For the past few years, I've analyzed the text used in the titles and descriptions of presentations made during the annual SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, Texas. Doing so gives a pretty good line of sight into key themes being batted around the interactive space and what -- if anything -- has changed from the previous years. The larger the word is in the graphics below, the more times it was used in titles and descriptions of that year's interactive sessions.
This year's analysis revealed many interesting insights. Perennial hot topic "SOCIAL MEDIA" showed up well again in 2013. But the clear focus of the week was what was "NEW". From 3D Printing to emerging cultural norms and everything in between, there was a whole host of speakers and panels exploring the vanguard of our industry.
Sadly, "DATA" as a topic of thought and conversation stagnated in 2013. After growing in significance from 2011 to 2012 through the development of "Big Data" and other topics. Could the importance of data to the SXSWi crowd have peaked?
2013
2012
2011
