Last week, some of Team Human Solution put on our traveling pants (and cowboy boots) and headed to Austin to attend the Midwest House at SXSW. For those of you who are unfamiliar with SXSW, there is THE SXSW – the two-week festival that takes over downtown Austin every March. It is enormous, fabulous, and impressive. But the main festival is just the beginning! SXSW is a whole interconnected ecosystem of smaller geographic and topic specific mini-festivals.
Midwest House is one such festival. Celebrating 10 years of awesome, Midwest House “is designed to foster community amongst the region’s innovators and creatives while providing a global stage that defies rustbelt expectations.” ← Straight from their website y’all.
It is 4 days of conversation, innovation, creativity, music, tech, pitch-competitions, exploration, and not quite knowing what is around the next corner.
Side Note: I suppose it is important to say that while The Human Solution works all over the country, we call Michigan home, and we love it here. Great Lakes proud, fur sure.
- Connection is the Answer. Connection. Connection. Connection.We all know that we are living through an age of epidemic loneliness. BUT DUDE, FOR REAL. People are starved for connection. Real connection. In person. No agendas. Eye contact. Laughter. We are desperate for group regulation. You know that feeling you get when you are at a live concert, and everyone is singing along, or when you are at a sporting event, and everyone cheers together? That’s what I am talking about. Our bodies are starving for connection on a cellular level.We have managed to do incredible things with remote communication, Zoom meetings, and asynchronous work, but we need real-life-human contact, too – like NEED. Yes, in-person events are expensive. Yes, they are a pain in the ass to plan. But they accomplish something that cannot be replicated through a screen or via an app. Full stop.
- Diversity Drives InnovationDiversity of THOUGHT. Diversity of LIVED EXPERIENCE. Diversity of PERSPECTIVE. Diversity of INDUSTRY. Diversity of CULTURE. The deliberate mixing of disparate ideas, people, and experiences. That is the formula for innovation.In our day-to-day, most of us are working in a pretty tight silo/echo chamber of information, experiences, and people. There are benefits to this. It makes us efficient. It makes us comfortable. It makes us feel safe. It is easy to stay in a safe cocoon. The unknown is unsettling and sometimes downright scary. Talking to someone with expertise completely outside of your sphere can be intimidating. Engaging with new people can be uncomfortable. But it is also where the magic and growth happens. <insert excited giggle>
- Expect Nothing, Receive EverythingOne of the things that I most love about the Midwest House experience is that it is best experienced with very few expectations — except to learn and interact with interesting people. You bring yourself, your eagerness to grow, and your willingness to give. It is a little microcosm of the magic that can happen when a bunch of people (10,000 over 4 days) enter a space with a truly abundant mindset.The paradox of creating an event to foster innovation is that often, the most interesting outcomes are completely surprising. You can plan, you can design, you can bring all the ingredients together — but it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen — particularly the best stuff. You can’t force emergence…because it is born of the alchemy of known ingredients + A LOT of randomness, and a generous dash of serendipity. And you JUST. DON’T. KNOW. Maybe the magic will happen that day, maybe next year, or perhaps sometime waaaaaay in the future…..
- Sunshine Really Does Make Things BetterHere is the Michigan coming out. OH. EM. GEE. SUNSHINE. Michigan is a magical land of four seasons. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I actually love snow, don’t mind the cold, and am grateful to live in a state that loudly demonstrates the cyclical rhythms of nature. But, damn. By the middle of February……Austin welcomed us with the open arms of sunny weather and clear skies. It asked us to walk her streets, and we did so joyfully. It was a solid reminder that humans are animals and we need to be outside. As an individual reppin’ an organization that is PRO-WELLNESS and stress management, I was reminded of the core pillars of wellness: food, movement, sleep, nature, and community (see #1). We need sunshine. It really does make things better.
- Appreciate the DO-ersAs a person obsessed with experience design, Midwest House was like a candy shop for me. When you experience anything excellent…..think about all the passion and hard work that went into making it so — a symphony of planning and execution.
- Thirsty? There was water to drink.
- Trash? Someone took it out.
- Sound systems and tech? Someone planned, designed, set up, tested, and maintained the bazillion pieces of equipment necessary for the panels and concerts to take place.
- Bathrooms? It wasn’t a nightmare to go potty.
- Food? There was food! Like all day long, every day, there were snacks.
- Vendors, artists, panelists, musicians? Someone coordinated all that.
- Unexpected snafus? Someone handled that shit.
So, THANK YOU to all the DO-ers working behind the scenes to make the Midwest House experience feel effortless and free. We know it takes a lot of work to make things look easy, and we appreciate all of you!
Congratulations, Midwest House, on a wonderful event!
XO,
Anna & The Human Solution Team
