← Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset
Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset
The Story Behind SXSW: Reinvention, Leadership & the Power of Connection
00:43:51
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- [00:00]
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Sean (Podcast Host)
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
South by Southwest is made up of music, film and tv, innovation, comedy and education. Those are sort of the five verticals that we focus on. Over the course of seven days, we'll host thousands of artists that will do showcases every night across over 50 venues. All those things happening together. And one of the new things we're doing this year is we're actually creating a crossover day. So we're building that bridge now just to make sure that there is a strong connection.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
What you chose to do as a team is focus on a C word and that's called community.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
The audience is just so diverse. People are coming from so many different industries to participate. Being at a festival that also has a major film And TV festival, a music festival, innovation expos that are showcasing new technologies that aren't just specific to health and med tech. For example, you're kind of having these interactions that are unique to this experience and open up your perspective in some new and novel ways. Foreign.
- [02:52]
Sean (Podcast Host)
What'S up everybody? Got another action packed episode for you today. I have a treat for you guys. I have the SVP of programming of south by Southwest, Greg Rosenblum. This guy has been with south by Southwest for 15 years. Let me repeat that, guys. 15 years. How many of you have been with the same company, organization for 15 years? I'd like to say people stay for a year or two, get experience and move on. And Greg's done the same thing, but he's moved on within the organization and he is bringing amazing stories through film to massive festivals every single year at south by Southwest. So without further ado, man, welcome to the show.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Thanks so much, Sean. It's great to be here. I'm excited to have the conversation.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
Yeah, me too. I mean, we've been trying to do this for a very long time and I'm just so grateful that we're finally here, man. We did it.
- [03:41]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
No. So, you know, like I mentioned, you know, when I, when I introduce somebody, I really like to dig in to the full background of everybody. And there's something very special, something very special about you, Greg. You know, I mentioned it. Being at south by Southwest for 15 years. Why is that?
- [04:03]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
You know, it's, it's probably a lot of factors, Sean. And I should start maybe with how I entered into the organization and the opportunity that I found, you know, back when I joined 15 years ago, which was, you know, interviewing for a position in one of a collection of houses in a neighborhood in Hyde park in Austin, Texas. And sort of catching a little bit of the energy of you can kind of build and do anything in the context of this festival that's coming together. And it was at the time when the organization was thinking about launching into a new vertical. So south by Southwest Edu and this opportunity to both take this long standing festival, I think at the time it was in its 25th year and was coming together around music and technology and film and television to extend that work into education to a new community was sort of this special opportunity. And so I jumped in and got a chance to kind of learn from the best here. I've been a student of the organization for the last 15 years. It's been an opportunity to understand all the facets of producing live experiences. But I think the biggest thing that has been part of that journey has just been learning and how to translate that connective tissue that that happens in the context of a festival and a conference for a new community like education, and then broadening that to where I'm at now with. With all of south by Southwest. It's been an incredible journey.
- [05:29]
Sean (Podcast Host)
That's amazing. I like hearing the origin story of how you get into companies. Right. Because it always starts small. It starts. And that's the thing with life. And anything in career doesn't matter. If you're looking to become a better person, looking to get a nice job or become a svp, you start somewhere. And I always say there, there has to be some type of adversity or sticking points throughout the whole process. Can you share a little, a few moments that if it's not too personal of things that you went through to get to where you are today?
- [05:59]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I think have always been very passionate about one being in community with one another, but also about education on, you know, a personal level. I. I grew up and I. As I got into the first grade, I started to struggle with reading a little bit. Right. And I soon got diagnosed with dyslexia and went through this experience of learning how to read. It took me until I was in fourth grade. I went through all these different sort of support mechanisms around that throughout my educational journey. And it gave me a deep appreciation for the importance of support for students along that learning journey. And, you know, it's interesting to tie it back to something. At south by Southwest, there was a speaker in 2013, Ray Kurzweil. Who's this? The famous inventor. He's done keyboards. He's done a lot of different technologies. But my. My through line through for his work has been. He created this technology that I used to help me read and digest materials back when I was in high school and college. Yeah, it was incredible to see it full circle on stage that he was coming to talk about this connection to education and technology and music, and that my through line was through my own personal journey. And so to have the opportunity to come into south by Southwest and, you know, be a student who has gone through that. That kind of experience myself, and also understand that there are lots of different learner journeys out there to be able to build a space with south by Southwest. Edu and then in the broader context now with south by Southwest, where stakeholders from across the learning landscape, educators, administrators, policymakers, you know, inventors and education technologists can come Together and really think about how do we create impact for students and learners everywhere, not just in the US but globally, was such a magical opportunity to come into the organization. But that personal journey through education, through seeing the impact of those experiences, not just for myself, but for others, really helped shape and frame how I saw education being a big linchpin and changing point for folks.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
It's interesting that you mentioned that personal through line, that personal journey. So I recently did an interview and we spoke about it off, off camera about, with William H. Macy, about John o' Leary's story of being burned as a young boy, over 100% of his body. And I say around 2016, when the book came out, I was walking around Barnes and Noble or Books a million. I don't know which one it was, right? But I was walking around and I was looking for a book to inspire me because I had just left teaching and coaching and I went into sales and I was like, you know, something feels stale right now. I just need to be, you know that word motivated or give some little seed of inspiration. And I couldn't find a book. And I was about ready to walk out of there frustrated. And I just saw the COVID it said on fire. I'm like, I need to be on fire. I really need to be on fire. And, you know, I thought it was, you know, figurative, right? I didn't know it was going to be an actual story, but a young boy catching on fire. And I read the book from COVID to cover, and it's very hard for me to do that nowadays, right? I don't, you know, sit down. My ADHD kicks in way too much. And, you know, I hear a bird chirp and I'm gone, right? It's, it's. I'm out of there. But I read this book and I was inspired by it. And years later, an opportunity came by to interview William H. Macy on this movie idea. And I did a little digging of like, this sounds really familiar. And so I did the background on the movie and sure enough, it was tied to. To a book that's been sitting on my bookshelf for nine years. And it was an amazing interview. And I even did an interview with John o' Leary as well. That's to be, you know, put out in addition to William. So my, my point is, it's amazing in life how if we just stay in alignment and pay attention to our own journeys, things come around that are meant to come around. And in your case, struggled early in education because of dyslexia in reading Got in, got into some technology from this gentleman. And then you take a job out south by Southwest in the Edu department, which I would imagine was that the attraction for you was it had to do with education at the beginning.
- [10:10]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, my background is also in music and economics, and I feel like it was the confluence of the creative industries. And I saw this opportunity and it sparked, spark something inside me.
- [10:21]
Sean (Podcast Host)
What was that feeling for you? Right.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
You're.
- [10:23]
Sean (Podcast Host)
You're, you know, you're sitting there in this. In. In the. In the seating, and this gentleman's talking. What. Emotionally, I want you to paint that picture for the audience story. Tell that because, you know, I. I really think there's something there for people to latch on to. Simply by stating, you know, as we go through life, we don't really understand what certain thing, why certain things happen or why certain people are in our lives or why we use a certain product. And then that one moment, everything becomes clear, and it's serendipitous.
- [10:54]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, I mean, I think some of the reflection was just that, you know, you can. You can experience the impact of someone's work through a single lens in terms of how it comes into your personal world or the place that you're existing in. And for me, you know, this technology was such an impactful part of my educational journey. And then to have my eyes open to the, you know, just the broad spectrum of areas that he was impacting through his work, that invention and discovery and inspiration can have this. This broad channel for impact beyond just the individual was like a really powerful moment for me. And I think, you know, just in our journey here at south by, it's been building an event from the ground up with the education side has been, you know, a labor of love. Right. Like, it was. It was an idea we had. There was a strong brand with south by Southwest, but it was a completely new audience. We had to kind of sell the community on why it was important for educators to be in the same room as education technologists and investors and policymakers. Why all of the work that they're doing is interconnected. The outcome is, yes, what the students are experiencing, but we kind of had to create this. This convergence of community that south by Southwest is known for, but in a new vertical. And I think we learned early on it was. We had to kind of define the purpose of it and that why really be specific about it? Because we are creating something so different and unique at the time to really help illuminate, you know, why people should devote their Time and energy to being present there. And I think it was just such an incredible journey to do that because we learned, you know, I think there's nothing better than that, like, reaction from the audience. Right. So we. That first year, we had a few hundred people come out, and it was incredible to just have something that gained a little bit of traction with the education side. And then it, you know, went to 2,000 and 4,000 attendees and 6,008, and it just kind of grew and grew and grew. You know, it's not the only new event that south by Southwest has launched in that time. We've, you know, have done the environmentalism event, this eco event. We did a event in Vegas for a few years called V2V. We've tried a bunch of different things, but it took this connection between purpose and audience and community to kind of build that, that. That experience. And it's been such a. An amazing journey to kind of learn and grow over that period of time. Each year you build it up and then it comes down, and then you rebuild the festival every year, you know.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
That'S really cool, man. That's really cool, Greg. I mean, you know, from year one, you know, couple hundred people, like you said, 300 people, whatever, then to 2,000, then to 4,000 and 10,000. That is massive and explosive growth. You know, was it hard for you to transition to a completely different division? Now you're with Programmer, the SVP of programming. You miss the Edu part. What's going on there?
- [13:53]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, I know it's a great question. And honestly, I still get to keep some connection to the education side. So south by Southwest is made up of music, film and tv, innovation, comedy and education. Those are sort of the five verticals that we focus on. Over the course of seven days in March, we'll host thousands of artists that will do showcases every night across over 50 venues. We'll have film screenings, TV showcases, conference sessions from thousands of speakers, and that's all done within the programming department here. And so it's a much. It's a, you know, as big as EDU was, it's a bigger scale. Right. And it's. It's a lot. Yeah, but, you know, one of the through lines, especially as we go into our 40th year at south by and are thinking about, you know, how do we tell this story has been, you know, all those things happening together, and one of the new things we're doing this year is we're actually creating a crossover day so the education audience has their own event. South By Southwest Edu. And that last day of south by Southwest Edu is actually the first, first day of the rest of south by Southwest. So we're building that bridge now just to make sure that there is a strong connection between the audiences. And so it's been a big learning curve, you know, to step into a new role and to work across all the different parts of south by Southwest. But there are amazing colleagues here that have been embedded in the space for a long time and are really helping bring the true programming to light.
- [15:20]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Yeah, I mean, I would imagine, you know, you don't have a whole bunch of time to sit there and mourn your past position. I mean, you're a busy man, right? You guys started applications months ago. You guys have already released one round of speakers for the March 2026 event. And I mean, it's coming up quick. I mean, we're already in Q4, right? I mean, you, before you know it, that's going to be here. How excited is everybody to continue to release the speakers, the speakers lineup, and then get this event going?
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Phenomenally excited. I mean, I. I think one of the biggest challenge points for us this year has been, you know, quite honestly, that we have been running programming for south by Southwest out of the Austin Convention center in addition to surrounding venues since 1993. And this is the first year that they're actually tearing the whole building down. It'll be under construction and they're rebuilding the whole convention next three years. So we've known this has been coming for a couple years, we've been planning, but we're in. We have just, you know, with this latest announcement, kind of explained how we're taking that as a way to fuel a new vision for the festival to exist within the context of the city, the community, and really support the go forward of the festival. So. So while we're sort of, to your point, less than six months out and really in that, you know, that very energetic stage of confirming content and announcing speakers and artists and films and getting into the season, I think one of the true sort of challenges that we had been faced with, with having to reimagine the whole festival here in Austin is an exciting place for us to now be at a point where we're sharing with the world how we're seeing it come together. We're building these community clubhouses, we're trying to improve the experience, and the footprint is going to really be even more embedded in the city. And I think that's a great response to a little bit of adversity that has kind of set us up to take this new trajectory with the festival.
- [17:23]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I want the audience to really think about what Greg just said, and then if you forget, rewind it a little bit, go back and listen. Because they were faced with the convention center being torn down and being remodeled. They knew about it for a couple different year, for a couple years prior, but it's a different challenge that you guys are facing this year, and you have to reimagine it. But the way you painted it, it was an opportunity, an opportunity to change the face of it, to reimagine, like you said. And with anything in life, when we're faced with some type of adversity, a setback, a kick in the kneecap, or we fall down, it's all about how you perceive what your paradigm is at that time about that event. And I just really enjoyed how you painted that picture. I want you to dive in a little bit because a lot of people are going to sit there and say, well, I don't understand how to do that. So from an executive member and a team that you guys have, how did you guys work with each other to say, okay, we have two ways we can go. We can look at this as an opportunity to reimagine and reinvent, or we can look at it as Poor South By.
- [18:34]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
I mean, that's. That's so well framed, Sean. And to say there weren't moments where we were sitting around the table saying, you know, poor south by, like, how are we. How are we going to reimagine the festival? Would be, you know, not to acknowledge the actual circumstance of what it was like. I mean, there's. I've been here for 15 years, and until this in 2026, this is the first time we'll produce the festival without the convention center. So this attachment to the home base, to having that be where we host our keynotes, where registration is, where the exhibitions are hosted, is a really big change. And I think, you know, in any organization, some of the. The best ways to work through that are really one thinking about the internal stakeholders. So it's, you know, programming is what is a big division of the company. But there's an operations and logistics. There's sales and sponsorship, there's marketing, there's internal operations. There's all these different stakeholders that really understand how the event operates. And then most critically, there's the community that we serve and thinking about what their experience should be when they're in the city. And so, you know, I think we. We dialed back early on and said, you know, like, how should someone interact with our experience? What does it mean to be at south by Southwest in Austin? How are you thinking about it? And we started from that point of being thinking about the sort of the community first and then collectively how we can support that here at South By. And so it's been a very iterative process. But you know, one example, Sean, is the 40th year of south by Southwest. Really is 40 years of south by Southwest music, which you called out. That's how we started as, you know, a music festival in 1987 during spring break in Austin, you know, with about 700 people. And you know, so it's grown a lot since then. But some of the core music venues in the city of Austin are on the Red River Cultural District. It's a street in Austin where there are a bunch of venues that have been in Austin for a long time. They're short symbols of the music scene. And we are going to move the entire music conference to be co located on that street. So it's right as part of that music experience. In the nighttime, you're going to music, during the day, you're going to music conference sessions. We're going to put a clubhouse right there so that community has a touch base theater the whole time. If you're in the, the film and TV community, there's going to be a clubhouse across the street from the Paramount where we do the big premieres of all the headline films, the narrative features, narrative docs, all, all the big parts of our festival are going to, you know, be at that theater and then a number of theaters throughout the city. And our conference for the film and TV community is also going to be right in that neighborhood. And then we're creating sort of another neighborhood where all the innovation content is going to be. And we've by thinking about who is going to be participating and having a good experience at the event. It's really been the way that we've tried to navigate this, this challenge.
- [21:28]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Dude, you're becoming one of my favorite people. I'm serious. Because what I'm hearing and this is like there's so many takeaways, but the one major takeaway here for the audience and people that are going through things, there are going to be moments where you're sitting there saying poor south by. Those are just random thoughts. That's not actual thinking. Right. Actual thinking would be to perpetuate that and take ownership of it and let it infect everybody in the, in the building. Right. But what you chose to do as a team is focus on a C word that's called community. And I want people to really grasp onto that because when we struggle in life, when we struggle in small things, it's usually because we're making it about me, making it about our own selves. But then when you take yourself out of the equation and say, what does the community want? What does my listenership want? What does my audience feel? What do they need? How can I serve them? We are here to serve. And too many times, because of everything going on in our society, we like to make things about us. And what's that do? Causes more struggle, causes more adversity, and a massive creativity block. So kudos to you guys. Man, that's big.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, well, I appreciate you calling that out too, Sean, because I just think that, you know, community is essential to, to what we all do in any facet. I mean, yeah, we're think thinking about it or as I'm talking about is in the context of hosting an in person convening. And you know, I think that the experience of going through the pandemic and not being able to be connected, but doing it online and then going out and being together, it's sort of on a personal level and you know, in the context of south by Southwest just really hammered home the importance of being in community with people around you, with people in your industry, with people that are, you know, doing amazing things.
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Sean (Podcast Host)
But you're all right, thank you for that. And you're also creating these little mini communities, right, based on the industry verticals for people to go and have community during the event and have fun and network. That's, that's what it's all about, you know, so the access part from a community to community standpoint is, is I think one of the biggest things that a lot of conferences and events miss completely. They start, they whiff, they, they miss big time. And it's honestly the one way you can get people to stay engaged and keep coming back and bring a friend when they come back.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I think too, you know, the, we, you know, the programming department here at south by Southwest, like our focus is we put the content that's on stages that we, that's on screens, that's. And we know that that is an essential piece of the event that, that people are coming to, to hear from, you know, world renowned podcasters like Sean and others that are like really doing amazing work.
- [24:15]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Yeah, that's on you. That's on you guys. You got to make sure that you Deliver on that.
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Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, for sure. I mean, but the point is like that, that content is so important to what's going on, but that the individual experience at the event is also about the run ins in the hallways when you're waiting in line and you get connected when you go to the meetup or the networking event or hanging in the clubhouse and you make those connections, those. There's sort of multiple sides to coming together in community and events. And the content is a huge important part of that. And launching, you know, careers and films and, and all that is something that we focus a lot on. But I also think it's, you know, important just to be in connection with one another. And so when we do our, you know, end of festival surveying or whatever and you're like, you know, why did you come to south by Southwest this year? There's for knowledge sharing, for inspiration. But then, you know, networking is always a top, a top three experience. That's part of why people are showing up to be, be here.
- [25:17]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I mean, the networking done right is, is really the silver bullet. Yeah, it truly is. Everybody's looking for a cheat code. Everybody's looking for that hack that can take you from point A to point F pretty quickly. And really there's, there's nothing other than, you know, being strategic and staying in your process and making it your standard, but also to link arms with other people because alone you can go pretty far, but together you can go even further, but even faster. And is one of those things that I had to learn in this journey of building my show was I was very happy and prideful about the fact it's only me. I'm doing this all by myself. And I looked around, I'm like, what am I actually doing by myself? This is really, really difficult. This is hard. And once I brought people, you know, to, to be a part of this journey with me, I grew exponentially. And to your point, going to events and getting in a room, no matter how big the event is, if you go to events and you work the event the right way and you have intention behind there, you can grow. I went to an event this past weekend and now I have, I'm vetting out three new partners for big brands. And it was a, it was a smaller event, but I was intentional. So for the people that are listening that, you know, need to go to this event south by in March in Austin, go there with the intention of just being a good person, you know, get with the community, talk to everybody, be so curious about what everybody does and remove Yourself from the equation, you'd be surprised what happens for you.
- [26:53]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Absolutely. And I love to hear about your success at your event over the weekend, Sean. But, but I, I totally agree. I mean, I think that that's one of the things we've tried to cultivate. And while we do have these, these big stage experiences, we also do one on one mentor sessions throughout the week. We do roundtable programming, you know, we host meetups. We really try and think about, you know, building those connections intentionally and organically throughout the week while people are in town.
- [27:20]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I like that. It's, it's, it's not stale. Right. Sometimes you go to events, it's. You're in a room, then you have a break, then you go back into the room, you have a bad lunch, you go back into the room. Right. Then everybody's standing there awkwardly in the, in the lobby and doesn't know how to interact. I like how you guys are creating multiple touch points and multiple activities for people to genuinely connect.
- [27:45]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I think too, one of the things that has always been unique about how we've built community at south by Southwest, and I think sort of one of the expectations when people come to the festival is the fact that the audience is just so diverse. People are coming from so many different industries to participate and bring their own perspective. And while you might be from the health and med tech industry coming to attend conference programming in that setting, being at a festival that also has a major film and TV festival, a music festival has innovation expos that are showcasing new technologies that aren't just specific to health and med tech, for example, then you're, you're kind of having these interactions that are unique to, to this experience and you know, open up your perspective in some, in some new and novel ways.
- [28:37]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I love it, man. Just every time you, you talk about something, just this, this undercurrent of community, it just, it just keeps coming. It's like, it just. You guys understand what it's really about. And I keep going back to it because I just feel it's is a major part of what we're talking about here is creating an experience or a community for people to engage, for people to connect, to grow career, you know, to screen movies, to, to hear musical artists, to understand about technology, innovation. And this, this is really cool. And it's in, it's all. And it's in one of the most awesome places in the United States of America, Austin, Texas. Oh my gosh. At least it's great.
- [29:18]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, in Some ways the story of south by is also sort of mirrors the story of Austin, Texas and how both the city and the festival have grown over time. And that it's been, you know, such, such a high energy city. It's just, it's a place that is really important part of south by Southwest. And even in recent years as south by Southwest has expanded, there's now south by Southwest in London and June and it's actually going on in Sydney, Australia right now as well. And there are translations of this sort of community built event around these verticals that are being produced by local teams in these cities. But the story of south by Southwest and Austin, Texas is so synonymous. And I think one of the cool things about sort of reinventing the experience this year has been thinking about how we continue to stay embedded and supportive of all the local businesses that are part of the Austin ecosystem.
- [30:14]
Sean (Podcast Host)
That's pretty awesome. I, I, I've been to Austin twice. One was most recently in August. I was talking to a sales team, a medical sales team about process and strategy and all that fun stuff. But the time before it was back in my corporate day and I'm going to tell you something, I was like, man, I'm going to Austin, Texas. This is going to be, I don't even know what's in Austin, Texas. And I get there and we, we go to this rooftop dinner, whatever, and there's people playing with fire. I'm like, what, what the hell? Did I just walk into this? Am I in Vegas? What happened? It was the coolest thing ever. This was back in shoot, man. Probably 2017 ish. That was my first time I went to Austin. I was blown away. I was like, wow, this place is hip. It's cool.
- [30:58]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's very easy to catch the, the Austin bug and either have an amazing experience while you're in town or feel motivated, you know, like like many of us to, to kind of, you know, bring your life down to, to Austin. I think that the music scene has historically been a big pull whole. There's a big film and TV community here as well. The innovation in the tech community is really blossomed. There's now a lot of space and artificial intelligence work being done. So it is a real industry hotbed, but also a city that, that to your point, you know, you can have these really unique and amazing experiences at any given time.
- [31:34]
Sean (Podcast Host)
No, I mean, last time I was there I felt completely safe. I didn't have a car on me, so I just walked around and I found this awesome Mexican restaurant that made their own tortillas. And I asked them specifically at the door, I go, do you make your own tortillas? Like, yes, absolutely. We make it here. I'm like, put me wherever. Okay, how many people, not just me, I'm dating myself right now. I'm going to, I'm going to have a meal. And then it was, it was incredible, man. It was just. I've never, I've never had a bad time or felt unsafe walking around in that city in the, in the limited time that I've been there. So we've talked a lot about south by and, and we've, we've done a great job painting the picture of what it's about, you know, your journey there. But let's talk about, let's talk about Greg the person. What do you like to do in your spare time?
- [32:19]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Man, I, so I, you know, I think priority number one right now, two little kids. I have a three year old and a soon to be five year old. So it's hard.
- [32:30]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Oh, that's great.
- [32:32]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, thanks. You know, so it's, it's hard to imagine life without, without that experience. And there's such a formative stage that I feel like that is, that is a huge part of, you know, that, that my journey right now. And you know, but historically I've been a musician and, and you know, a big runner and just sort of connected into the community here. The one thing that I'll, you know that, that, that speaks to a lot of the work that you do on this program has just been. I did this long term mentorship program here in Austin called Explore Austin where we worked with a group of youth, you say with the same cohort from 6th grade all the way through 12th grade. So it's a six year long term mentorship program. And you know, one of the amazing things is like sometimes it takes kids a while to come out of their shell and really kind of engage, experience that connection and vice versa. And so you. We do it all throughout for outdoor adventure. We started going camping and then you're like, you can go rock climbing in Austin. So we do a year of rock climbing in Austin, then we go to Idaho and we do rock climbing out in City of Rocks or mountain biking. So it was always outdoor adventure enabled. But through both activity and long term mentorship, there was this opportunity to really support, unlock and grow together, which was like really amazing experience here in Austin.
- [33:58]
Sean (Podcast Host)
So in your spare time, you're also pouring into others is what I'm hearing. That is Great. I mean, listen, I mean, there's a through line there, bud. There's a through line. You know, I, I have, I have three kids. I have a six year old daughter who's almost seven. I have a nine year old daughter. And then my son turns 12 on Halloween.
- [34:19]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Wow.
- [34:19]
Sean (Podcast Host)
So, I mean, we're, I mean, my wife and I were in it. I mean, we are in this, you know, we're in the, the middle school, you know, he's sixth grade and then my youngest is in first grade and then I've got my little fourth grader here and it's, it's amazing. So in my spare time, I, I'm just with them. Yeah, I'm with them. And you know, I love watching college football. That, that is, that is my sport. Go Tigers. I'm an LSU guy. I played baseball there. So. Yeah, so I'm, I'm fanatical in. I'm the, I am the epitome of an LSU fan, Greg. I am, I am happy and I am sad and I am demonic, all within two minutes. Like, I'm talking about one series of plays. I, I can go through that whole spectrum, but that's a little. We're in the weeds now, but those are my hobbies. You, you mentioned running. I like lifting weights. Right. I lift weights early in the morning. And for me it's my silent meditation time where I can connect with myself. You know, maybe I'm listening to music, maybe I'm listening to a podcast, but for me, it allows me to kind of take, you know, that, that metaphor, when you hold sand so tight, it starts to slip through your fingertips and it's just gone. I feel like at times my mind gets so tight with creating and building and constantly pushing to the next level, the next stage, that in the gym I need to kind of go brain dead. And those are the moments that I come up with the most ideas. And you mentioned running. Does running do that for you?
- [35:50]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Oh, a thousand percent, John. I mean, it's, it's been such a huge unlock and I think creative blocks are sort of a natural thing. I'm also a morning person. I wake up early before my kids get up and get some work done and then. And factor in a run or something, something physical. Because I feel like to your point, the blank brain creates that opening to actually just kind of let your mind wander. And that has been, I think, some of the best sort of ways to evolve. Thinking over. It's not uncommon to come back from a run and be like, need to make a Note of that in my phone or whatever afterwards, because I finally got something unblocked that I couldn't make progress on without. So, yes, it's been something that both physically is like a rejuvenating thing, but also, I think really helps with those. Those mental blocks and unlocking creativity.
- [36:46]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I mean, it changed everything for me, you know, it. Like my journey in my. My. My weight loss or my physical transformation changed everything in my business, changed everything in my show. It changed my tone, it changed my delivery, it changed my speech pattern. Changed everything. And I think it's because for me, and I want to hear what you think about this as well, when I'm going through something and I'm in the middle of a lift and maybe in between sets, I can get really real with myself and get introspective, like, yo, dude, you're not doing what you're supposed to. Like, you're saying this, but you look like this. You're saying this, but this is the result. So the disconnect is nobody else but you, man. And so that's kind of what I go through when I work out. And. And then I'm able to. I guess I don't. I just don't judge myself for it.
- [37:34]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Right.
- [37:34]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Okay. I can break myself down in the gym and be very harsh on myself. Like, all right, dude, you're not it. You need to figure it out, you know, get out of your own way. But for me, it works, right? I'm able to leave the gym, be like, okay, I need to do this, this, and this. Like, if I could just do these three things for the next 90 days. Just all it is, is waking up at 4am that's all. It's not that hard. Just get up and you go. Then you come home and you have good food, you know, and if it's Whole Foods, you just put it in your body, you know? And maybe you have ice cream once a week, not three times a week. Come on, Sean. You know, not every night. What's wrong with you? So the. Just the gym helps organize my mind so well, because without it, it's like this. It's like my son's backpack, right? There's papers shoved on the bottom. Oh, wait, don't throw that away, Dad. I need that. I'm like, do you? Because it's been there for like a year, so, you know, I. I a lot like you, man. That. That physical activity for me just keeps me straight.
- [38:32]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's that. The whole accountability metric of just holding yourself accountable, to showing up every day to. To being in the gym to, To. To that routine is. Is big. And I think too, it's. It's one of those activities that is sort of like you're not necessarily. It's all about incremental gains, right? It's not like you're seeing unlock all of a sudden, right? You're. You're committed to practice and you do it over time. And maybe you see progress or maybe you go through periods where you're lifting or you're running suffers a little, you know, but you come back to it and, but it's like almost more about the process and the practice than it is like, the actual outcome. I mean, the outcome is important, right? But at least how it's been just the act of doing is as much of, of anything as, as, you know, as trying to reach the next milestone. But you got to be really committed to hit those milestones because it is such an incremental sort of process to go through the lifting or any sort of physical activity.
- [39:32]
Sean (Podcast Host)
I mean, true discipline means doing what you said you were going to do long after the emotion wears off. You can say the same thing about commitment, determination, you know, truly being inspired. How much of doing the things that you don't want to do because, like, hey, listen, there's not every day do I want to wake up and go to the gym and lift weights and. Because it hurts and it's, it's exhausting. I'd rather be sleeping. Those moments when you make those hard decisions to do something for yourself, how has that impacted your career and be in you as a partner and, And a father?
- [40:07]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Such a powerful question. I think in some ways it's, it's, it's true because it's like all those pieces are interconnected. The, The. The mentality you build with that experience kind of connects all the, the dots. I mean, I'll bring it back to where we started with the dyslexia. Like, I learned at a young age that it was just going to take me longer than everyone else to read, to, to do a test, to get my schoolwork done. Like, that whole process sort of taught me, you know, not, not to lose steam, that it's not about how long, but it's about the journey and getting to the finish line and just staying present and committed. And to be clear, like, there. It's an emotional roller coaster to go through that experience. Like you're not, you're not there yet, or it's not working or, you know, but I think that was such a Great setup for the rest of my life. You know, being a committed partner to, to my wife and being present every day with, with your kids, it's like not every day is going to be like a huge unlock, but over time, it's like there's those, those magical moments, and you get those by being present and stay, staying committed and just showing up. You know, I think that there's so much of. Of going through life that like, you got to be present and show up to really experience whatever's. Whatever's happening around you. And, you know, I think that's true in the career. Like I. As you said earlier, like, it is kind of unique that I've been in the same place for 15 years and I've loved it. It's been a journey. It's not like every day has been perfect, but over time there's been this, this ability to continue to create and evolve personally and professionally in the context of this organization that has really kept me inspired and to be connected to other people that are pursuing things both inside the organization on a personal level that are creating so much energy and inspiration for them. Inspires me to keep showing up and collaborating, and we get to build this thing that we pop up for 14 days and then comes down, we recap and we have to rebuild the whole thing. So, like, the whole experience is sort of this, this process and, and being present in practicing those elements. So I think in some ways it's sort of indicative of the whole thing. It's just, you know, keep showing up, being present and, and finding ways to. To be there at the moments that matter.
- [42:28]
Sean (Podcast Host)
So I keep having this vision, this, this thought or this, this. I don't say vision, but this movie that's playing in my mind as you're talking. You talked about being a great partner to your wife and being present for your kids. That's my biggest goal. Every single day, same. This is something I do. This could be taken from me at any point in time, but I'm a father and I'm a husband. And it's so funny because there's so much joy there, right? But like you said, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Whether, you know, in parenting, marriage, at work, a lot of times I feel like after 6pm it's a damn street fight in my house. Yeah, bro. I'm like, what is going on? And it's, it's. It's usually it's obviously my girls, right? My son is kind of just off kind of hiding from all the chaos and the Girls, depending on how tired they are, can really interrupt the energy of the house. And as a father, it's hard to stay emotionally regulated, right? Because, you know, I've been stressed all day. I haven't seen my wife all day, you know, and now my connection with my wife is stressed because she disagrees with how I'm handling, or vice versa. Or we're both breaking up fights. Like, wow, this was fun, guys. Thanks. Hope you enjoyed your dinner.
- [43:43]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
Yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely. Identify with the evening wind down and the moments that pop up along the way. And, you know, being present is not. You know, it's so easy in those moments to then trace back to that work thing you didn't do or you missed your work. Like, yes, to remain present in that moment is. Can be hard, but it's like that's. That's sort of the. The grind that we'll miss, you know.
- [44:09]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Life, be life and man, and if we don't take care of what we need to do, then we cannot be there for our people, for our company, for our kids, our. Our spouses, our friends, et cetera. Man. Thank you so much, Greg, for coming onto the show. I had such a fun time with you. And one more question for you. I know we talked a lot about mindset. We talked about south by and all the different ingredients it takes to be successful because that's what really was. Was the. The essence of the show. But if you could pin down in about two to three sentences of what determination actually is defined by Greg Rosenblum.
- [44:48]
Greg Rosenblum (SVP of Programming, South by Southwest)
To me, determination is a lot of what we talked about it showing up every day. It's being present. It's continuing to commit yourself to the process and practice that is proving out for you and defining the things in your life that really matter and focusing your energy on that.
- [45:09]
Sean (Podcast Host)
Well said, man. Thank you. Again. For the audience that is listening, please go check out south by Southwest. Take a friend with you, share their socials all around. Go follow them on. On Instagram. We'll put the show links in the link in the show notes. But, guys, more than anything, if you're struggling, then you need to focus on community. Focus on how you can help and serve other people, and you'll. And you'll see how much you are blessed. Don't do it just because of that, but understand that that's the trade off. And until next time, guys, stay determined.
- [45:48]
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