Well, I survived the first day of SXSW. Overall, the festival is absolutely amazing and you learn so much. It is pretty much impossible for me to talk about just one thing, I would feel like I would leave something out. So, you will get a little bit of everything.

The whole point of SXSW is to learn and become familiar of different topics, and today that was shown true.

The Food Effect

Now, SXSW is full of panels and allow for you to hear from the experts in certain fields, but there are options that allow for you to learn in different ways.

It seems that some companies purchased buildings around the convention center and created interactive experiences.

Land O’ Lakes presented The Food Effect, which allowed for attendees to see innovative farming, learn about DNA and hear different stories of foo insecurity. These were all presented

 in fun and interactive ways, and there was nice, cool air conditioning!

To help tell the story of innovative farming, attendees could watch a film by putting a giant head of lettuce over their head.Attendees also could change strands of DNA but changing out different parts. One of the biggest focal points was the wall of phones. Here, attendees could listen to messages of individuals and their food insecurities and by listening to the full message, a full meal was donated.

It’s Time to See Through a Gender/Sex Lens

This was most likely the most eyeopening session. For the most part (99%) men and women are exactly the same, but there a small where they aren’t and this actual has numerous issues lying in it.

Medications, Shoes, Seatbelts, Space Suits and other objects seem to be no problem, but they pose many problems.

The speaker, Saralyn Mark of iGiant, first started of by stating her experience with medications.

She was taking a trip across the Atlantic and decided to take an Ambien for her trip.

“I don’t remember speaking at my panel, I know I did, but I don’t remember doing it,” Mark said.

This is one of the big problems that she has seen. Men and women’s bodies act different the medication and doctors now, but are still giving women the same dosage of the medication.

These were just a few of the many topics that were discussed. Many of the examples that were given were experiences from Mark and stories that she has heard.

Instead of talking the entire hour, Mark also opened the floor to individuals that have seen some of these problems in the world. Again, medication was one of the biggest problems that people say.

To help end the sessions, Mark then asked audience members what their call to action would be to address these issues. Many agrees that there is a problem and that they would love to take these points back to their company.

When thinking about the differences between men and women, Mark says it is not about the speed at which one can complete the task, it is just that there are differences.

“It’s not who works faster or better. Our brains are just wired differently,” Mark said.

Social Aviation: A Better Way to Fly

The current state of commercial travel is nothing short of serious delays, crazy expenses and feel like an object. But what if there was another way that could change the way we travel? Sergey Petrossov, CEO and Founder of Jetsmarter, thinks there is and has started to make it a reality.

Aside from all the difficulties mentioned above, another problem is location. Major cities have airports and sometimes multiple airports, but commercial aviation only flies to those large airports. Petrossov says there are 5,000 airports in the United States, yet only 500 are utilized by commercial aviation.

Petossov tackles the idea of travel on private jets. According to Petrossov there are 17,000 private jets and the average one is carrying only 2 passengers, therefore it is extremely under utilized.

Jetsmarter it a member based platform that allows for private jet flying much easier. There are two types of ways that people can utilize the app. The first are the “creators” that can create flights one their own schedule and then offer that flight to other members that would also like to utilize that flight pattern.

To learn more about Jetsmarter and their membership program visit there site .

So, for a first day, I think I did pretty well.  As I sit here writing this piece, I am sore. My feet hurt and my knees hurt, but I am so excited to continue this crazy week.

I am still hoping I can start to eat some of the great food and may be see a couple famous people, but we will see! Happy SXSW, everyone!