Dave Peck, Head of Social Media, PayPal
Another year, another SXSW in the books. And what a SXSW it was! 
Got Meerkat? The Hottest App at SXSW: A new app stole the show at SXSW this year – Meerkat, a live video streaming app that reflects similarities to Snapchat but with a broadcast real-time twist. The app is less than three weeks old, but already boasts an impressive 150,000 users. So, what makes this app so appealing? It’s an easy way to livestream video feeds to one’s followers. What better way to share in real-time your favorite music act or capture the winner of the PayPal Duel with Daymond John? Pretty cool stuff – everyone was getting on the Meerkat train this week!
Wearables: With 36 million Americans owning some form of wearable technology, how could it not be top of mind and the talk of the town? This year at SXSW, we saw particular interest in the conversation around the ‘wearable wallet’ and digital payments through the use of mobile technology. In her panel session with Owen Thomas of ReadWrite, our own Carey Kolaja discussed the new payment experience through wearable devices and how it’s shifting the way consumers want to pay how, when and where they want to make their lives easier, providing them with greater flexibility and convenience.
What’s Next? Wearable payments aren’t a replacement for the mobile wallet, but an extension. Which leads to the question… what is considered a ‘wearable’ now? With new technology like the Apple Watch and Fitbit, today’s world consists of an eco-system of different devices, which are further connecting our digital and physical worlds and bridging the gap between online and offline shopping experiences. This is also generating discussion around the role identity plays in our digital existence with the introduction of finger print authentication. At SXSW, for example, we got to check out a new technique – electromyography (EMG) – it evaluates and records electric activity produced by skeletal muscles, which enables others to control body gestures or movements in another human. Crazy, but real stuff!
As for PayPal, here are some highlights that we’ll be sure to remember:
We gave away $30,000 and one-on-one coaching with Shark Tank’s Daymond John to Earhoox, a small business based out of Orlando, FL that provides the ultimate cure for earbuds that just won’t stay put. Got a Lyft? We partnered with Lyft to enable conference-goers to hitch rides in everything from a Tesla to a 1963 Bentley with the driver even carrying a stash of Grey Poupon mustard in the car for some fun photo opps! We hosted an epic, all day and night concert featuring the best in local music acts and capped off with an electric set by Gary Clark Jr.
SXSW isn’t a vacation for a lot of attendees, so we also saw thousands of folks swing by our Social Media Lounge to recharge their devices, fire off emails, caffeine up, and get some work done.
We’ll definitely be back in Austin next year, so tell us…what do you think we’ll see in 2016?