Monday, April 2, 2018

7 Non-obvious Trends at SxSW 2018

Each year, I leave SxSW with several titles to add to my "want to read" list. This year, "Non-obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict the Future" tops that list.

Rohit Bhargava packed his hour with enough information for two sessions. He began by talking about his work as a trend spotter. Sounds like a fun gig if you can get it. As he explains his process, you realize that trend spotting also looks like an amazing amount of work.

He thinks of trend spotting as curation. He curates other people's ideas, but he also insists that we should all find ways to curate our own ideas and thinking.

The result of all this curation is Rohit's annual series on non-obvious trends. During his session he highlighted seven trends: manipulated outrage, ungendered, human mode, light-speed learning, enlightened consumption, disruptive distribution, and lovable imperfection.

I'm, of course, looking for ways the Library can capitalize on these.

"Human mode" seems an easy and logical fit for us. As automation increases, desire grows for personal, authentic experiences. People want advice, service and interaction with real-live human beings. That's us! The Library has always excelled at personalize service with a personal touch, so maybe the real question is how can we do a better job of selling that aspect.

Want to see more? Rohit was nice enough to post his SxSW slides on slideshare.
Rohit Bhargava


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