SXSW is celebrating its 30th year in 2016, which means that they’re not holding back in making this year’s event one for the books. Today we learn that, for the first time in the event’s history, a sitting President and the First Lady will be taking part.
That’s right. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will both be delivering SXSW keynote speeches as part of the SXSW Interactive and SXSW Music programmes respectively.
Cue us:
President Obama will be appearing in conversation with the CEO/Editor in Chief of the Texas Tribune, Evan Smith, on March 11th to talk about civic engagement in the 21st Century – where he is said to call on the audience to apply their ideas and skills to make technology work when it comes to tackling challenges including participation in the US political process and fighting climate change.
On the flip side, First Lady Michelle will be dropping in for a special SXSW Music keynote delivery, discussing her Let Girls Learn initiative – a project aiming to break barriers for the 62 million girls (half of which are adolescent) worldwide who cannot access education. Of course, falling within Women’s History Month, SXSW Music offers the perfect platform for this type of keynote, with the First Lady calling for support for girls’ education.
President Obama’s appearance is open to all SXSW Interactive and Platinum registrants, while the First Lady’s appearance is open to all SXSW Music, Film, Gold and Platinum registrants.
More details regarding the streaming of both these events and times are still to be announced. For more information, head to SXSW‘s website!
———-
