Cast Your Vote: SXSW 2017 PanelPicker is Live

Adworld’s version of election season – SXSW 2017 PanelPicker – has officially commenced. The conference has become one of the largest events in creative technology and emerging media.

PanelPicker, a crowdsource tool established by SXSW in 2007, lets the community decide who’s in and who’s out. Here are the J. Walter Thompson Company sessions you can vote for on PanelPicker. To cast your vote, create an account or sign in online: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/

Please note that voting closes on September 2, 2016.

Do I Really Have To Include The Nerd?

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Company’s Amy Avery

Let’s admit it, data is terrifying, analytics people are nerds. Wait, suddenly analytics is all the rage. Can I work with that? While much data has been gathered, we don’t always discuss interpretation, utilization or action that is coming from all of this information. As a human insights company, J. Walter Thompson has been putting data into action for 150 years. Recently, they have predicted allergies, created a way to read emotion and proven that Listerine users are more bold. Where are things going next? How can you make this happen? How can the analytics nerds be one with the guys?

Vote: http://bit.ly/2bcmmuf

Outrage Nation

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Atlanta’s Andrew Iden, Sheila Callaghan, “Jane Unchained’s” Jane Velez-Mitchell & Pearson’s Naomi Goldstein

With growing regularity, it appears that the only reaction to anything, at any time, is outrage. On social media, in traditional media, and in the digital landscape, the ability to express outrage has almost become a form of digital currency. Snap judgment and instant reaction is the new way to get noticed. Is the collective outrage that permeates from social, digital and traditional media unhealthy to our cultural discourse? Is this outrage sincere, or is it something that brands and anyone with an audience use as a tool to be louder in the echo chamber than everyone else?

Vote: http://bit.ly/2aJCeHT

Pitch Perfect: Formula For Winning New Business?

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Atlanta’s Mary Margaret Connell, GSD&M’s Keith Jose & Kumbo Tire’s Brian Gallagher

Throwing a perfect pitch is damn near impossible—especially when 5 type-A ad professionals share the mound. Even when the pitch is flawless, it doesn’t guarantee a win. We know a new biz win can change the trajectory of a company overnight. But consecutive losses can be devastating to business, resources & company morale. To keep a competitive edge, marketers rarely share notes on best (and worst) practices outside the immediate team. This panel will feature folks both agency & client-side who have experienced the highs & lows of the new business pitch world. They’ll discuss their recipes for success, and disaster, for everything from team chemistry & body language to font type & buzz words.

Vote: http://bit.ly/2aIuC2B

Stop Thinking About Your Brand!

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Atlanta’s Spence Kramer, Nike’s Adam Roth, “Mother New York’s” Angie Vieira Barocas & Facebook’s Kofi Amoo-Gottfried

Let’s have a tough conversation about how companies continue to focus on social media metrics instead of actually making—and doing—the thing they intend. Even in fragmented, overly connected world, consumers still want stuff that works, tastes good, makes them feel better or more beautiful. And they want to feel like the value they get is equal to or greater than the value they spend. Why are we still asking them to “Like” us on Facebook? Does anyone really benefit from sharing a sponsored mac-and-cheese post? The success stories of followers only exist in corporate boardrooms. Communities are being built, sure. But they belong to the brand marketers. Where’s the consumer benefit?

Vote: http://bit.ly/2bcWro9

The Political is Personal

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group’s Shepherd Laughlin, Unruly’s Sarah Wood & Stanford University’s Carol Vernallis, Ph.D.

In an atmosphere of seismic political events in the US and the UK, wealth disparity, racial tension and social unrest—disseminated in a nanosecond over social media platforms—we are seeing the emergence of a newly politicized consumer. One who, increasingly, is not afraid to voice opinions on any injustice, misstep, world event, badly behaved politician, organization or brand.

For SXSW Interactive, The Innovation Group—J. Walter Thompson’s futures and consumer insight think tank—is partnering with video ad tech company Unruly, the leading social video advertising company, to share original data on the relationship between digital video and this phenomenon.

Vote: http://bit.ly/2b4fYa4

The Un-Tabooing of Womanhood

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Innovation Group’s Lucie Greene, Jane Halpern & Getty Images’ Pamela Grossman

Menstruation, underarm hair, orgasmic meditation — previously taboo aspects of femininity are being bought to the forefront by new-wave feminism, alternative women’s interest media and a fresh string of outspoken heroines, celebrities and blogs. This new spirit of rebellious openness is creating a fresh set of rules, and new expectations that brands. It’s also creating a climate of scrutiny for brands that get things wrong—from their messaging to their visual language to, god forbid, applying a luxury tax to tampons. Meanwhile new wave of challenger brands is on the rise. Get it wrong and you get called out. How can brands navigate this new, straight-talking mood? We explore it here.

Vote: http://bit.ly/2aMk42b

Trolls: To Feed Or Not To Feed

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Atlanta’s Todd Coplievitz and Michael Melgaard, BART’s Alicia Trost & Coca-Cola’s Kate Kundrat

In this session, social media community managers come face-to-face with their page trolls. Hear some horror stories from the social media managers responsible for keeping a page clean, and hear what drove the blasting from some of the internet’s top trolls. You may be surprised to hear rationale from the other side. When and why does trolling begin, and how do trolls react when a brand talks back?

Vote: http://bit.ly/2aDEqeh

Video Voyeur: Why Do We Watch?

Featuring J. Walter Thompson Atlanta’s James Robbin, Akilah Hughes, Caitlyn Culpepper & Discourse Production’s Jenni Powell

Livecasting is undergoing a renaissance. With new live-streaming capabilities and innovative social channels, the content creators posting mundane activities and everyday events to social channels are racking up thousands upon thousands of views. Video gamers share their gameplay live, Snapchatters document their every moment and YouTube celebrities publish self-made documentaries of their day-to-day lives. In this panel, hear from vloggers, streamers and a producer on why we care so much about the everyday and what it is that has propelled these lifecasters to success.

Vote: http://bit.ly/2aItJa8