How To Meaningfully Connect in a World That Has Gone to Sh*t

Event ID: PP1150289

Thu, Mar 12, 2026 | 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Venue: Salon B (Hilton Austin Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

We live in the most “connected” era in human history — and yet loneliness, burnout, and distrust are at historic highs. Convenience has replaced care. Algorithms now mediate our relationships. And many of us have quietly lost our ability to sit with difference, discomfort, and each other. In this deeply human, and surprisingly hopeful keynote, McPherson explores how technology and current political strife have weakened our connection muscle, and why empathy and intentional friction are the missing ingredients in rebuilding trust, collaboration, and belonging. Drawing on two decades of work across corporations, nonprofits, and movements, Susan shares practical, actionable ways teams and leaders can foster genuine connection — online and in person — without adding more meetings, tools, or performative “culture” initiatives. This talk is a call to reconnect — not by opting out of technology, but by remembering how to be human with it.

Contributors

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