing or the last nail in the coffins of international
legitimacy and domestic privacy?!
“I am afraid that someone will get hurt on
the ground.” Ardy Williams!
“EU is spending $50M to develop UAVs
engineered for emergency response.”
Robin Murphy!
“Delivery with drones is far away. You
have to make it safe first.” Helen Greiner!
“Why should I be worried if I am not doing
anything wrong? But governments change
and they inherit the technology. New laws
may come.” Noel Sharkey

16. 4 Trends - Data!
Data, especially Big Data was one of the top recurring topics at this year's
convention. We clearly see a split. On one side are the advertising funded
companies like Facebook & co that are collecting data to tailor their ads more
specifically. On the other side are user-funded companies like 23andMe that demand
money from the consumer but claim to give him data ownership.!
“Whoever pays owns the data.”!
Anne Wojcicki!
“Do you have the right data? If you have
bad data you will get bad answers.”
Andrew Bowins !
“We follow the data, even if it means
switching up the campaign right in the
middle of it. The community dictates the
direction.” Yael Cohen!
“It doesn't matter what data you have
unless you can act on it.” Bill Ingram!
“Parents are now finding they need to
have the data permanence talk before the
birds and the bees talk.” Jared Cohen

17. 4 Trends - Privacy!
In the end, SXSW14 came down to one Mega Topic: Privacy.
There was no session where it wasn’t mentioned, be it from the legal,
security, or the ethical side. The discussion Snowden started will keep
governments and corporations busy for years to come. And I have the
feeling that citizens will get more and more involved."
“Largely, I think the privacy stuff genie is out of the bottle.”
Hugh Forrest!
“What is going on is an unprecedented theft of wealth... They‘re
doing that in part by stealing information from all of us.”!
Julian Assange!
“A healthy democracy values privacy for private citizens and
transparency for public officials. That's been reversed.”
Glenn Greenwald!
“I don’t think privacy/sharing data is a problem at all until my data
is breached and my identity is stolen.” Barrie Vanbrackle!
“Privacy is relational. You want control of what you disclose, who
to and where.” Barton Gellmann!
“If Big Data Is the New Oil, then Privacy Is the New Green”
MeMe Jacobs Rasmussen