Beyond Name Tags: An Insider's Guide to Connecting at SXSW
Summary
Most conference connections start with the same question: "so what do you do?" But the ones that feel effortless happen when you show up as who you are, not what you do. Two speakers with completely opposite approaches show you what actually works at SXSW. Adam figured out how to have strangers approach him all day at his first South by without starting a single conversation. Sally's quiet at first, but somehow ends up getting invited places by strangers within minutes of meeting them. You won't just hear about it … you'll do it. Whether you're outgoing or anxious, you'll leave knowing people you'll actually want to hang out with the rest of the week.
- Format: Core Conversation
- Category: Core Conversation
- Event Type: panel
- Presented By: n/a
Contributors
- Adam Ethofer
- Sally Aiello
Raw Event JSON
Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.
Open JSON payload
{
"id": "PP1150859",
"track": null,
"focus_area": null,
"category": "Core Conversation",
"event_id": "PP1150859",
"event_type": "panel",
"format": "Core Conversation",
"genre": null,
"subgenre": null,
"name": "Beyond Name Tags: An Insider's Guide to Connecting at SXSW",
"presented_by": null,
"publish_at": "2026-02-26T12:57:00.000-06:00",
"reservable": false,
"reservable_id": null,
"reserved": false,
"date": "2026-03-13",
"end_time": "2026-03-13T15:30:00.000-05:00",
"start_time": "2026-03-13T14:30:00.000-05:00",
"message": null,
"image": null,
"credentials": [
{
"name": "Platinum Badge",
"type": "platinum"
},
{
"name": "Innovation Badge",
"type": "innovation"
}
],
"contributors": [
{
"id": 102564,
"company": "Adam Advertises",
"credential_types": [
"innovation"
],
"entity_id": 2270143,
"name": "Adam Ethofer",
"speaker_types": [
"Speaker"
],
"title": "Social Media Marketing Strategist",
"image": {
"alt_text": "Adam Ethofer",
"credit": null,
"url": "https://images.sxsw.com/DSguOz84-o7m_SGgD0Hsh4AtgW8=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/ac8f921f-74a7-9920-7454-b227c8edb514/pcid-1653638"
},
"speaker_type": "Speaker",
"details": "Adam spent a decade running a coaching company helping people overcome social anxiety and build real confidence … then lost everything and ended up homeless in Las Vegas. He rebuilt his life in Thailand, where he runs a social media marketing business. Last year he applied his marketing brain to his first South by Southwest and showed up dressed as Waldo … figuring the easiest way to meet people was to let them find him. They did. Now he's back as a speaker.",
"links": {},
"type": "person"
},
{
"id": 102563,
"company": "Sunday Afternoon Project",
"credential_types": [
"innovation"
],
"entity_id": 2270142,
"name": "Sally Aiello",
"speaker_types": [
"Speaker"
],
"title": "Board Member",
"image": {
"alt_text": "Sally Aiello",
"credit": null,
"url": "https://images.sxsw.com/y0XgEuzlrg67Mgu_PCQARB2nUH0=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/98a9eb2d-3c44-0056-5ece-10e6b3d6b8dc/pcid-1653636"
},
"speaker_type": "Speaker",
"details": "Sally’s career includes high-profile advisory roles at global brands and in the public sector, such as Oakley, Walmart and DDB Worldwide in Los Angeles.\r<br>\r<br>\rShe managed Oakley’s sales across Canada, Europe, and Africa during its IPO preparations and served as an economic development specialist for Texas Governor Rick Perry, authoring the application that earned Texas the “Top Business Climate in America” ranking in 2004.\r<br>\r<br>\rAt Walmart, she began as a Texas lobbyist, and later led Corporate Affairs for the EMEA region, chairing the CEO’s international advisory council on e-commerce, smallholder farming, and other priorities. She supported growth across the 13 African countries in the Massmart acquisition and represented Walmart on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. She then took on store operations, holding P&L responsibility for 30 Walmart Fuel & Convenience stores and 100 employees while testing retail innovations.\r<br>\r<br>\rToday, Sally is Head of Public Affairs and Government Relations for a major financial services company, overseeing external affairs in 21 states and Washington, DC. She holds an MBA from the University of Southern California.",
"links": {},
"type": "person"
}
],
"venue": {
"accessible": false,
"age_policy": null,
"floor": "4",
"id": "V0368",
"indoor_outdoor": "INDOOR",
"mixhalo_url": "https://translate.mixhalo.rocks/?venue_id=429&partner=true",
"name": "Room 412",
"parent_id": "V0365",
"parent_venue_name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
"venue_entry_info": null,
"formats": null,
"location": {
"address": "500 E 4th St.",
"lat_lon": [
30.2651364,
-97.7381904
],
"city": "Austin",
"postal_code": "78701",
"state": "TX",
"name": "Hilton Austin Downtown"
},
"root": {
"id": "V0365",
"name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
"mixhalo_url": null
},
"events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
},
"description": "Most conference connections start with the same question: \"so what do you do?\" But the ones that feel effortless happen when you show up as who you are, not what you do. Two speakers with completely opposite approaches show you what actually works at SXSW. Adam figured out how to have strangers approach him all day at his first South by without starting a single conversation. Sally's quiet at first, but somehow ends up getting invited places by strangers within minutes of meeting them. You won't just hear about it … you'll do it. Whether you're outgoing or anxious, you'll leave knowing people you'll actually want to hang out with the rest of the week.",
"experience_level": null,
"audio_url": null,
"accessibility": [],
"accessible_venue": false,
"add_bcl_url": false,
"add_slido": false,
"after_midnight": null,
"age_policy": null,
"american_sign_language": false,
"apple_url": null,
"audio_description": false,
"caption_url": null,
"captioned_qa": false,
"closed_captioned": false,
"cpe_credit": false,
"event_status": "none",
"has_subtitles": false,
"hash_tags": [],
"high_sensory_experience": false,
"live": false,
"long_description": "Most conference connections start with the same question: \"so what do you do?\" But the ones that feel effortless happen when you show up as who you are, not what you do. Two speakers with completely opposite approaches show you what actually works at SXSW. Adam figured out how to have strangers approach him all day at his first South by without starting a single conversation. Sally's quiet at first, but somehow ends up getting invited places by strangers within minutes of meeting them. You won't just hear about it … you'll do it. Whether you're outgoing or anxious, you'll leave knowing people you'll actually want to hang out with the rest of the week.",
"meeting_url": null,
"meeting_url_live": false,
"mentorly_url": null,
"mobile_audio_url": null,
"open_captioned": false,
"playlist_tag": null,
"rebroadcast": false,
"recommended_ids": [],
"search_conversions": null,
"short_program": false,
"slido_url": null,
"sort": "BEYOND NAME TAGS: AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO CONNECTING AT SXSW",
"source": "Official",
"squad_up_url": null,
"stream_embed": null,
"stream_id": null,
"stream_url": null,
"strobe_warning": false,
"subdiscipline": null,
"summit": null,
"summit_display_name": null,
"tags": [
{
"id": 2576,
"name": "Recently Added",
"created_at": "2026-02-26T12:08:59.538-06:00",
"updated_at": "2026-02-26T12:08:59.538-06:00",
"sort": "RECENTLY ADDED",
"alpha": "R"
},
{
"id": 1320,
"name": "Networking",
"created_at": "2017-10-11T16:53:22.225-05:00",
"updated_at": "2024-09-13T07:02:18.450-05:00",
"sort": "NETWORKING",
"alpha": "N"
}
],
"talent_attending": null,
"title_only": false,
"track_display_name": null,
"trailer_id": null,
"trailer_url": null,
"video_on_demand": null,
"vimeo_id": null,
"vod": false,
"xr_project_type": null,
"youtube_id": null,
"related_events": [],
"related_sales_client": null
}