Yesterday was pretty tiring, thanks to the 90 degree heat, but that is Texas for you! Well today was also pretty tiring, this time I had Day Light Savings to thank. Today was full of interactive activities learning some interesting topics with journalism and terrorism.
Also, and most importantly, it was MUCH cooler.
Trade Show
I don’t know about anyone else, but seeing things from people with different backgrounds is pretty amazing. The Trade Show allows many group, organizations and companies to promote their product(s) and show them off. This was not just people from across the U.S., there were also people from multiple countries.
The first stop was at the Nextremer Co., Ltd. / TV Asahi Corporation booth. This group was from Japan and they brought a robot that you can communicate with. This was one of the most interactive things to do, and honestly, my most favorite.
This was a a Japanese robot, named Gochan, that was trying to learn English. So how exactly how did Gochan learn English? It would ask you various questions and you would simply answer whatever you want. At the end, Gochan would rap a song with all of the answers. There were two sets of questions that would be asked.
This was just so fun and made you smile so big. The people were so nice and so excited to be at South By.
After numerous more minutes of walking around, and being a little disappointed and extremely confused, I stumbled across the Sennheiser Electronics Corporation. This group showed off Ambeo, which showcases augmented audio earbuds that would work will iOS devices.
The process to experience this was extremely easy. All you had to do was plug in headphones in your phones and start recording and you get to hear the awesome quality.
The helper had me adjust the audio that would block out background noise and it basically sounded like I was listening to the world in HD. Everything was so crystal clear and background noise was not overpowering.
These are for sure something I could see being very useful in the world, it was also a great place to put these to the test with all the noise that is in the conference room.
Before I left I stopped by the Anheuser-Busch station to take part in their escape room experience.
This escape room was designed to help give attendees the experience of what it is like to work for the company. Now, this is not a scary room. It is just a room that allows you to see what it is like working and dealing with the problems. Alexis Smith, Director of Employer Branding and Digital for North America, said all the experiences that people will take part in will actually be procedures that are taking place in the community.
The reason this is a topic they wanted to complete was because they want people to “test drive” potential jobs. She says that so many people can test out a car, house, clothing and even food and drinks, so why not allow people to test out jobs.
The project premiered at SXSW and will then head to universities across the country. The main target for this project is college students that will soon enter the workforce.
I am excited to return to the trade show tomorrow and see more of the activities!
Journalism in the World of Terrorism
As the threat of terrorism continues to grow, it is important to think about the safety of journalists that are reporting from conflict zones.
The panel was focused around the kidnapping of journalists in Syria and how that effected the entire world of the journalism world.
Nicole Tung who is a photojournalist from Istanbul, was in Syria in 2012 and 2013 and talked about how journalist should handle this problems. She says that they must not let it allow them to stop working and to keep going.
Numerous thing were talked about including how journalists are even being attacked here in the United States. It was also brought up on how journalists should attack the problem of getting out news so fast that it is sometimes come across has fake news. Tung said sometimes it is just difficult to verify information because you are getting information from local activists.
One of the cool things about this panel was the fact that the panelists opened up the discussion to the floors. The topic was centered around a quote and the audience was asked what they thought about that quote. It was eve brought up that the U.S.’s main problem is that there is a lack of trust in the media in the country.
Day three was a great day and was so far my favorite day of SXSW so far. Although it was MUCH cooler, I cannot wait for the sun to come back tomorrow!
See you all tomorrow!