Last weekend I attended South by South West, the global music,
film and interactive festival in Austin, TX. The purpose of
travelling 10 hours across the Atlantic was to showcase Here East
to the c.300,000 attendees of this incredible event. The conclusion
to 4 days of intense networking and learning? Well, some thoughts
follow.
This year Deloitte US has been headline sponsor for the
interactive event, using the SXSW festival to dramatically raise
brand awareness and client / target interactions. Judging by the
scrum at the door for Deloitte party on Saturday night, it has
worked. It was suggested that the popularity may have been due to
Melissa Etheridge performing as our guest, although I have to
confess I wasn't that sure who she was when she spoke to
me...
Turning to the event itself, there were two big themes that came
out. The first is the spirit of Making – the merger of design
and manufacturing which sees people trying to create from paper to
product their ideas and then immediately turning and facing the
market to get sales. In this areas it was fantastic to see home
grown Makers at Sx including Sugru, Makie Dolls and Plumen to name
just a few East London successes. Meeting the MD of re3D, a Nasa
developed 3D printer was also a highlight – print your own
office furniture? You can now! Fantastic then that the whole
focus of Here East is to capture the Maker spirit as a core part of
its proposition. The second point was wearable technology. We have
written much as a firm about the impact of wearable technology and
the growth of that market so no surprise that it leapt out as a
dominant theme. To see it (literally on display full time) in
action during the weekend was amazing. Google Glass is "the
norm" – in fact I felt a bit naked without a pair
– augmented reality via Epson binocular glasses seemed to be
the next thing on the hit list. It can only be a short while before
it lands here in the UK. When is does it will be transformational
to so many of the things we do every day – reading email,
video conferencing, the list is endless.
For us in property, the impact of these trends will have an
inevitable effect on the way space is used. Flexibility will mean
much more than a 5 year break and rectangular floor plate. It
will mean a landlord or developer having a truly flexible attitude
to the way they do deals and build space. A desk and a PC
went out with the Millenials – we are entering a new age and
I think I rather like it!
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