Creativity & Innovation

Last week, I flew to Austin, Texas to attend South by Southwest, which brings together innovators in media, tech and entertainment. I was excited to see my Ad Council colleagues speak about the power of partnerships for our Seize the Awkward campaign at the SHE Media Future of Health Co-Lab and host a panel on the power of championing skills-based hiring to revolutionize and diversify the workforce. And with over 25 tracks of programming, SXSW 2023 was a fascinating place to get insights on everything from GPT-4 to ethical AI and accessibility in tech. Here are the top five topics that fascinated me at this year’s festival.

With over 3,000 exhibitors and 115,000 attendees, CES is the most influential tech conference in the world, showcasing breakthrough technologies that will shape our future. I’ve spent most of my career at the Ad Council, building relationships with social media companies to develop and scale impactful and innovative partnerships. Since June, I’m leading a new center of excellence focused on emerging media and technology. Given this new focus, I was eager to learn about future technology shaping how we consume media and drive impact. Here are my top highlights from CES 2023.

You did it! Your countless hours of what may often feel like unnoticed hard work have led to you being invited to share your insights with an audience as a subject matter expert. While opportunities to share your expertise are both exciting and reassuring, we know that understanding how to prepare for a panel discussion can be quite daunting.

From October 17 to 20, Advertising Week New York returns with in-person panels and special events, and the Ad Council will be exploring topics like the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in fostering brand growth, the power of partnership in tackling the drug overdose crisis, and the impact of trusted voices in social good campaigns.

The 2020s thus far have been a tough decade for optimism. However, according to a new report on Canvas8, we’re witnessing the emergence of an optimistic new world, with growing numbers of “community architects” conceiving alternative models of collaborating. This vigor for redefining how we work is centered around shared values like care, transparency, and inclusion—principles prioritized by a growing percentage of the workforce.

At a moment in American culture when seemingly every issue is polarized, it’s more important than ever to share stories that will move people to take action. So how do we do that, and how do we do it right?

Austin’s annual South by Southwest conference showcases innovation across entertainment, tech, education and culture. True to the collaborative spirit of the conference, the public helps select each year’s slate of presentations through the Panel Picker.

If you picture a creative brainstorm held in your office in 2019, odds are that session might look very different from a creative brainstorm held in your office, or virtually, or in a hybrid environment, in 2022. Even if your organization has done the DEI work to ensure equitable practices around who gets to be “in the room” and why, the concept of “the room” itself has changed along with the nature of how many of us collaborate each day. This adds in new nuances for those committed to equitable and unbiased execution in creative brainstorms.

On June 20-24, Cannes Lions is back, and the Ad Council is proud to be taking part in several panels on some of today’s most urgent topics, including how to support Ukraine, responding to the growing mental health crisis, and representing love in diverse communities. Read on for all the details on where you’ll find us. We hope to see you there!

The marketing and advertising world has become consumed with talk of NFTs and how businesses can tap into the brave new world of art, commerce and blockchain. But what are these mysterious items and how can they potentially be leveraged in the nonprofit sector?