How Cannes Became South by the South of France
Posted in: UncategorizedI knew that when heading out to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the first time this year, I was wading into a new overstimulating, overtiring experience that rivals the Consumer Electronics Show and South by Southwest. What I didn’t expect was what a great complement to CES and SXSW it would be for scouting emerging media.
As I recover from too much sun and ros while sending every white article of clothing I own to the dry cleaners, let’s run down three reasons why Cannes now resembles South by the South of France and in some ways does SXSW one better:
It’s more selective. One of SXSW’s selling points is its accessibility. That’s why so many entrepreneurs will eschew flying to drive to Austin from all over the country, or enter the StartupBus hackathon competition. If needed, people can couch-surf for a week and live off free breakfast tacos and Shiner Bock. Cannes, meanwhile, prides itself on relative inaccessibility. For Americans not coming from New York on the one daily direct Delta flight to Nice, getting there is far less than half the fun. Finding a comfortable, convenient room for under $500 a night signifies a good deal.
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