Slack, SXSW 2023 – Austin, Texas

This colorful display at Slack was the centerpiece of their 2023 SXSW presence. I’m assuming the brightly-colored, graphical, interactive displays guided would-be customers. I don’t know since I didn’t partake. However, it was the most visually appealing.

I was there on Sunday, day three of the conference but my second-day visit. Slack, makers of enterprise chat software, found the same premium location on Congress Avenue as last year.

The entire space seemed about the same as SXSW 2022. They changed the design of their entrance, compared to last year’s. However, conceptually, many of the activities were similar.

Beach umbrellas presented more of a grownup resort feeling than the playground theme they had last year.

A small stage offered a presentation space, which I don’t remember from last year.

I spent time at the exhibit since I had a technical question about Slack, a software I use at work. They tried their best, but no one had the answer. However, I did meet a woman that shared the same hometown as me, though she was considerably younger. We had a delightful discussion about life.

Despite the personal, friendly connection I made, I can’t help the feeling that Slack was slacking — pun intended. And, come to think about it. Slack is a strange name for business software, named after a word that implies being slow, sluggish, and showing laziness or negligence.

On the plus side, the software does generally work well.

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